Adelaide’s bar scene has grown in spades this year. The wave of new boozers started last December, when 99 Gang Social, Smokelovers and Leigh Street Luggage all opened over the festive season and became instant favourites. And it kept building from there (another wine bar, Nearly, is due before the year’s out). In the meantime, we raise a glass to the new bars (and breweries) we’ve loved most this year – in alphabetical order.
And if you missed our round-ups of Adelaide’s best restaurant and cafe openings of 2022, find them here and here.
99 Gang Social and Thirsty Tiger, CBD
This Hindley Street bar and diner, which opened in late December, just missing our best of 2021 wrap, is maybe best known for its Cali-inspired burgers – the 101 (double beef, provolone, grilled onion and French mustard), named after the iconic highway; and the Route 66 (Nashville hot chicken, butter pickles, house-made dill ranch, iceberg lettuce and American cheese) among them – but the drinks list is no after-thought. There are classic cocktails (Mojitos, Mai Tais and more) plus riffs like Pandan Pina Coladas and Cherry Manhattans – perfect for cutting loose on the dance floor, which kicks off after dinner service (under a shining disco ball). The bar has also introduced regular wine club dinners, spotlighting different local winemakers. And it's just bolstered its presence with lively new upstairs bar Thirsty Tiger, which is doing sliders, shooters, slushies, and more – yet another reason to get to 99 Hindley Street, stat.
Bandit Pizza and Wine, Hyde Park
The brand new trattoria from the team behind Anchovy Bandit has all the things you know and love about the Bandit brand – beautiful design, outstanding Italian(ish) food, top-tier drinks and warm service. But the inner-south sibling is going back to basics. “The idea was to re-centralise the menu around pizza,” says co-owner Alex Bennett. Here, you’ll find the classics – including a formaggio and a margherita – plus toppings like kipfler potato and kohlrabi kimchi, or lamb ragu. The pies are backed by a small selection of share plates like SA king prawns with ’nduja butter, sugarloaf cabbage with salumi xo, and lamb skewers. But it's the wine that shares equal billing with the pizzas, and for good reason. The extensive list includes a substantial offering of Australian and Italian varieties, plus rare bottles from the group's cellar. If it's cocktails you're after, you'll find them here pre-batched, by Anchovy Bandit bartender James Coppe.
Brightstar Brewing, Thebarton
After returning to Adelaide in 2019, Megan and Gareth Parker set about transforming the former Adelaide University laboratories – in the industrial backstreets of Thebarton – into a Central European-inspired brewery and taphouse. The family-friendly spot, which opened in March, has decking overlooking a licensed park out front on the banks of the Torrens. And a spacious tasting room that lets guests peer into the brewing process, which includes traditional European techniques such as spunding – a natural carbonation process to make the bubbles in the beer small, creating a creamier mouthfeel – and longer lagering time, to achieve a “more balanced and refined” beer. There’s also a focus on classic Central-Euro styles such as the nutty and sweet altbier, the light and crisp helles, and the tart Berliner weisse. Beyond the beers, there’s also house-brewed seltzers and house-distilled gin made with hops, plus beer-based cocktails and a concise food menu featuring a popular Reuben sandwich.
Jennie Wine Bar, CBD
Scott Taddeo (ex-Alfred’s Bar) wasn’t entirely sure how his new bar’s wine focus would go down with Peel Street’s regular crowd. “We kind of joked, ‘What’s the bet our first customer asks for like a gin and tonic or a vodka soda?’” Taddeo told Broadsheet in September. “Then the first customers rolled in and ... got some single-vineyard gruner veltliner from Austria, some albarino from Spain and some gamay from Beaujolais.” The order speaks to the bar’s strong international line-up, which includes some tough-to-find bottles alongside some of the usual local suspects. The minimalist nook feels a little like walking into a mate’s wine cellar. An 18-seat African mahogany table runs down the centre of the room; close to 200 local and international drops line the walls on one side, with a mural by artist Alex Bellas on the other. There’s no service bar, making things relaxed, informal and intimate. A tight food menu includes Ortiz anchovies, chicken pate and duck terrine, plus Basque burnt cheesecake by Adelaide chef Leo Loureiro.
Leigh Street Luggage and Nevermind, CBD
At the close of 2020, Julie Barnes said bon voyage to Leigh Street Luggage, her travel goods business of 40 years. Now the longstanding site has reopened, but this time it’s functioning as a Mediterranean-inspired cocktail bar. The name and shopfront are the same, and there are plenty of call-backs including a photo of Barnes as a flight attendant in 1972, vintage luggage pieces and an airplane propellor, but it’s otherwise unrecognisable. Co-owner and bartender Shahin Chegini has assembled a drinks list with a focus on amari, vermouth and cocktails. There’s also a rotating list of local craft beers (Lobethal Bierhaus and Little Bang included) and largely European wines, plus a handful of local drops. A simple food menu sticks to cured meats and cheeses. Out the back, a more casual, divey, somewhat hidden sibling bar Nevermind – built in what was the storeroom of the old shop – is serving picklebacks, toasties and grungy house party vibes.
