In early settlement times it seems there was a pub on every corner in Brisbane, with a ratio of one drinking hole for every 200 merry citizens.*
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From this early predominantly beer-drinking (in the absence of anything else to do) culture emerged a signature Queenslander-style pub, which enjoyed a heyday in the booming late 1800s and became a landmark building to rival the town hall in Brisbane and other Queensland towns.
The first pubs served imported English ales, and from there the beer was sourced from Sydney breweries.
Today some of these quintessentially Queensland hotels are still going strong, thanks to tradition, and an upgrade into the realms of craft beer and gastropub food or both.
Of these, here are 12 of the historic pubs in and around Brisbane that have stood the test of time and are worth a visit.
Brisbane's oldest licensed pub, dating from 1851, still stands in a scenic heritage-preserved pocket of Cleveland. The laidback old-timer features a tropical beer garden and accommodation upstairs.
The Grand View began life as a single-storey structure in 1851 and today, after various extensions and a motley history, is one of Cleveland's oldest surviving buildings.
In fact, it is arguably one of the bay's treasures and a more-than-pleasant place to while away some time with a cold drink and pub meal.
Long gone are the bathing house and nearby jetty, but out back is a tropical beer garden, the Emu Point Garden Bar, with views to Moreton Island. Inside is the homey, old-world Lounge Bar.
In true Victorian pub style, upstairs is accommodation in the form of a pair of heritage-furnished rooms opening onto the verandah. Tariffs (including a continental breakfast) start from $90 a room.
The Grand View is at 49 North St, Cleveland Point. It is open Sunday to Wednesday from 10am-11pm, and Thursday to Saturday from 10am-midnight. Phone 32861002.
One of Ipswich's oldest pubs and sometime mayoral hangout has had a smart makeover, retaining its ample heritage features while serving craft beers and a contemporary menu of gastropub food.
Inside, the original features of the high-ceilinged rooms have been carefully preserved: polished floorboards, pressed-metal ceilings, cornices and fan lights, while the menu is firmly planted in the 21st century.
Lunch options vary from the light – herb-crusted squid, homemade frittata or pear and walnut salad – to the more substantial, such as pasta, gourmet burgers and steak sandwiches. (Recommended is The Ulster Premium Slider – a generous serve of two mini-burgers with the divine in-house beer-battered chips.)
For dinner, things ramp up a notch with a choice of Angus Riverina award-winning, grain-fed, beef-based steaks (porterhouse, eye or scotch fillet or retro Steak Diane), risotto, pasta, barramundi, pork piccata, chicken parma or beef and ale pie. All menu items come with a recommended beer and varietal wine match.
For dessert, try The Ulster classic Baileys bread-and-butter pudding, and for children there's a choice of chicken or steak (with drink suggestion pink lemonade).
On the beer front, unlike most pubs of its ilk, The Ulster is a proud supporter of craft-only companies and at any given time will have a selection of up to 14 (including My Wife's Bitter Heff, Feral White Hop Hog, Celtic Red Ale and White Rabbit Dark) rotating on tap.
And the wine list is a cut above too, with a carefully selected choice of varietals that you won't find in just any old pub. (But then, The Ulster is not just any old pub.)
Nice to know – The Ulster has the tick of approval from the higher echelons of Ipswich society, with popular Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale spotted lunching here the day we visited.
The Ulster is at 25 Brisbane St (corner of Mortimer St), Ipswich. Trading hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11am-11.30pm. Phone 3281 2873.
The "Brekkie Creek" is a Brisbane icon ingrained irrevocably in the psyche of generations of locals because of the Spanish Steakhouse first and its tropical beer garden second, but a visit should definitely include both.
Part of its enduring appeal is that, short of being tarted up every now and then, everything is essentially the same as it has been for decades – the beer, the steaks and the in-house ghost.
The tiled Spanish Steakhouse, established in 1968, is still enclosed by white stucco arches, and the formula - choosing your own hefty steak, deciding how it's cooked and the accompaniments of baked potato, coleslaw, bread roll and bacon sauce - has never varied.
Similarly, the beer garden, claimed to be Brisbane's first, still serves amber fluid from wooden kegs.
The grand French Renaissance-style hotel itself, built during boom times in 1888, was perhaps always destined to be noteworthy, given that its first publican, a former lord mayor of Brisbane, fell to his death from a first-floor balcony after overindulging in his own. It is his ghost that has been reportedly sighted by patrons and staff over the years.
