The bars and restaurants joining Wynnum’s growing entertainment scene before end of 2022
A modern lounge bar, a wine venue at the former site of an iconic hotel and more – see the new bars and restaurants coming to a hot entertainment precinct on Brisbane’s bayside.
Southeast
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Flashy new modern lounge bars with a unique twist, a wine venue at the former site of an iconic hotel, a gourmet pizzeria and a Japanese sushi and izakaya restaurant – a growing entertainment precinct on Brisbane’s bayside will get even hotter in the next two months.
Four new venues will open in Wynnum in the next month, adding to the long list of bars and restaurants, which have reinvigorated the previously quiet waterfront suburb in the past 18 months.
The bayside is becoming an entertainment destination for locals and visitors from outside the area with Manly continuing to build its culinary reputation and its neighbouring suburb is following suit.
Benn Woods from Ray White Commercial Bayside, the agent behind the four new venues opening in Wynnum in the coming weeks, said more and more people from the hospitality industry saw the area as a great place to invest in.
“Wynnum has really flourished through the last 18 months,” he said.
“We’ve seen residential prices lift significantly as more people work from home, rather than traditional city offices.
“This has lead to shopping and eating local more often, which in turn has brought more traders to Wynnum.
“The area is really hitting a critical mass of businesses, attracting more high quality food and drink venues to the bayside, as evidenced by this latest collection of fantastic new restaurants and bars.
“The area really is on the up and up.”
BEHIND THE BARS & RESTAURANTS COMING TO WYNNUM
HAJIME – 11/66 BAY TERRACE
Sitting at the ground level of one of Wynnum’s newest residential developments, Enclave, Hajime will be one of the bayside’s few Japanese restaurants.
Scheduled to open within the next two weeks, the venue with a 57 sqm internal area and 65 sqm alfresco dining area, Hajime will be a Japanese sushi bar and izakaya on the corner of Charlotte St and Bay Tce.
Owner Ken Hu, who bought the site in May, said he wanted to give the area an authentic Japanese restaurant which will give the bayside more variety in the cuisine offered in the suburb.
Hajime Japanese Restaurant is a lovely relaxing place for local community and people visiting Wynnum,” Mr Hu said.
“We are doing sushi, hot food, Japanese street food and so on and will be licensed in the near future. We have takeaway and dining in service as well, inside and outside dining area for your own choice.
“Hajime is meaning of beginning in Japanese, this is our first own shop, so a new beginning of us and also remind ourselves that always remember our aim of early beginning.
”All of us have more than 10 years experience in food industry in Brisbane, our main aim is providing good food, giving more choices for local people.”
D&W REPUBLIC – 64 EDIT ST
He’s owned nightclubs and restaurants in regional Queensland but now this man has become one of the latest business owners to join one of the hottest and fastest growing entertainment scenes in Brisbane.
Grant Long, 38, finalised a lease agreement to take over 64 Edith St in Wynnum’s CBD in April, where he will open a new modern lounge bar called D&W Republic next month.
The Wakerley resident, who owned two restaurants, a bar and a nightclub in Mackay while in his 20s before returning to Brisbane in 2012 when his wife was pregnant with their first child, said one of the aims of the venue was to bring more young people to the bayside.
“The main concept is a lounge bar, serving nice cocktails, craft beers and a good range of spirits while having a little bit of a dancefloor with a DJ playing remixed house,” Mr Long said.
“A bit of a modern spin to give the younger demographic somewhere to go in the growing Wynnum entertainment hub.”
The site is the former home of Suncorp bank.
“With my experience in the industry, I owned my first nightclub at 24-years-old, I wanted to get back into it after a while out and feel I can add something to Wynnum and it was the perfect place for this new venue,” Mr Long said.
MUNJA PIZZA – 82B BAY TERRACE
Another new restaurant bringing an international flavour to Wynnum is Munja Pizza, which is replacing the former home of Pizza Capers on Bay Tce in the CBD.
Started by couple, John and Paulina Barbato, the restaurant is scheduled to open next month and will feature 60 sqm internal space along with 40 sqm of alfresco dining.
Bringing authentic Italian wood-fired pizza to Wynnum, Mr and Mrs Barbato leased the venue last month and are currently fitting out the site.
“Munja Pizza is wanting to bring a little piece of Italy to Brisbane. At Munja Pizza our aim is for you to experience and enjoy the kind of dough and pizza you would find at a pizzeria in Napoli.
“Simple, beautiful and rustic flavours where less truly is more, and the pizza base is the hero.”
And the couple’s journey towards their new bayside venue started more than two decades ago.
“Many years ago, approximately 25 years ago, an Italian baker friend of John’s family, who is also from an Italian background passed on his recipe to John for an artisan pizza dough,” Mrs Barbato said.
That introduction to his friend’s tasty recipe kickstarted a passion and love for pizza for Mr Barbato, who then bought a commercial mixer and started making them at big family gatherings, later becoming known for it.
“This was never something John did for work, rather it was a passion, and something he loved to do outside of work,” Mrs Barbato said.
The couple then moved from Adelaide to Brisbane with their three children in 2008, where
Mr Barbato achieved his dream of building his own wood fired oven and then after running their own businesses for more than 20 years, they decided to take the risk and jump into hospitality.
“We really want to share the beautiful, simple, clean and rustic flavours that John has crafted in his pizzas with the rest of Brisbane, particularly the bayside,” Mrs Barbato said.
“We looked into where there was a lack of authentic pizzerias in Brisbane and Wynnum stood out to us as a hole needing to be filled. So when the space on Bay Tce became available we knew this was where munja pizza was meant to be.
“The word ‘munja’ means ‘eat’ in Italian, although spelt differently, as we’ve made it simpler to pronounce with this spelling.
“That is all we ever heard Nonna say to us when we were in Italy, ‘munja, munja’ until our bellies were so full we thought they would burst.
“So we are encouraging the people of Brisbane to ‘munja’ our pizza, as we are certain they will not be disappointed.
Mrs Barbato said the bayside community have already been so welcoming.
“We have felt so welcomed and cannot wait to finally open up and become a part of the Wynnum and bayside community. We plan on hanging around here for a long time,” she said.
“We’re anticipating fit out should be completed by early October and we are planning for a soft opening on October 9 before opening to the public on October 13.”
ADELITA WINE BAR – 32 GLENORA ST
Near Wynnum Creek and at the same address as the formerly iconic Wynnum Point Hotel, or Fishers Hotel as it was known to locals, will be a boutique wine bar scheduled to open in November.
Adelita Wine Bar, owned by Chris Hollingsworth, is a wine bar named after his grandmother which will be offering sharestyle tapas plates of modern Australian with a “contemporary twist”.
“We’ll be showcasing a global selection of wines, including some of Australia’s up and coming winemakers,” Mr Hollingsworth said.
Adelita will be run by venue manager Cooper Lawton with its menu being curated by Melbourne chef Esca Khoo, who has trained under the likes of Rene Redzepi, Heston Blumenthal, Dan Hunter and Andre Chiang.
After 10 years as a tradie, Mr Hollingsworth has more than seven years experience in the hospitality industry, co-founding Monocle Coffee, Darvella Patisserie and Melrose Restaurant, which was recently named in Brisbane’s top 50 restaurants.
“After exiting these ventures at the end of 2021, I set out to find my next project, which brought me to Wynnum,” Mr Hollingsworth said.
“My team and I are looking forward to submerging ourselves within the Wynnum community.”
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