Mismatch Brewing Adelaide, CBD
Less than a fortnight after Sparkke moved out, the handsome bluestone pub overlooking Whitmore Square reopened under another Adelaide brewery, Mismatch. The most obvious points of difference are the new signage and a black and gold decal depicting the brewing process in place of Sparkke’s signature mural. The move represents a new era for Mismatch, one that establishes the brand in its own right, separate from its Hills brewery (and main production facility) at Lot 100. “It was important for us to have our own home and to be able to tell our own story,” co-founder Leigh Morgan told Broadsheet in October. There’s still plenty of links to Lot 100 though – including the presence of chef Shannon Fleming in the kitchen, who’s serving up inspired pub food like lemon and mountain pepper fried chicken, crispy braised kangaroo tail and a muffaletta sandwich. The 16 beer taps are pouring a core range of lager, session ale, pale ale and a sour alongside rotating, limited-edition and experimental products, which will soon be brewed with the on-site brew kit.
Noori, Port Noarlunga
What was once an early-1900s horse barn and billiard saloon has transformed into a seaside wine bar serving South Aussie drops, pintxos and cheese toasties with a side of salty ocean air. In more recent incarnations, the space has been home to a drapery store and a cafe. Nowadays, palm trees, a pelican mural and a vintage London lamppost lead the way from Port Noarlunga’s main drag down an alley to the small but beautifully executed bar, which features a surprising centrepiece – a well in the middle of the room, established in 1914. “It’s literally a 20-foot hole in the middle of the building. It’s surreal,” says owner Jacob Barter. His dad, a builder, was quick to modify the well so that no wayward beverages or punters meet their fate down there. The drinks menu crosses the globe, spanning classics and unicorn wines from nearby McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills and all across South Australia, backed by bar snacks by chef Annika Berlingieri.
Pastel Wine Bar, North Adelaide
After opening Pinco Deli in September, Elijah Makris and Saba Maghsoudi (of design agency Studio Mazi) turned their attention to a spot on O’Connell Street vacated by L’Italy, partnering with Daniel Vaughan (1000 Island) and artist and designer James Brown to bring new energy to the strip. The team envisioned the moodily lit spot as “a place of refuge from the city hustle”, and they’ve created just that, albeit with all the trimmings of a slick city venue. And while the name declares it a wine bar (as does its extensive list devoted to approachable lo-fi and conventional drops), the food is just as much a pull – with snacks like chargrilled octopus skewers with taramasalata and salsa verde; Ortiz anchovy fingers with soft boiled egg, pickled fennel and aioli; and a Sichuan cucumber salad with chilli oil, soy peanuts and ginger; alongside pork and prawn dumplings; and coconut-braised beef short rib with green mango and roasted rice.
Silver Sands Beach Club, Aldinga
Aldinga’s new resident is a surf club, but not as you know it. Since opening earlier in the year, the 120-seat bar and dining room inside the refurbished Aldinga Bay Surf Life Saving Club has been a magnet for locals and city folk alike. It’s little wonder, with owner-operators Mark Kamleh (Tiger Mountain, Syrian Mobile Disco) and Nick Stock (a respected wine critic and Tasting Australia’s former beverage director) behind it. Not to mention those prime ocean views and a coastal-inspired menu – featuring the likes of a prawn cocktail bun, kingfish crudo, Kinkawooka mussels with fries, and grilled swordfish – alongside pub classics such as a top-tier cheeseburger and a stellar selection of pizzas. The wine list highlights Fleurieu producers alongside a hefty list of premium internationals (think premier cru burgundy and chablis) curated by Stock.
Smokelovers, CBD
The longstanding tobacconist, which operated next to the Exeter Hotel for more than 50 years, lit up again last summer – as a wine and cocktail bar by long-serving Exeter barman Hamish Tregeagle. Another bar paying homage to the site’s past, Smokelovers has kept the name, but the only smoke you’ll find is in the smoky-mezcal Margarita – which has quickly become its signature drink. Beyond that, you’ll find the classics (a Negroni, Americano and Whiskey Sour among them) and an approachable, wide-reaching wine list favouring local new-wave producers alongside French and Italian wines by the bottle. Beers also run the gamut, from a Bridge Road sour to a Coopers sparkling ale. After years of pulling tap beers next door (“There’s some repetitive strain injury,” jokes Tregeagle), you’ll only find them by the bottle or can here.
