The doors to North Adelaide pub The Archer will reopen on Friday

The doors to historic North Adelaide pub The Archer will reopen this week, five months after its previous operator fell into liquidation.

The Archer bartender India Plummer and assistant manager Alex Jones at the revamped North Adelaide pub. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

• Operator of The Archer falls into administration
• The Archer closes its doors after failing to attract buyer
• Directors of The Archer speak out about pub’s demise

The doors to historic North Adelaide pub The Archer will reopen on Friday, five months after its previous operator fell into liquidation.

Major pub operator ALH Group, which has taken back control of the venue, has completed internal renovations and a revamp of the hotel’s beer garden ahead of Friday’s opening.

ALH Group SA operations manager Darren Nathan said 12 staff members had been employed to oversee the opening few weeks, with the potential for additional employment “as the business develops”.

“This week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday we’re opening the doors for people to come and have a look and try our new menu, and then next weekend will be the major launch where we’ll have our new entertainment, drinks specials and DJs,” he said.

“We’ve done some internal renovations, restored the floorboards back to their original colour and condition, painted the internal walls and done some back of bar renovations.

“The beer garden bas been renovated for the opening, changing the look and feel and adding more seating and a large screen television - we’ve made a significant investment into that for this opening. People walking into the beer garden would think they’ve stepped into a different pub.”

ALH returns as operator of the venue three years after it sold its leasehold interest to the Bloody Mary Group’s Huntsman Hotel Pty Ltd.

That entity fell into administration in October, leaving the venue dormant since a “Drink Us Dry” closing party on November 17.

Since then ALH has remained liable for rental payments at the venue due to a guarantee offered as part of its sale to Huntsman in 2016.

The Archer’s head chef Tony Kartono. Picture: AAP Image/Brenton Edwards

Mr Nathan said the pub’s new “value offering” would cater to all tastes.

“We’ll have wood-fired, chargrilled steaks but also a range of vegan and vegetarian dishes plus classic pub meals, so we’ll cater to all the current food trends,” he said.

“I think across a range of venues we’ve seen that when people go out they want to experience something that they can’t cook at home, but they also want homely food that’s good value.

“The Archer in the past has been at the higher end of the beer and meals price point, and we’ve gone to The Archer being a great pub in an old charm building where you can get great value food and drinks.”

ALH Group is considering the potential for further upgrades to The Archer, and expects to commence works by the middle of the year.

In 2016 Bloody Mary Group revealed plans to revert The Archer’s name back to The Huntsman Hotel as part of a $2 million-plus transformation of the heritage-listed building.

The plans, revealed after its acquisition of the venue, included the construction of a three-level, terraced beer garden at the rear of the building.

But as trading conditions deteriorated, those plans were shelved.

In November last year, Bloody Mary Group director Brett Viney blamed high rent and power costs, and ongoing development delays at the former Le Cornu site, for the demise of the venue.

Huntsman Hotel Pty Ltd was wound up in November, owing the ATO, employees and unsecured creditors more than $600,000.

ALH, which is majority-owned by Woolworths, operates a portfolio of more than 300 licensed venues across Australia including around 30 venues in South Australia.