‘They didn’t know what a schooner was. We had to explain a meat raffle’

New York: When Old Mates Pub staged a special opening party on a cold night in February, the queue snaked around the block. By 9pm, the joint had run out of beer.

In the weeks since, the Australian bar in Lower Manhattan has become a meeting place for expats and tourists, and a hotspot for Aussie events. Uber-cool Melbourne DJ Dom Dolla played a secret set there ahead of his sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, and it hosted the NYC launch of underwear brand Bonds, featuring model Robert Irwin.

Old Mates, a new Australian pub in New York, has proved a hit with famously fickle New Yorkers.Credit: Alex Towle

But Old Mates has also seen an influx of less obvious guests: Americans. In a short time, the pub has become a hit with famously fickle New Yorkers.

“So many Americans,” says general manager Amanda Verratti, an ex-Sydneysider who has grown used to dealing with lost-in-translation moments. “They didn’t know what a schooner was. We had to explain a meat raffle. The amount of people who thought I meant a charcuterie board … Explaining AFL and NRL to people, I’ve taken great joy in it.”

In times gone by, Aussie expats and tourists (and curious Americans) were spoilt for choice when it came to Australian drinking holes in the Big Apple. There was the legendary Eight Mile Creek on Mulberry Street, The Australian up on 38th, and Northern Territory in Brooklyn, among others.

But over the years, they dwindled. The Australian, run by former Manly rugby league player Matt Astill, shut just before COVID-19 ran riot. Since then, it has been slim pickings.

Former Melburnian Eddy Buckingham has half a dozen venues in New York. This is his first Australian pub.Credit: Alex Towle

It was not for lack of personnel. Eddy Buckingham, one of Australia’s prominent expats in New York, was busy building up a hospitality portfolio that boasts some of the buzziest venues in the city, with names like Chinese Tuxedo, Peachy’s and The Tyger.

And Nick Stone, a former AFL footballer, was taking over Manhattan with his Bluestone Lane coffee franchise, which now has more than 55 locations across the United States.

But at the tail end of the pandemic, after a rocky couple of years, both men were on a boat on the Jersey Shore, lamenting the demise of the Australian pub in New York. Someone should do something about it, they thought. “And then there was a sense of: ‘Well, if not us, then who?’” Buckingham says.

So began a three-year process of searching for a suitable property, negotiating the licence and transforming a former Irish pub and one-time ship chandlery into the sort of venue that wouldn’t be out of place in Sydney’s Paddington or Melbourne’s Fitzroy.

Vintage ads for Winfield cigarettes and bill posters for a Jimmy Barnes tour are among the Australiana on the walls.Credit: Alex Towle

With capacity for more than 400 people, it’s Buckingham’s most ambitious project to date. “It was never supposed to be this big,” he says. “This was going to be a side hustle for both of us.”

The size may have been fortuitous because on a recent Friday night, the place was packed and raucous. That included the large main bar, an upstairs dining room, and a basement featuring a bar, DJ booth and carpet that would transport any Australian straight back to the boozers of their youth.

Old Mates even boasts a “beer garden” – although it’s five tables on a narrow street-side strip. After all, this is Manhattan, not Melbourne.

In a corner of the basement, Riley Binder, a 27-year-old tech salesman from New York, was drinking beer with four American friends, celebrating a birthday.

On a recent Friday night, New Yorkers (from left) Lucas Vitollo, Jack Blasch, Andrew Gallitelli, Riley Binder and Ryan Paliwoda celebrated a birthday.Credit: Alex Towle

“We’ve always been interested in Australian culture, and we wanted to come try out some of the food,” Binder said. “Australians know how to party, know how to have a great time, so when we saw the Australian pub, we figured it’d probably be a good time.”

At the bar, you’ll find lager and mid-strength beer, brewed in Brooklyn, flowing from icy taps – an Australian specialty that’s more difficult to replicate than you’d think. There’s also Four Pillars gin and Penfolds wine.

On the menu, you’ll find the comforts of a top-notch chicken parmigiana, Gundagai lamb and barramundi, handled by chef Simon Drolz-Cox, formerly of Sydney’s Dear Sainte Eloise and 10 William Street.

The walls are decked out in Australiana, but it’s classy, not cringy. You’ll see a Kylie Minogue album cover, a photo of American-born Helen d’Amico infamously streaking her way across the MCG during the 1982 AFL grand final, and homages to Melbourne’s Revolver nightclub or the Reclink Community Cup.

The pub even has a “beer garden”, though in New York it’s five tables along a narrow outdoor strip.Credit: Alex Towle

Investors in the pub include comedians and TV hosts Andy Lee and Hamish Blake, who were present for opening night. Lee went up and down the street telling hundreds of people in the queue: “We’re so happy you came, we think we’re going to run out of beer by the time you get in.”

New York drinkers are spoilt for choice, from cocktail bars and dives to speakeasies and restaurants. Buckingham says the Australian pub is a different proposition and serves a different purpose. It’s a meeting place – often for multiple generations, including children. Old Mates recently held an Easter egg hunt. On Anzac Day, it staged two-up. Trivia nights and karaoke are also coming soon.

“The Aussie pub is very special, and is unlike the American bar,” Buckingham says. “An American bar, they’re not doing an Easter egg hunt for the seven-year-olds.

“They’re very much more adult spaces, they’re often more about drinking. They’re about liquor. There’s a reason that martinis are huge in New York, and cold schooners or mid-strength beers are huge in Australia.”

“You guys are so upfront and brash and honest”: Sophia Siegel (left) and friend Amelia O’Keefe said they loved hanging out with Australians.Credit: Alex Towle

Sophia Siegel, who lives on the next block, was enjoying one of those cold schooners with her friend Amelia O’Keefe. Siegel said she loved Australia and Australians, and nearly moved there with her family.

“You guys are so upfront and brash and honest. I respect that,” she said. “There’s not a lot of beating around the bush and bullshit.”

That, they agreed, was more of an American thing.

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