If the rise of Adelaide’s small bar wave was one of Aesop’s fables, new East End cocktail haunt Mr. Goodbar would be the suavest damn tortoise around.
While its arrival comes as the city veers ever closer to a 1:1 person to bar ratio, the folks behind Mr. Goodbar have been chipping away at this ambitious project since the heady days of early 2014. You know, when the Small Venue Licence was in its infancy, Croquet Clubs were actual clubs for croquet players and sipping a carafe of wine in a 4 x 3 metre space meant you were drinking in your bedroom. Again.
“We were one of the first applications once a upon a time,” owner Goran Dedic says. “A friend of mine was the previous occupant with his IT company. They’d moved on to bigger premises, so when I realised it was coming up for grabs I was totally excited about it – I knew what a special space it was.”
“In the end we inherited a few issues that came with the building, especially in regards to air conditioning units and the change of use,” he says of Goodbar’s protracted gestation, enlisting the help of Studio Gram and bar team Owen Colin and Mike Knot along the way. “We persevered, and it has taken some time but finally it’s all in place. It’s really exciting.”
Now the dust has settled, the final approvals given and the doors to this impressively decked out three level tribute to the patron saint of bar tending (Saint Amand, if you’re wondering) thrown open. Occupying the heritage-listed main archway entrance of the old market façade, a lot of time and effort has gone into transforming this former office space into the perfect entry point – and a very literal gateway – to one of the East End’s slickest strips, Ebenezer Place. And it shows.
Immaculate wood panelling curls up the walls like you’re inside a particularly spacious, swanky wine barrel. Behind the bar all manner of spirits and colourful tonics stand arranged like a ziggurat, topped with a golden crucifix. Booths are lined with green leather and from the bar’s name emblazoned in tiles below your feet in the small ground level bar to the now mandatory neon light features, it’s all very impressive.
Seriously though, some neon light manufacturer is making a killing off the small bar boom
So is the view, offering a perspective of Ebenezer Place we’ve rarely contemplated that overlooks the likes of Hey Jupiter, DAS and Sad. Café, stretching all the way down to that other impressive new addition, NOLA Adelaide. When it comes to the cocktail menu, all those bottles aren’t just for show. With a list reaching the 120 mark, each concoction has been painstakingly tested and trialed for consistency and balance. It sounds exhausting.
After a soft launch in early February, the bar is fully armed and operational just in time for Fringe. Opening from 3.00pm from Wednesdays and stretching into the late evening, Mr. Goodbar’s is another fetching addition to Adelaide’s bar scene that’s both casual and a little bit lux.
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Where
12 Union Street, Adelaide
Opening Hours
Wednesday – Thursday: 3.00pm – 12.00am
Friday – Saturday: 3.00pm – 2.00am
Sunday: 4.00pm – 12.00am
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