Adelaide city laneways are bursting with life and new bars

A JOURNEY down any Adelaide laneway these days is likely to yield plenty of surprises — day and night — and more than one clever little watering hole for thirsty travellers.

Peel St laneway on a warm summer's night in Adelaide. Picture: Russell Millard

AFTER several years of new blood, sweat and cheers, Adelaide’s laneways are pumping with life in the form of vibrant small bars, restaurants and many thousands of visitors. The State Government, city council, traders and start ups have helped create an ever-evolving set of people-friendly avenues that are destinations in themselves, as well as connecting major city landmarks. The floodgates opened in 2013 after established and would-be small bar operators convinced law makers to introduce a small-venue category in the Liquor Licensing Act, removing traditional roadblocks to local entrepreneurs.

Since then, 89 small venue licences have been issued — many of them for laneway watering holes — with each new bar drawing in its own coterie of small-venue brethren, start-up eateries and businesses. Importantly, says Georgina Vasilevski from Renewal SA, the 25 to 35-year-olds creating many of these stunning new venues are the people who would often otherwise have gone interstate.

Vasilevski says Renewal SA had begun working with the city council and existing traders and landlords on streets considered ripe for laneway conversions before the law change. “It started with Leigh St. It was all about making it more pedestrian friendly so diners could spill out on to the street,” she says. That led to a temporary street closure in 2012, and serious road testing of ideas to improve the outdoors, including paving, trees, lighting and art. Indoors, landlords were being encouraged to review their tenancy mix to “encourage more people staying in the street”.

Businesses like Udaberri Pintxos y Vino, which helped lead the small-venue charge, has watched as bars proliferate through the city. “We were a little concerned at first,” says co-owner Rob Dinnen. “But the culture has really changed and now people tend to go from venue to venue to venue instead of staying in one place.”

Businesses old and new took part in street parties and other activations to show off their new look. The hard work paid off with a formal road closure in 2014 and an ongoing boom in quality bars and food businesses and their patrons. Leigh St would go on to become part of the evolving Market to Riverbank Link project to allow more than 15,000 tourists and locals to move from the Adelaide Central Market to the River Torrens in vibrant environs.

Other city laneways have also shone through. Peel St was down at heel and almost deserted before the brains behind the bar Clever Little Tailor came along. “They went into Peel St because they loved the cream-brick look and that it’s a proper laneway and not something that’s been modernised,” Vasilevski says. “You can’t use a cookie-cutter approach with the laneways. Each one has to have a unique feel.” Peel St is now formally closed to traffic and home to more bars and eateries than you can shake a cocktail stick at.

In the east of the city, the closure of the East End Markets and redevelopment of the precinct gave life to yet more laneway destinations and their inhabitants, who have learned to be ground breaking in their own ways and enjoy Rundle St’s hipster embrace.

Nightfall: Cocktail hour at Hains and Co in Gilbert Place, Adelaide. Picture: Russell Millard

AROUND EVERY CORNER

LEIGH ST

The first of Adelaide’s laneways to take off and still the darling of the outdoor wine-and-dine set, Leigh St is the softly-lit centrepiece of the Market to Riverbank Link project. Closed to traffic and beautifully restored, leafy trees now shade its paved expanses, and diners spill out around table settings from fine diners Rigoni’s Bistro and Cos night and day. The street is home to a line up of ornate heritage and contemporary shop fronts, including bars offering a wave of cocktails and tapas-style food with influences from around the globe. You can sandwich your experience with java from Coffee Branch or ice cream from Mövenpick at either end of the street.

Bars: Udaberri Pintxos y Vino, 11-13 Leigh St. Casablahblah, 12 Leigh St. Pink Moon Saloon, 21 Leigh St

BANK ST

Bank St Social is the star of this newly renovated and pedestrianised section of the Market to Riverbank Link. Enjoy amazing cocktails in this underground haven,

away from the nightclub beat of Hindley St. Bank St’s parklets have been replaced by a sleek mall space, leaving room for diners to choose which tasty cheap-eats spot is for them.

Bars: Bank Street Social, corner Bank and Hindley Sts.

TOPHAM MALL

Finally, Topham Mall has joined its hip cousins on the Market to Riverbank Link, complete with shiny new paving and tiers of outdoor seating, ready for the new eateries and shops the area hopes to attract in coming months, including a small wine bar to be called The Noble Gentleman. Kidd Retail Group has applied for a small-venue liquor license for the premises to be a cellar door for growing numbers of wineries from the Adelaide Hills. The group is also responsible for the Lady Burra Brewhouse next door, which keeps brew-hounds sweet with handcrafted beer made on the premises. Dig a little deeper into mall’s offshoots and you’ll find The Beigelry and Booknook & Bean among other artsy shopfronts.

