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What makes a great sports bar and who does it the best in Australia?
With cricket, soccer, basketball and tennis all featuring over the next few months, there are lots of opportunities to watch our favourite teams and players do battle in the A-League, NBL, Australian Open and cricket tournaments.
Whether you find yourself in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth, you won’t miss any grand finals with my guide to Australia’s top sports bars.
Turf Bar, Melbourne
Hidden away beneath Queen St, Turf Bar has a 1930s pub feel by day but transforms into an atmosphere-laden sports bar at night.
Chaz Doris has run the venue for the last ten years. He uses his two decades of hospitality experience – including managing sports bars in Spain and his native Scotland – to create a warm atmosphere that dedicates itself to showing a range of sport.
“If you make it welcoming and fun, people will always return,” he says. “We try to enhance the experience of the game. It’s an inclusive vision, to make people come in and feel part of it. Great atmosphere is completely down to us as staff.”
He’s deliberately employed a mixture of Australians with international backpackers who are genuinely interested in sport, so it’s easy to strike up a conversation. Doris spends lots of time forward planning for major sporting events as well as screening sport that isn’t always covered.
The menu has Australian and American influences, with sport specific specials such as chicken wings and pulled pork when the NBA and NFL are on.
“We also try and choose sport that others aren’t showing. We try as best we can to cater to different themes, depending on the sport that is on. There’s a big ex-pat community for English football and American sports fans too”, says Doris.
The venue has four big screens plus private booths. Friday nights are especially popular during the winter months for NRL, AFL and Super Rugby fans.
Light Brigade Hotel, Sydney
Only a short distance from Sydney’s two biggest stadiums – Allianz and Sydney Football Stadium – the Light Brigade Hotel is a venue that really feels like an extension of the action on the pitch. Recently renovated, complete with a 103-inch plasma screen and 14 others in the main bar, you can watch many different sports in a relaxed setting.
Despite the impressive layout, general manager Justin Carroll is acutely aware of the challenge his venue faces to remain relevant. With 35 pubs in a four-kilometre radius, he’s decided the Light Brigade needs to play up the sports punter angle – great for a traveller looking to catch the latest big game.
“We want to create a safe, fun environment, where people can enjoy the whole atmosphere and feel like they are at the game,” Carroll says.
“Ten years ago, hotels could get away with serving beer. Now, everyone is on the same playing field. It (the challenge) comes down to the staff, the feel and the decoration.”
Along with sport specific menus such as hot dogs for American sports, there is a sophisticated, modern take on pub food. You’ll find gourmet sandwiches, six different wood-fire pizzas and a choice of seafood on the menu. The Light Brigade also boasts three salads – that’s three more than most sports pubs would serve.
The Breakfast Creek Hotel, Brisbane
Add The Breakfast Creek Hotel to your itinerary. International visitors make an effort to stop by. Why? Apart from admiring the French Renaissance style architecture, it’s also one of Australia’s most admired landmarks – as well as being a top sports bar.
After a $4 million renovation in 2003, the pub has kept its impressive architecture but also built a beer garden to take advantage of Brisbane’s warm temperatures all-year-round.
While it is known for its great steaks, rum and beer you can have in your own wooden keg (ask for “a beer off the wood”), you can also have seafood and lighter options. The kitchen goes through a mind-curling 6000 steaks per week.
The venue is also very attractive for travellers given its unique position between Brisbane International Airport and Suncorp Stadium. Venue manager Sam Gullo saw its unique positioning as a way to really cater for the travelling sports fans too.
Now, the Creek also gets dressed up for major sporting events.
“Everyone gets in the spirit of it,” says venue manager Sam Gullo. “We challenge ourselves to really create an attractive atmosphere.”
Former Channel Ten sports reporter Roger Oldridge also enjoys this atmosphere at The Creek.
“You can’t beat the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel. It is essentially four pubs in one; a TAB area, a old school front bar, a rum bar, and a giant beer garden with a massive screen to watch the live football on.”
Highway Pub, Adelaide
This 60s themed sports bar keeps its identity as a relaxed, social place to enjoy a quiet drink and watch the footy.
With a TAB and plenty of TV screens, a lounge and gaming areas, there is an easy-going feel to the place.
Along with traditional bar snacks, the Highway has a selection of pizzas, burgers and hearty pub fare (try the salt and pepper squid or Manning Valley Rump steak).
Crown Sports Bar, Perth
The Crown Sports Bar is Perth’s best sporting entertainment experience – if you can’t make it to the game that is.
Winner of Perth’s best Sporting Entertainment Venue at the 2015 Australian Hospitality Awards, the venue has recently been refurbished to have a vibrant, energetic feel.
With three big screens at the main bar and plenty of smaller ones tucked away throughout the wider bar, you are virtually guaranteed of watching your sport of choice – especially when there is a grand final on.
Don’t expect too much heavy fare, as the bar is set up for a range of snacks such as mini-beef burgers, nachos, onion rings and chips from neighbouring restaurant The Merrywell.
It’s your turn Roarers. Which are your favourite sports bars and why?
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