Lars Kollrepp announces the opening of Lars Bar and Grill on August 8, more restaurants takeover Nobby Beach

It’s a new era for Nobby Beach as the once-sleepy strip of shops braces for a string of new openings. Check them out

Lars Kollrepp is opening a restaurant called Lars Bar and Grill in the Oxley. Monday May 20, 2024. Picture, John Gass

It’s a new era for Nobby Beach as the once-sleepy strip of shops braces for a string of new openings.

Housed in Daniel Veitch’s boutique retail, dining and lifestyle village The Oxley 1823, Lars Bar and Grill owner and head chef Lars Kollrepp is now taking bookings for the first official dinner service on August 8 after eight months of intensive work.

As the son of Burleigh restaurateur Marty Kollrepp, who presided over iconic Oskars on the Burleigh Headlands for 34 years before the space was taken over by Burleigh Pavilion, it’s a meaningful move north to Nobby’s.

But Mr Kollrepp’s steakhouse is only the first name in the new line-up at the Oxley, which launched late last year on the corner of Lavarack Rd and the Gold Coast Highway, with some of the area’s most successful names branching out with new businesses.

Lars Kollrepp is opening a restaurant called Lars Bar and Grill in the Oxley.

Lars Kollrepp is opening a restaurant called Lars Bar and Grill in the Oxley.,

Lars Kollrepp is opening a restaurant called Lars Bar and Grill in the Oxley.,

Buoy cafe owner Brodie Green, who sold his beloved Burleigh Heads establishment Seadog earlier this year, is set to open a wine bar, Moustache.

The owners of the popular Rafiki’s, housed under the Mermaid Beach SLSC, are rumoured to be opening a raw bar featuring oysters and sashimi.

Burleigh coffee king Marcus Wilkins also joined the Nobby’s line-up last year, leaving Nook to set up The Holliday Coffee, with line-ups regularly seen around the block.

It’s not just eateries, but fashion as well, although this time the Nobby’s precinct is borrowing from Broadbeach.

Upscale boutique Janine Edwards has moved from Pacific Fair to the Oxley, with its website already rebranded and its doors due to open next week.

Mr Kollrepp, who lives nearby in Mermaid Waters, said he was excited to see the transformation of the neighbourhood.

“I worked with Simon Gloftis at Hellenika here and I think that restaurant really kickstarted the neighbourhood,” said Mr Kollrepp, who was previously executive chef of all Simon Gloftis’ Brisbane restaurants.

High Steaks on restaurateur Simon Gloftis at SK Steak and Oyster Restaurant, Fortitude Valley, interviewed by Anooska Tucker-Evans. Picture: Liam Kidston

“That site has seen a bit of turnover lately but I think the area is really defining itself.

“For too long the shops here have just been untouched, some of them — like Foster’s Bakery — are institutions but some of the older sites probably haven’t found the right tenants yet, the sort of pop-up smoke shops.

“We want to keep bringing the area up, while still being somewhere that locals can come to regularly.”

Mr Kollrepp said Lars Bar and Grill would feature a custom wood-fire grill, a dry-aged cool room, a private dining area and would be stocked with as much Queensland produce as possible.

The dining room has seating for 80 people with an additional 30 seats outside, as well as a private dining room with seating for up to 10 people.

Mr Kollrepp said the menu would have a range of price points to ensure that locals could afford to dine there regularly.

Dishes such as caviar tarts, baked scallops and roasted pumpkin ravioli will feature on the snacks and entree menu, while mains will include a choice of 10 different steaks such as pork tomahawk with burnt onion mustard and grilled coral trout with smoked tomato and capsicum.