The Breakfast Creek Hotel is at 2 Kingsford Smith Dr, Hamilton. Phone 3262 5988.
Brisbane icon and Richard Gailey-designed historic pub The Wickham has a new incarnation as an internationally styled venue peddling everything from cafe fare by day to great cocktails and upmarket bar food by night.
Decked out with funky light globes and lanterns, one of the Valley's oldest hotels features a chic cosmopolitan bar fitout, a collection of leather lounges and a courtyard filled with lemon and orange trees and fresh rosemary gardens.
With at least five spaces to chill out in, the majestic venue pulls in crowds of people who want to mingle out the front or at the long tables and benches in the open courtyard area. The joint is also a drawcard for small groups of friends who gather for conversation in the quiet and dimly lit pockets with low chairs.
In addition to healthy smoothies, salads, toasties and sandwiches, The Wickham offers great pub-style tapas after hours. While it caters for paleo, vegetarian and gluten-free diets, it is the likes of faves such as the Korean Hot Dog that are a match for the great selection of beers on tap.
The piping-hot and tasty Chicken Karagee and salt-and-pepper calamari go down a treat with the strawberry and vanilla mojito, while the margerita pizza is a popular late-night snack.
Patrons can take a peek at what the chefs are cooking up in the converted shipping container for an idea of the daily mouthwatering specials before ordering the next round of tapas and drinks at the bar.
The Wickham is at 308 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley. It is open Monday to Friday from 6.30-late and on Saturday and Sunday from 10-late. Phone 3852 1301.
The Valley's historic Elephant Hotel has shed its wheelbarrow and backpackers to become a stampede-worthy gastropub with funky graffiti-art beer garden out back and classic British lounge bar upstairs.
The main food action at The Elephant, which started life in 1888 as the Prince Consort Hotel, revolves around the beer garden emblazoned by stunning artwork (including words and a wall by infamous artist Sofles) and featuring a central bar and outdoor kitchen with wood fire oven and spit roast.
Here at The Deck Bar punters can tuck into wood-fired pizza and spit-roasted goat, pig or lamb sliders, accompanied by boutique beers, Oz and Spanish wines or house cocktails like a refreshing summer Pimms Cup or Pineapple Margerita until the wee hours.
Otherwise, executive chef Dean Sammut (whose clients have included Dick Smith and Oprah) has created a delicious a la carte menu for lunch and dinner – choose from "smalls" such as the Mediterranean share board or the moreish potato skins with cheese bacon crisps, sour-cream mayo and green onion, or salads such as crisp fried ocean trout with deep-fried egg, cherry tomato, beans, herbs, onion and chilli dressing.
Otherwise there are burgers or sandwiches (try the wagyu brisket sandwich smoked in the outdoor oven) or classic pub mains such as chicken parma, sirloin steak and beer-battered fish and chips, all with a gourmet twist.
A world away, past the red London phone box and up the original staircase, is the rambling tartan-carpeted Master Bar, scattered with vintage Chesterfields and armchairs and replete with historical features, including exposed brick walls and French doors leading onto the lace-iron balcony. Meanwhile, out back is a breezy deck that extends out to overlook the courtyard below.(Two spaces at the end inside – a private dining room and a conference room - can be booked and cordoned off for private functions.)
In the evenings, The Elephant hosts live music acts, with soloists Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday, soloist/duos Friday and bands on Saturdays. On Wednesday night, The Elephant Unplugged features three emerging local musos.
Opening hours for dining and drinking vary.
The Deck Bar is open seven days from 11am, with lunch from 11.30am-2.30pm and dinner from 5.30-9.30pm.
The Master Bar (upstairs) is open Wednesday to Saturday from 5pm-late.
The Main Bar is open from 11am-late seven days a week.
The Elephant Hotel is at 230 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley. Phone 3252 4136.
A well-preserved 19th-century hotel of distinctive Queensland style, the Norman sits tucked away in a relative no-man's land on the border of Woolloongabba and Annerley.
With ornate facade and wraparound wrought-iron verandahs,the original hotel building dates from the boom times of the late 1880s, hence the detailed plaster features and lacework. The rambling tiled beer garden, with white-washed pillars, was added 22 years ago.
Those who are not troubled by rapacious Jim Beam posters and banners will enjoy a drink in the original bar, whose wooden floors and barrels manage to give a glimpse of what could have been in pre-promotional times.
