Two Hands Rooftop Bar & Beer Garden Eatery — Restaurant in Melbourne

I recently held my 40th birthday celebration at Two Hands Rooftop Bar, booking the venue for the agreed duration of 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. While the venue offers a vibrant ambiance, my experience was unfortunately marred by a series of concerning events and subsequent interactions.

During the event, one of my friends, Michael, reached over the unattended bar and poured himself a glass of beer. While I acknowledge that this behavior was inappropriate, the venue's handling of the situation raised significant concerns. Michael was promptly removed from the venue, and as the event organizer, I immediately offered to pay for the poured beer to resolve the matter on the night. This offer was refused, escalating the issue unnecessarily.

It is important to note that the bar was left unsupervised at the time of the incident. Licensed venues have a duty under the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 to maintain effective supervision to ensure a safe and compliant environment, particularly when alcohol is being served. Relying solely on CCTV for oversight not only fails to meet these responsibilities but also undermines real-time prevention and intervention capabilities. This lack of proactive supervision directly contributed to the incident.

Furthermore, the venue’s post-event approach sought to impose charges and expectations that I believe were disproportionate and unreasonable. Here is a snippet of the email I received from their booking manager Jin Mason;

I am writing to formally address the incident that occurred during your recent event at our venue. As you are aware, one of your guests, Michael, was caught in the act of theft on the premises. Compounding this issue, other attendees failed to intervene or report the matter, which raises concerns about complicity. As per legal principles, inaction that aids or encourages a crime can, under certain circumstances, be seen as facilitation or complicity.

Cost Breakdown: Administrative Fees for Documentation and Reporting: $300 (minimum charge as per the contract). Damages Due to Theft: $512.50, calculated as the equivalent of one standard drink per guest ($12.50 x 41 guests), reflecting the loss incurred. Total Amount Payable: $812.50

It was mutually agreed by both parties to settle to the amount of $312.50. Whilst this was an act of good faith to bring closure to the matter, it was disheartening to see the venue attempt to mandate human behavior and moral character in an environment where alcohol naturally affects decision-making.

To others considering this venue, I strongly advise familiarizing yourself with your rights under liquor licensing laws. Specifically, venues are obligated to ensure active supervision and cannot rely solely on CCTV to meet their legal responsibilities. It’s crucial to understand these regulations to protect yourself against what I experienced as bullying tactics in post-event communications.

Ultimately, I value my time too much to pursue this matter further, but I hope this review serves as a cautionary tale. Two Hands Rooftop Bar must take greater accountability for their own operational practices and how they address incidents...

Very disappointed, long time customer, recommended the bar to many people. Decided I'll book my 40th in the whole upstairs area , booked accoustic guitarist, interstate guests flights and accommodation booked and when I queried the large fees incurred using their iPayPro payment method and a condition in the contract that if you or any guest write a bad review it will be considered damage and you will be held accountable my booking was immediately cancelled. Tried my best to reason with them and was offered a different area and a different day which I said no as my deposit was paid in full , my 2nd payment paid in full and waiting for the link for my final payment and also a reply to my request to meet to arrange food and drink menu ect which had been ignored several times. From the start they were so friendly and accommodating as soon as deposit was paid complete opposite Extremely frustrating experience!!! Now with limited time I have to find another venue 👎👎👎👎👎 IN RESPONSE TO YOUR REPLY No 3rd party I literally walked into your venue to book and did via Jin your functions manager You've completely made up 8 weeks , there was no bullying tactics whatsoever from myself and Other options were given for different areas and different dates after cancelling my booking because I questioned a few things no refusal of anything just questioned. I personally spoke to you which you assured me everything would be no problem then few days later from nowhere booking cancelled with a pathetic reason. I wrote a bad review because my experience was worthy of a bad review It's actually quite immature to not take any ownership nor have the maturity to listen to a customer It's obvious reading other reviews you lack the skills to take any form of criticism and learn but that's your choice I'm just doing my bit for my community and letting them know my experience I'd always been a supporter of your bar and have brought ppl in that have became regulars so I can hold my head high It's one thing to just make a statement and say "you didn't follow simple rules of the house" it's another to actually back that up with what rules were not followed to actually give yourself any credit My initial deposit and 2nd payment were both payed in full including the extra fees incurred by only having the option to pay via IPayPro , I was waiting for the link to pay the 3rd and final payment when suddenly my booking was cancelled because I questioned the part in the contract where I'm required to sign that I can not give a bad review during or after the event including all my guests and if a bad review is given I'd be held responsible and it would be...

Appalling, deceitful, fraudulent and overall a horrible experience at this place.

I booked an event here for my 21st birthday, as this venue advertised their space as ‘free room hire’ - immediately you find out this is not the case, the room is free once you spend $1000. I figured that was fine, i disliked the fact that they were not upfront with the cost but i was willing to pay the $1000. If only a thousand dollars was what we had to pay.

Every single encounter with this business added on additional costs, or tried to add on fees after the event had taken place. We hired the ‘rooftop bar’ , which we were informed ON THE NIGHT did not include a bartender. Unless, of course, we paid more money. Go figure! After several complaints were made, the venue supplied us with a bartender that made multiple numbers of my guests extremely uncomfortable with inappropriate comments. We then find out days after that they will still be charging us for the bartender.

To put things into perspective for you, without the bartender, i had 40+ guests having to travel downstairs to the main bar. An event was already taking place downstairs, so there was no room to WALK, let alone carry drinks back and forth. I am certain they exceeded venue capacity limits with all of us down there at some stage.

Hidden ‘weekend’ surcharges added on to food we had booked, that when it was brought out was enough to serve half a person. Paid $25 for a pizza that was tiny, and $15 for chips that didn’t even go up to the half way point of the box they were brought out in. I tried their food before my event to assess the serving sizes, and it was NOT that, otherwise i wouldn’t have even bothered.

Drinks were outrageous- at one point i was charged $29 for a vodka sunrise in a short glass. Mid strength beer was $13-15 a pint.

Overall this place is disgusting. They are money hungry, inappropriate, not at all considerate of it’s function room guests. I have still yet to receive my deposit back- no damages were made, we spent a milestone over the required limit to book the room AND the bartender that we were forced to pay for.

Surely a company who frauds their way into running a business will not miss $300. to a 21 year old working a full time job and studying, $300 is a lot of money.

Don’t book your function here. if you’ve got the money to spend, go book a nice, appealing venue with hosts that actually care about you and your event, and are not out to scam you every...