The Fitzroy Beer Garden — Restaurant in Melbourne

Do not go here. I visited Fitzroy Beer Garden with friends to watch the Grand Final. As expected it was busy, but at around 2:30pm we were lucky to find a free table. The sign said it was reserved for 2pm, so we checked with staff who told us if no one had shown up, the table was available. We sat down, ordered food and drinks, and watched the game.

At around 3:10pm, a man approached saying it was his booking. He admitted he had arrived earlier but chose to sit elsewhere until his group grew, and now wanted us to move. We offered for him to sit with us, but he insisted we give up our seats near the TV. Soon after, the bar manager came over and, without hearing us out, told us sternly to move. He spoke in a dismissive and unnecessary tone in front of the crowd, while others in the man’s group accused us of “being difficult” despite the fact we had quietly been sitting, eating, and watching the game for 40+ minutes.

We were embarrassed and disrespected. The manager then squeezed us onto a small table at the side and walked away when I tried to calmly explain the situation, cutting me off with “I don’t care.” This was despite the venue’s own booking terms stating tables unclaimed after 15 minutes could be given away. We had occupied the table for well over 45 minutes, yet were forced out the moment someone else decided they wanted it back.

This experience left us feeling humiliated and unwelcome. The complete disregard from the manager was unprofessional and unnecessary. Unfortunately, I won’t be returning or recommending this venue after being treated in such a...

⭐ We found out about this place from their awesome Free Snags and Beer in June 2023 promo via a Facebook ad. It's a great hangout place with a chill atmosphere and friendly, hospitable staff, which attracts similarly easy going people – you don't see uptight snobs/influencer types here. The music also wasn't too loud, so we felt able to stay for a while and have a great conversation rather than rushing out.

🌭 The snags have been great and the barbecue pitmaster is awesome. The burgers smell great, so I'll probably give those a try, and we noticed the parmas are $15 on Wednesdays. 🙌 The cocktail jugs are $25 instead of $35 on Fridays too, so we'll definitely try those next.

🍸 We grabbed a Lemon Pistachio cocktail each, which was excellently made by the gentleman who seemed like the assistant manager.

📈 Improvement areas: · We've had a few Coopers pots each time – some of the bartenders pour them well, but sometimes they have come out with no head.

· I ordered a Jaeger Bomb, but it wasn't served like it normally would – the bartender (didn't catch her name) poured the shot and Red Bull directly into the glass for me, rather than serving them separately so I can drop the Red Bull into the glass. The rest of the Red Bull was discarded as well. This was disappointing for $18 or so.

· Toilets are in pretty bad nick – smell poorly and...

Bumped up to four stars because their young and hip staff were quite welcoming to a small group who fell far, far outside the FBG's target market.

On entry, the Fitz looks like the scurviest of dives, but it's mostly just patina. And it has (surprise!) a very serviceable beer garden out the back. Could use some more chairs and tables, but I sense that later in the evening it's a different crowd who are happy to be on their feet, so no points lost for that.

Useful music played at tolerable levels.

Had some interesting beers on tap (vintage Coopers) and a crew willing to chat about it. Good beer, good team, well done.

Well worth a stop-in if you're passing by (and everyone passes by the corner of Gertrude and Smith sooner or later). Have gone back and will return again when next in the...