Meantime, the expansive courtyard with all its nooks and crannies is a pleasant place to sink a beer or tuck into a standard pub steak*, cocooned from the traffic of Ipswich Road.
*The queues for steak can be a test of patience.
The Norman is at 102 Ipswich Rd, Woolloongabba. It is open daily from 11am-10pm. Phone 3391 5022.
Waghorn Diner is a gastropub dining room and beer garden nestled in the base of the 100-year-old Hotel Metropole in Ipswich's historic Top of the Town precinct.
The grand old hotel, which retains all of its original features, including wraparound wrought-iron lace balconies and bullnose verandahs, is the classic Queenslander pub and makes a great spot to drop in for a cool beer, live music and excellent food.
Patrons can take a seat on the covered outdoor deck or the indoor dining room - a cool, rustic high-ceilinged space with original floorboards, arched windows, marble fireplace, VJ-fronted bar, the odd barrel and care-worn couches.
The food menu offers most of the usual pub fare – think chicken parmigiana, ribs, pizza, steaks and burgers – prepared with flair by the talented in-house chef. (Highly recommended is the local's fave, salmon risotto.) In addition to the mains there are salads (Thai beef or caesar), and starters such as buffalo chicken wings, creamy garlic prawns, nachos or bruschetta.
In addition, children aged eight and under can partake in pasta, pizza or tempura nuggets for under $10.
As well as being a top spot for a pub meal, Waghorn Diner is a hub for local musos, with jam nights on Thursdays as well as live acoustic acts on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon sessions on the deck.
Meanwhile, upstairs on weekends Club Metro draws a younger crowd who pile in to see some of the country's top touring acts, from DJs to musos.
The Waghorn Diner at Hotel Metropole is in Brisbane Rd, Ipswich. It is licensed and is open from Wednesday to Sunday from noon-2pm and 5-9pm. Phone 3281 1900.
With its multi-level, lace-iron wraparound verandahs and decorative trimmings, the Regatta is as fine an example of an 1880s Queensland pub as you'll find.
Designed by Brisbane's leading 19th-century architect, Richard Gailey, the hotel is a landmark building on a lonely position (once the end mark of boating regattas) on Coronation Drive that is frequented by uni students, locals and visitors alike.
In 1965, this pub hit the headlines when two women (one the mother of actor Sigrid Thornton) chained themselves to the downstairs bar in protest at female exclusion from public bars.
Today much of the interior heritage has been lost and the nosh isn't quite a foodie's dream, but it is still a great place to stop for a beer or glass of wine and catch a river breeze. As a bonus, the river cat wharf is handily right across the road.
The Regatta is at 543 Coronation Dr, Toowong. It opens daily from 10am-late.
South Brisbane's The Fox Hotel is a splendid 1920s-style pub (whose beginnings date back to its original incarnation as the Terminus in the 1880s) that is almost a stand-alone attraction, with the jewel in the crown a rooftop bar with sweeping city vistas.
The ground-floor bar retains much of its art deco charm and features marble bars, terrazzo floor and lead crystal chandeliers. Patrons can pull up a stool here, outdoors on the street furniture or in the hidden gem of a New York-style courtyard to enjoy a cold beer and some good pub food.
Up the grand, opulent staircase are all sorts of original and restored nooks and crannies – former guest rooms which are now elegant themed function rooms with chaise lounges, a working art studio and a hat and coat stand that looks to have been there since 1920.
On the top floor is the quirky retro tennis club-style Dandys Rooftop Bar, which warrants a visit even if only for a quick drink and a look at the view. And last, annexed to the back of The Fox on Fish Lane is Fish Lane Bistro for a more upmarket dining experience.
The Fox Hotel is at 71-73 Melbourne St, South Brisbane. It opens daily from 11am-2am. Phone 3844 2883.
Built in 1874 as a private residence, the Ship Inn has been operating on and off as a hotel since 1879, when it was a hangout for drunken sailors. Its renaissance occurred when it was acquired, in a derelict state, for Expo '88 and at such time was extended and renovated.
Today it thrives as a lively gastropub with an executive chef and an outlook on a bougainvillea arbour.
Not only is it a great spot for people-watching with a chilled beer or glass of wine, it's a decent, reasonably priced dining option, too. Featuring a lamb-centric menu (Corish, sourced from Goondiwindi), there are also options for vegetarians and seafood lovers and traditional pub grub for under $20, such as steak sandwich or bangers and mash.