Bars: Lady Burra Brewhouse, 4 Topham Mall.

PEEL ST

Grunge is good in this unreconstructed laneway, which is home to a stable full of brilliant bars and eateries. Peel Street restaurant offers exuberant dishes, communal tables and lively chatter all recommended in The Advertiser Good Food Guide 2018. Bread and Bone makes one of the best burgers in town and Asian gem Gondola Gondola serves cracker dishes in a mod street-food-stall-like setting. This laneway intends to stay true to its roots, so don’t expect a makeover any time soon.

Bars: Gondola Gondola Bia Om Bar, 1 Peel St. Alfred’s Bar, 14 Peel St. Maybe Mae, 15 Peel St. La Moka, 16 Peel St. Clever Little Tailor, 19 Peel St. Chihuahua, 20 Peel St. Kaffana Bar, 23 Peel St. Part small bar and eatery. La Rambla Tapas Bar, 28 Peel St.

GILBERT PLACE

The opening of Hains & Co gave social drinkers a reason to return to Gilbert Place. The nautical-themed bar is the brainchild of Marcus Motteram who runs a trio of venues in Melbourne. Think rum, gin, good grub and hosts who know the meaning of a warm, genuine welcome. Red October — named for a Moscow chocolate factory not the 1990 film — offers modern Russian cuisine, with a hidden bar in the basement below boasting Adelaide’s largest collection of whiskies, brought to you by the masterminds behind Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange.

Bars: Red October, 22 Gilbert St. Hains & Co, 23 Gilbert St. Florence Rooftop Bar and Kaffana, 27 Gilbert St.

CRIPPEN PLACE

Those in search of late-night live music to go with their cocktail can beat a path to Crippen Place for a trifecta of clubs; Electric Circus, Mr Kims and Rocket Bar & Rooftop. The laneway is a ghost town before 10pm later in the week.

Bars: Electric Circus, Mr Kims, Rocket Bar, 17 Crippen Place

GRESHAM ST

La Buvette Drinkery and The Bibliotecha Bar and Book Exchange began the Gresham St revival and Mississippi Moon added something a little off-centre with its focus on moonshines, bourbons and about 10 types of jerky. La Buvette allows the fabulous folk to imbibe French aperitifs and nibble degustation platters. Bibliotecha continues the European stylings with spirits from around the globe, cocktails and lots of books

Bars: The Bibliotecha Bar and Book Exchange, 27 Gresham St. La Buvette Drinkery, 27 Gresham St. Mississippi Moon, 25 Gresham St.

VARDON AVENUE

The leafy recesses of Vardon Avenue, off funky Rundle St, are home to some premium beverage destinations. Exchange Speciality Coffee offers artisanal caffeine and Mother Vine and East End Cellars Tasting Room offer quality wines for those who know. New Orleans inspired Nola offers the beer and whiskey set a haven and recent arrival The William Bligh adds a rum focus with its cocktails and beer menu. If you need food to go with all that alcohol, you won’t need to look far for a cafe.

Bars: Mothervine, 22-26 Vardon Ave. East End Cellars Tasting Room, 25 Vardon Ave. Nola, 28 Vardon Ave. The William Bligh, 33 Vardon Ave.

EBENEZER PLACE

Just a few steps away from Vardon Avenue, what’s not to love about Ebenezer Place, which happily carries on the Rundle St hipster vibe. Sit in the sun and enjoy the best of The Belgian Beer Cafe ‘Oostende’, still happily at home on its three-cornered site. Look out for Hey Jupiter, Providore East End and Parwana, among other foodie and retail gems.

Bars: Belgian Beer Cafe ‘Oostende’, Ebenezer Place.

UNION ST

Continue the East End experience at Penny University cafe or sandwich it in a bun with signature sauce at Burger Theory, the food truck turned permanent establishment and among the best burger joints in Adelaide if not Australia. Want some soul with that? Head to Mr Goodbar with its tongue-in-cheek quasi-spiritual vibe straight from the deep south.

Bars: Mr Goodbar, corner Ebenezer Place and Union St.

LINDES LANE

A laneway and a cafe and bar all in one, Lindes Lane is a casual wine bar by day, and a buzzing bar at night. Sit inside or amid colourful seating and astro turf outside for your burger and coffee or, after 6pm Friday and Saturday night, head downstairs to BARLOW, one of Adelaide’s most tantalising hidden bars.

Bars: Lindes Lane/Barlow, off Rundle Mall.

GAWLER PLACE

This offshoot from Rundle Mall is undergoing an $8 million transformation to give it wider footpaths, new lighting, greenwalls, seating and more outdoor dining areas. Watch this space.

Editor’s note: This is not an exhaustive list of laneway bars and businesses, so go on your own adventure and discover your own gems.