One of Brisbane’s best bar groups has relaunched an iconic 1864-built pub
This “Heartbreak Ridge” classic features a rejuvenated front bar, a menu of Australian game dishes, and a private dining room in a wine cellar. Take a peek inside.
Heartbreak Ridge. That’s how a Spring Hill publican once described the strip of Leichhardt Street between Boundary Road and Upper Edward Street.
But then pubs have been hard all over Brisbane in recent decades. Our city sprawls and our population density is relatively low. Even before cold beer, a viable local boozer needs punters to drink the stuff.
Spring Hill, though, is slowly – slowly – coming alive. La Cache a Vin and Komeyui have appeared in recent years on Wharf Street, with the 185 Wharf Street residential development under construction next door. Wander further down the hill, and you’ll find the fancy Inchcolm and Amora hotels.
On the other side of Leichhardt, there’s the cult Creole Kitchen, and hidden gems such as Red Hut – the best Chinese restaurant you didn’t know about. So maybe Emma Hollands, Peter Hollands, Kat Makarov and Nick Winter’s decision to purchase the beautiful 1864-built Alliance Hotel on the corner of Leichhardt and Boundary Streets is ambitious, or maybe it’s perfect timing.
“There are so many developments happening in the area,” Winter says. “We’re just getting more and more people coming up here.”
“We’ve been lucky enough to walk into a venue that’s already established,” Peter Hollands adds. “So hopefully, we can be a venue that helps … create that.”
The Hollandses, Makarov and Winter have runs on the board when creating compelling bar experiences built around clear propositions. They’re behind Frog’s Hollow, which since opening in 2022 has become one of the CBD’s most popular boozers on the back of its freewheeling honky-tonk vibes. The Hollandses then opened Alice last year in a basement space just off Elizabeth Street, capturing the essence of a classic New York dive bar.
Basically, The Alliance is in good hands.
The place already had good bones, particularly after Nick Gregorski operated it as a gastropub in the mid-2010s. The inspiration for Peter Hollands and Winter, though, was more the Melbourne pubs they once frequented when they lived in the Victorian capital – places such as Terminus Hotel in Abbotsford, Great Northern Hotel in Carlton North and The Rainbow Hotel in Fitzroy.
“They’re great destinations but the thing they do so well is a team of staff that are genuinely interested in their booze and their products,” Winter says. “It’s not like they’re selling to you. They’re inviting you into the experience.”
The changes at The Alliance might initially feel subtle, but then there was a lot of low-hanging fruit. In the beautiful old front bar, he and Winter have replaced the bar top and beer lines, covered the walls in Australiana – think old Fosters, Fourex and Four’n Twenty pie posters – and thrown open the windows to better catch the sun as it tracks across the old Spring Hill workers’ cottages to the north-west, filling the venue with a lovely afternoon light.
On tap there are 10 beers that split the difference between big box brews such XXXX Gold, Toohey’s New and Guinness, and a rotating craft selection.
Out back, the old bistro has also been given a new bar top and renamed The Whisky Warren. There, head chef Julian Oliver is cooking a menu of Australian game dishes that will change depending on what he can get his hands on.
You might order kangaroo tartare served with onion and bean puree on toasted brioche; duck ragu with pappardelle; butterflied harissa-marinated whole quail with cauliflower puree, sautéed kale and crisp enoki; or a slow-cooked rabbit stew with mushroom, potato and tomato.
“It’s important to elevate that food element, but we don’t ever want to see ourselves as a gastropub,” Winter says. “We’re just a classic pub that does really good food.”
As per the name, there’s also an extensive collection of 100 Australian whiskies, which the owners intend to become Australia’s largest.
The rest of the venue has been given over to a series of private dining rooms and function spaces. Upstairs, there’s the light-filled Leichhardt Room for weddings and events with capacity for 160 guests.
Downstairs, beneath the public bar, there’s the Actress and the Bishop Bar, with capacity for 45 people and named after a striking refurbished neon that used to hang on the front of the building in the 1980s; and the 60-person Mirror Room, which features a mirrored ceiling.
There’s also a 14-seat private dining room in the venue’s wine cellar, which holds 120 bottles for the restaurant and bar.
Still, make no mistake, this is a local first and foremost, Peter says.
“I was talking on a panel at Bartender’s Weekender and someone asked what my inspiration was for a good bar,” he says. “And I just said, ‘I love getting loaded.’
“We put a lot of thought into how we wanted to relaunch the bar but at the end of the day, what we focused on is the s--t that’s essential: the bar top, the beer, the kicker once it’s there. Getting the windows open, getting the lighting right, getting the air con right.
“I love sitting in a bar with my friends, drinking schooners, and that’s what this is about.”
Open Tue-Sun, 12pm-10pm
320 Boundary Street, Spring Hill, (07) 3839 0169
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Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.