Mary's Poppin — Restaurant in Adelaide

Mary's is really Adelaide's only gay club. If you want a night out somewhere inclusive, where you can be yourself, have fun, and dance your heart away, Marys is the go to (unless you dislike pop music).

The drag shows - fantastic. The venue / layout - perfect. The staff and the overall vibes - .. sadly can be hit or miss. Let's get into it.

Starting off with the staff. Some of the workers at Marys are the sweetest and friendliest people you will ever meet on a night out, whilst others are the complete opposite. Generally, there are really good people on the door, which I think is the most important. It's such a great feeling when the vibes are high lining up because the door staff and security are bringing that energy from the start, so hats off to them. This is very rare to see at other clubs in Adelaide. Unfortunately, the good service sometimes ends once you're inside. I would not describe a lot of the bar staff as friendly. Too many of the bar staff are only nice to the people they know, and quite sour to everyone else. It almost makes you not want to go get a drink. Now, the biggest issue I actually have with the bar staff here is the speed. My friends and I joke about Marys having the second slowest bar in Adelaide, behind only wax, and if you have been to wax, you already know. It's very clear that the hiring process for the bar staff is more of a social check than requiring properly experienced bartenders. This is a club, one of the busiest bar environments you can get, you need people who can handle that. If you hire people who don't have experience in an environment like that, then you need really good processes in place to upskill them. Now, I never really realised this as an issue until I went to Melbourne, and man, the clubs there, those bartenders are pumping out drinks unbelievably fast. It's not all bad though, the schlongs are fantastic and the water jugs on the sides of the bars are something I think every club should be doing.

Next up the music and the overall vibes. For anyone reading this who hasn't been, it's all pop music, non-stop. Even the upstairs r&b saturdays... c'mon, who are you kidding, it's just regular pop playing up there too. The themed music Friday nights are some of the best nights out, Period. That first Chappel night was insane. The vibes on the dance floor are very good. Marys is one of the last clubs in Adelaide where everyone is actually dancing. Overall, it is a great atmosphere, and I would highly recommend for anyone into pop music who is looking for a good night out in Adelaide. However, sometimes it can kind of feel like a main character off, where people are just trying to be the best, and the hottest, and the most fun, and that can feel quite toxic. Almost as though people lose sight of the fact that the club is a place to let the music set you free and just be yourself. There's nothing management can do about this, but I thought it is worth mentioning for anyone deciding whether Marys is a place they should visit.

Overall, very good atmosphere. Music is good if pop is what you're into. The dancefloor is actually dancey (which sadly can be rare nowadays).

Lastly, please please remember this is an inclusive space. Be respectful, and most...

Been to this place twice and walked in and straight back out again both times. Luckily the first time myself and a group of friends only had to wait in line for 10 minutes before we got in but once up the stairs you are greeted with a tiny room crammed full of people standing elbow to elbow. There was no way we were even going to attempt to fight our way through to get to the bar. I have never seen a place so chaotic in all my life. I mean seriously if one was able to get to the bar I can't even imagine being able to take a drink from the glass without the risk of someone elbowing the glass into ones teeth. That and the fact that so many people are crammed into such a small room makes it an extremely dangerous venue to visit in my opinion. If there was a fire or even a brawl I shudder to think what could happen. I just hope there are measures in place so people can escape to safety if need be rather than the same way they came in. I am really at a loss to understand how the venue got passed by law to operate in such a way. The venue was no different the second time my friends and I decided to visit hoping that some kind of order had been implimented so that people could get to the bar at least. No such luck. Although there was no line up so we got straight in. It was also a Saturday night too so perhaps people are realising that there are much better and safer venues to visit. I also agree with another reviewer in that the decor is quite hideous in the extreme. I believe the reviewer said it looked like some seedy gay bar from the 1980s and whilst I do agree with him I have to say my first impression was of a brothel from the 1980s era. The establishment is still relatively new but the trouble is it's decor will always look outdated unless they actually hire someone that has some understanding of interior design. The interior of my dog's kennel looks more inviting. We will never return. it's to Oz we go where patrons have respect for others and keep the bar area clear and there is plenty of room without the risk of one having their teeth damaged by wandering elbows and wigs ruined by beer...

So on Saturday night after a friends 30th birthday party, a group of us (18 roughly), went to Mary Poppins to continue our night and further celebrate. We were all dressed in pink, as that was the theme and we lined up around 11:30pm. We were maybe in the line for 5mins when security came and approached us. They asked us what our large group were doing in the line and if we were a hens night group (because those are banned given it’s a queer space). We explained that we just came from a birthday party and we're all wearing pink because the theme was Barbie/Pink. Security then go back inside Mary Poppins, then not long after come out and tell us that management have decided to refuse us entry because our group was “too large”. We questioned the decision, asked them what they define as a large group, and basically were told not tonight and if we disagree with the decision that we should email management to complain. Mind you just as we lined up, another group of people (roughly 15 people) lined up also, and after we were refused entry, we watched that exact same group of 15 people gain entry. Not to mention the multiple other groups who were in line but fortunately for them didn’t have black skin or “wore pink”, that was the excuse we recieved. We were all Aboriginal people and as you can imagine, it was a pretty horrible scenario. I don't want to make assumptions, but management obviously were monitoring us via security cameras and made a decision within 5 minutes. Mary Poppins have been problematic in the past, yet we still go there because it is supposedly a safe space for 'all' LGBTQIA+ people, but Saturday was literally the final straw. It is also Feast Festival at the moment, basically Pride Month for South Australia, and Mary Poppins is really practising inclusion by excluding a group of POC and using the guise of “you’re all wearing pink” as the excuse. If you can let in other groups of people but not the group who happen to be POC then you’re racist and you’re establishment is implicit in excluding POC and First Nations...