The Windsor Castle Gets Permission to Reopen – Minus a Tree

When warm weather hits, few south-side beer gardens pump like the Windsor Castle’s. The pub got into financial trouble at the end of 2024 and landed in the hands of new operator Liam Ganley in March 2025, who brought a vision for refreshing the 155-year-old pub.

Ganley, who also runs Carlton Club, Angus & Bon and others, has been locked in a back-and-forth with Stonnington council for most of this year. He wanted to spend several million dollars renovating. Phase one was to install a sound-blocking brick wall in the beer garden, which involved removing a Bhutan cypress tree on the property’s boundary (not to be confused with the large fig tree that dominates the beer garden).

The council initially denied the building request, then agreed on the premise that a replacement tree was planted. Negotiations stalled after Ganley said there wasn’t room on the property to replant. Eventually, the parties agreed that the Bhutan cypress could be removed if Ganley planted some replacement trees elsewhere.

“It was a bit of a drawn-out process, but thankfully we’ve got it all resolved now,” Ganley says. “Works on the pub are underway and we’re doing some planting in a nearby local park.”

The renovation is a major overhaul. The heritage-listed facade will remain, but the pub’s interior is being stripped out and reimagined, with nods to the current fit-out. On the ground floor, Ganley says the idea is to embrace the vibe of a cosy, British-meets-Melbourne-style pub.

“I love the charm of north-side pubs, we’re going for a similar kind of fit-out and feel to The Napier in Fitzroy, or The Standard,” he says. “We want to keep things relaxed but still eclectic, there’s a couple of open fireplaces too. We’ll still have some touches from the old space, you’ll see a few pink elephants floating around.”

Upstairs, there’s a new 100-capacity events space opening with a balcony that looks onto the beer garden, which has German beer hall-style tables, an outdoor firepit and a retractable roof that “covers about 80 per cent” of the space in the cooler months. The big fig tree out the back isn’t going anywhere.

“The fig tree is the best feature of the beer garden, we’re adding some lights to it to help with the ambience out the back as well.”

The food and drinks menus are getting an overhaul, too. Ganley is still working through the details, but the kitchen will be renovated and expanded, and a Josper grill has been brought in.

“We’re going to do pub food, we don’t want this place to become a restaurant,” he says. “We basically want to cook everything on the Josper and get some smoky vegetables, chicken and other mains, as well as a Sunday roast being a big focus.”

Drinks will look like something you’d find on a Fitzroy pub menu, to mirror the brief with the fit-out. Taps will be largely local, with Stomping Ground and Bridge Road already on board. There’ll be an Australian-focused wine list and some barrel-aged cocktails including a Negroni and an Old Fashioned.

“Our main goal is to keep it as a classic corner pub, we just want to add more food, and expanding the kitchen has allowed us to do that.”

The Windsor Castle will reopen in March 2027.