Whiskey bar opens in the nip of time

HUNDREDS of retro-loving revelers at the Time Warp Festival at the weekend stopped in for a sip at the new, vintage-themed upstairs venue.

JUST IN TIME: Rick’s Diner manager Ben Jamieson pours a shot at the Palmwoods establishment’s American whiskey bar which opened on Friday, on the eve of the Time Warp Festival. Picture: Patrick Woods

A MUCH-ANTICIPATED American whiskey bar at Rick's Garage and Diner in Palmwoods opened on Friday night, just in time for the second annual Time Warp Festival the diner hosted at the weekend.

"All the locals were outside, waiting for it to open," owner Rick Jamieson said.

He joked that the crowd of people peering through the diner's windows reminded him of when the first New World department store was unveiled in New Zealand, when he was a child.

Renovation of the diner's top floor had been "full-on" for months, but the crowd's response to the new adults-only venue made it all worth while, Rick said.

"It's the icing on the cake, today," he said.

Many of the classic and vintage car and motorbike enthusiasts who were regulars had come to the diner especially for the unveiling of the whiskey bar and to enjoy the Time Warp Festival.

Buderim resident Mick Chilcote was one of many regulars to give Rick a celebratory slap on the back on Saturday morning: "It's awesome, mate," he said. "It looks really good."

Mick was a fan of the "old style" of the refurbishment, which included a giant timber bar, a floor-to-ceiling whiskey collection, and several vintage collector's items including a bar tender's ladder and wall-mounted French Oak wine rack.

1920s bi-fold doors open onto a spacious deck, where punters were enjoying beverages with a view overlooking the diner's popular beer garden, and on Saturday a barber groomed visitors' beards who sat atop a classic barber's chair on the deck.

Harvey Bay couple Karen and Marc Davis drove their 1961 white Cadillac to the rock n' roll-themed festival, and agreed the atmosphere at the upstairs venue was unique.

Children were not allowed in the whiskey bar, a feature celebrated by locals and visitors alike. Marc said a lot of punters who would enjoy the venue were "really sick of kids ruling the roost".