Fitzroy’s Commercial Club Hotel Reopens – and Yes, It’s Still a Pub

When a pub changes hands, the community tends to tense up a little. Questions range from existential to in-venue essentials: some punters demand to know how the new publican intends to keep the venue’s soul intact. Others just want to know if the pool table is staying. When Jackson Morgan took over Fitzroy’s Commercial Club Hotel after it quietly closed earlier this year, he knew the questions would come.

“People are protective of pubs like this, and I think they’re right to be,” Morgan says. “It’s a real local spot – I think a lot of people miss it or don’t realise it’s here, despite being on Nicholson Street in Fitzroy. But the people who come here regularly really love it.”

Morgan falls into the second group. He grew up in Fitzroy and has worked in the area’s pubs his whole adult life – including the Commercial Club Hotel, from 2016 until 2020.

“I was just pouring beers here. You spend that much time in a place and you start to look around and think, ‘I’d love to try moving this table, maybe this dish would do really well on the menu, maybe I could make the outdoor area more fun,’” Morgan says. “You have all these little ideas floating around in your head for what to do – a bit like decorating a house.”

Morgan took custodianship of the corner pub on April 14, got the keys from his former boss on April 15, and got straight to work.

Inside, the space between front bar and dining room has been opened up around the original horseshoe-shaped bar. The pool table remains (with new felt), but there are new DIY-built reclaimed timber tables, as well as new chairs and stools. The ugly dropped ceiling has been removed to expose the building’s geometric bones, and a classic pub bistro carpet has been laid.

“It’s a lot of small things that add up to make the space feel refreshed but with the same identity,” Morgan says.

Running the pub with him are business partner Jim Goumas, general manager Freya Banting and head chef Henry Conkie, who has refreshed the menu – though it’s still “a pretty simple pub menu”, Morgan says. Spruced up starters include soppressata with pickled guindillas and French Caribbean-style salt cod fritters. For mains, there’s a grill firing Wagyu cheeseburgers, steaks, lamb cutlets and Peruvian-style roast chicken with aji verde and chips. Eggplant and chicken parmas feature, and dessert is either sticky date pudding or a Basque cheesecake.

Each week, a few European-inspired specials – duck rillette, whole roasted sole, lamb skewers with charred eggplant – are written on a big dining room mirror. And a secret menu features dim sims and other pub grub – just ask the bar staff.

The biggest change is in the beer garden. There’s a new deck with a retractable awning to make it comfortable year-round. And the team has stripped a former recording studio out the back to its bare bones, adding some tables and a couple of TVs. A streetside parklet should be ready for summer.

“We did everything ourselves, just like a working bee, inside and out. In removing some of the old stuff we found these cool exposed beams and old bricks that we wanted to keep, and that space has been transformed into this kind of indoor-outdoor situation that works whether it’s sunny or raining.”

On the taps, you’ll find the usual Carlton Draught, Guinness and Great Northern, as well as a pale ale and a draught from The Mill Brewery, a Balter XPA and a Coopers stout. Monday is steak night, Friday is fish’n’chips, and there’s a weekly Sunday roast. In plain terms: it’s a pub.

“The most important thing for us is just letting people know the pub is here for them – we’re keen to get everyone back in and get the walls scuffed up.”

Commercial Club Hotel
344 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy
(03) 9419 1522

Hours:
Mon to Wed 4pm–11pm
Thu midday–11pm
Fri & Sat midday–midnight
Sun midday–11pm

commercialclubhotel.com.au
@cchfitzroy