Mitcham Social opens in old Thatcher steel factory, run by Michael Olsen
Wood-fired pizza, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, grazing platters and doughnut balls are on the menu at a new social hotspot in Mitcham. Located inside a former steel factory, the venue offers a relaxed environment to grab a drink and bite to eat while enjoying live music.
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A new social hotspot has been established in the heart of Mitcham.
Located inside the former Thatcher steel factory, Mitcham Social offers a relaxed environment to gather and grab a drink and bite to eat while enjoying live music.
It’s been open for less than two months and already owner Michael Olsen and his team have been struggling to keep up with the amount of visitors.
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“We’ve been pleasantly shocked,” he said.
Months before the venue even opened its social media pages had more than 1000 followers and hundreds of commenters excited for it to open.
Mr Olsen, who also started Box Hill’s Red Cup Cafe and Nunawading’s The Peddler Cafe, said he believed the business was filling a gap in the market.
“I like to build things that we miss in the area,” he said.
The chilled-out space is equipped with a bar, coffee counter and space for performances and functions while being free from gambling and pokies machines.
And a lot of its charm comes from the building itself, which Mr Olsen had been eyeing off as a dream venue for years before he bought it.
When he was working on Red Cup Cafe he visited the factory several times to buy steel from owner Bryan Thatcher, each time joking about his interest in the factory itself.
Mr Thatcher built the structure with his own hands in the 1970s, and told Mr Olsen stories about using hand pulleys with his friends to transport the bricks.
When he decided to retire in 2017 he struck a deal with the hospitality entrepreneur.
“Now his building — which he built — gets to live on,” Mr Olsen said.
Mitcham Social is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 11pm, and on Sundays from noon to 8pm for the ‘Sunday Country Recovery Session’.
The kitchen serves dishes to keep and share including wood-fired pizza, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, grazing platters and doughnut balls.
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Live music is played on Fridays from 6 to 8pm and Sundays from 3 to 6pm.
It can be found at 1 Thornton Crescent. Details: 9872 5907.
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