After more than 100 years of life, The Retreat Hotel on Sydney Rd has well and truly earned the title of ‘institution’. You’ll recognise this pub easily enough by the tables of drinkers sitting out the front, sipping beers and watching the local foot traffic go by. Inside is the grungy, dingy bar and restaurant area featuring a small stage, a dance floor and an overhanging disco ball. Once you get out the back, you’ll realise why you bothered to come.
The beer garden is huge, with plenty of tables around and a couple of couch-filled open sitting rooms nearby. There’s even a lawn area with an accompanying sign that reads, ‘Only Your Ass on the Grass’. Pure class. Pub meals are around $16 to $24, and there are free gigs held here five nights a week.
280 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
Website: http://www.myspace.com/retreathotel
Phone: (03) 9380 4090
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