Limerick Castle Hotel: North Melbourne’s best bar

This hotel serves up nothing but Victorian frothies and top-class pub grub. And it has proven a favourite with Leader readers who named it North Melbourne’s best bar.

The Limerick Castle Hotel in the early 1970s.

If you’re looking for a proper drink and good pub food in North Melbourne, you can’t go past the Limerick Castle Hotel.

The Errol St institution has been providing punters with crisp, exclusively Victorian beer since 1966.

The Limerick Castle Hotel in 2021 and in the 1970s.

Sammy Emini, who took over half the business in 2016, said some of his patrons had been drinking at the hotel for 40 years.

“They remember it being the same way the first time they walked in here as it is today.” he said.

Mr Emini said that the secret to the hotel’s decades of success was hiring friendly staff and always ensuring a reliable supply of cool, Victorian beer.

“All of the older boys are a bit fussier when it comes to their beer, so if a bad beer is poured I take it personally.” he said.
The Limerick prides itself on only serving beer from the Abbottsford Brewery on tap.

“The nostalgia in this place is off the chart. You walk in and you feel like you‘re in the middle of a country town, but you’re six or seven minutes to the CBD.” Mr Emini said.

Limerick Castle Hotel part-owner Sammy Emini

The hotel also serves a staple menu of classic pub grub, and Mr Emini said the plates always go back to the kitchen empty — his favourite dish was the King Island steak.

“What you expect to come out, that’s what comes out. You ever have beef stew at nan’s on a Sunday? That’s what you get here.” he said.

The Limerick Castle Hotel is at 161 Errol St, North Melbourne.