The Ship Inn is in Sidon St, South Bank. It is open Monday to Friday from 11am-10pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-noon. Phone 3844 8000.
The grand old dame of New Farm, The Brunswick is in the throes of a major makeover, with stage one ushering in a new era as a gastropub, garden bar and lounge bar. The 1889-built heritage venue, with its ornate lace-iron balconies and design by suburban pub designer George W Campbell-Wilson, last underwent a significant refurbishment in the 1950s.
To celebrate, punters can enjoy a glass of French bubbles for $10, a perfect aperitif to the excellent new foodie's menu, which alone is a good reason to visit.
A spacious minimalist dining room has been added to the original building (where long-term barflies still congregate in the public bar), with one side opening up via bi-fold windows to a timber-clad garden bar below. Here diners can partake in delicious tapas, breakfast on weekends, lunch, dinner or an all-day bar menu.
Portions are generous, the food is hearty as pub food should be but with a chef's creative touch (chef is Brett Dornstein, who has spent many years honing his skills at The Albion, The Newmarket etc). In creating the menu, Brett has taken a host of pub food favourites, sourced the best ingredients, given them his own twist and taken them to a whole new level.
From the tapas to share, choose from deliciousness such as spiced pork belly with Asian slaw, grilled king prawns with salsa verde, seared scallops with sweet corn puree and chorizo and lamb kofta balls with tomato and chilli jam. Tapas come on serving boards in sets of three with the option to add on extra items.
On the entrees list, options include fresh Pacific plate oysters, bruschetta, grilled haloumi or salt-and-pepper calamari, while mains range from the highly recommended pan-seared salmon with delicious panzanella salad and double-smoked beef ribs with Texas slaw and beer-battered chips to English pork and peppercorn pie and rosemary-infused kangaroo; and from the Char there's Black Angus grazier's rump or eye fillet with a choice of sauces from mushroom and pepper to tomato chilli jam.
There's also a decent selection of pasta, risotto, gourmet pizza and salads, and at lunch time diners can go for something light like a club sandwich to Trio of Sliders and up to the Grazier's Rump or battered flathead.
Kids have their own concise menu of spaghetti, crumbed chicken and battered flathead, with ice-cream with toppings to follow.
Meanwhile, the all-day beer garden menu includes buffalo wings, butcher's block pizza, wagyu beef burger and beer-battered chips.
From the bar itself, in the mix are craft beers and cider (with some of each on tap), wines, spirits, champagne and cocktails.
Lastly, on weekends The Brunswick opens bright and early for breakfast, with a menu that features Byron Bay bircher muesli, Spanish omelet, corn fritter, Big Brekkie and vege breakfast with a few specials like Gado Gado or the Brunswick Hot Spot (garbanzo bean stew with rich tomato and chorizo topped with tomato and chilli jam).
The Brunswick is at 569 Brunswick St, New Farm. Breakfast is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 8-11.30am, lunch is offered from 11.30am-2.30pm, and dinner is daily from 5.30-9pm. The all-day bar menu is available from11.30am-9pm. Phone 3850 0000.
A tapas bar with a sunset view can be found out back of the beautifully preserved 1861-built Settlers Inn, now the Stumps Hotel. Take a seat on the covered terrace and partake in a range of delicious morsels such as mojito oyster shooters, salt-and-pepper squid with watermelon, fetta, dukkah and salsa verde, Ras el hanout chicken wings with blue cheese, potato chips and baby peas, or keep it simple with a rustic house pizza. For afters, the house specialty is the chef's own gelati but there's nothing traditional about the flavours – think white chocolate and Chambord, sea-salted caramel or redskin and tequila.
The tapas bar is but one section of the greater Stumps Hotel, which is full of nooks and crannies. Out front overlooking the street is the Twine Bar, a craft-beer and boutique wine bar, next to the terrace a cosy high-ceilinged dining room, and both here and on the terrace traditional pub grub such as fish'n'chips and steak and salad can be had. On weekends, breakfast is served from 8am and there's also a small children's menu. And, for a bit of a retreat, to one side of the original polished timber-floored entry hall is a tiny drinks lounge with original sash windows, plasterwork, Chesterfield couches and shelves of books and collectables.
Tapas Tree is at 215 Brisbane St, Ipswich. It opens Monday to Friday from 11am-10pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 8-10. Phone 3202 1271.
This post originally appeared in mustdobrisbane.com.au. Visit http://www.mustdobrisbane.com/features/great-historic-pubs.
