First Look: Abbotsford’s Carringbush Hotel Reopens as Family-Run Friendly Societies Hotel

After sitting empty for almost two years, the fireplaces are lit again at Abbotsford’s Friendly Societies Hotel. When Broadsheet arrives, locals are settling in with pints while, behind the bar, co-owner Leo Weston emerges from the cellar through a hatch in the floor, dusts himself off and offers a handshake. It’s an unintentionally perfect introduction to the friendly neighbourhood pub.

Leo and his parents Clare and Nathan Weston – a chef who was most recently general manager at the Cherry Tree Hotel – reopened Friendly Societies in June. They returned the pub, which recently operated as The Carringbush Hotel, to the original name it carried for almost a century, from 1889 to 1984. But beyond the restored name and refreshed interiors, the family’s focus has been less about reinvention and more about creating the kind of pub where regulars feel at home. “People just want to feel connected to the place in a really uncomplicated way,” says Leo.

Many operators say their team feels like family, but here it’s literally true. Nathan and Leo work side by side while Clare – who’s responsible for the venue’s homespun interior design – oversees the creative direction. Though if the team is short-staffed, she doesn’t hesitate to roll up her sleeves and help. 

The kitchen is led by former Retreat Hotel head chef Chris O’Dwyer, whose menu strikes a balance between comforting pub classics and produce-driven specials. 

“There’s only so many ways you can skin a cat in a pub. You have to do a parma, you’ve gotta do a steak, you’ve gotta do fish’n’chips,” says Leo. Those classics sit alongside braised beef cheek, beef-and-stout pie, Portarlington mussels and a dish of sizzling sardines with salsa verde and garlic bread. Plus, a specials board that changes with whatever inspires the kitchen that week.

Sometimes that inspiration comes from friends. A haul of locally foraged pine mushrooms picked by the landlord at a private farm in Balnarring recently accompanied fresh pappardelle. And cumquats from mates with a farm near Mount Beauty found their way into a sticky winter pudding. A clam chowder inspired by Nathan’s memories of eating the dish while living in Canada has also surfaced as a seasonal special.

The collaborative approach extends well beyond the kitchen. While O’Dwyer leads the menu, ideas flow freely between the team. The approach is already resonating with locals, many of whom have become regulars within weeks of opening, returning several times a week for dinner or a pint. 

The drinks list follows a similarly flexible philosophy. Independent Victorian breweries rotate through the taps, with beers from Sailors Grave, Beechworth and others changing as kegs run dry, while the wine list keeps things approachable rather than performative.

For the Westons, Friendly Societies isn’t trying to be Melbourne’s next destination pub. Instead, it’s aiming for something that can be harder to achieve: a genuine local. As Nathan puts it, “You’ve got to have good food. That’s almost the easy part. A lot of it is reading people, seeing what they want … creating relationships.” 

Friendly Societies Hotel
226/228 Langridge Street, Abbotsford
0483 367 713

Hours:
Tue & Wed 4pm–11pm
Thu midday–11pm
Fri & Sat midday–12.30am
Sun midday–10pm

@friendlysocietieshotel