What I Really Think About The Pub Where You Pour Your Own Beer
In March of 2023, mates Duncan and Jimmy opened a Buddy’s Bar in the ever trendy and always beery Sydney suburb of Newtown and I wrote a few pieces about the venue for Crafty Pint and Time Out. Put simply, I made some good money chatting to the owners and drinking beers.
In the site of the old Lentil As Anything cafe, Buddy’s Bar had big shoes to fill and in the space where there was once was vegan milk and overpaying out of guilt is one heck of a gimmick; Buddy’s has no bartenders, YOU pour your own beer.
In my write ups I tend to focus on the positives but now that some time has passed I’d like to give my true honest thoughts alongside my published write ups.
The Payment System Is Easy And Financially Responsible
Like Timezone, Buddy’s provides you with a swipe card that you preload ($30 is a good start) that you then tap above the beer you want before you start pouring. As you pour you see your card balance go down with more expensive drinks draining your account more rapidly. Because of this, I think it sort of challenges you to be more responsible with your cash.
“A lot of craft beers are really expensive. One thing that’s cool about us is the fact that you can buy a two dollar or one dollar mouthful,” says Duncan.
However, most breweries and crafty bars let you try a sample for free so I don’t think this is a huge advantage. Especially if you’re like me…
I Suck At Pouring Beer And You Might Too
If you’ve watched my reviews before this won’t come as a surprise. Pouring a beer, even out of a bottle is not my strong suit and when Jimmy passed me a glass and invited me to pour myself a beer I poured myself a glass full of foamy, nihilistic snow. Never have I appreciated the work of a bartender more than I have at Buddy’s.
The sucky thing was that had I actually paid for this beer (Jimmy shouted me) it would have cost me five bucks! There are staff by to help you but they won’t pour the beer for you. They don’t get paid for that shit.
They Have A Great Beer Selection
“At any given time, Buddy’s features 16 taps dedicated to craft beer with the rest pouring wines and cocktails. The beer selection when I called in focused on local with Sydney brewers Atomic, Philter and Yulli’s making an appearance plus some over-the-border selections from Sailors Grave, Blackman’s and Land & Sea. Without a doubt, the lineup will have changed by the time of your visit, although the crisp, clean and a little hoppy house lager, Buddy’s Lager, will surely remain alongside limited brews that are there to raise a few eyebrows.” - Benny via Crafty Pint
This is all mostly true! The beer selection is great with some seasonal sours and harder stuff for winter. To the best of my recollection, their house lager is just the Atomic lager (available down the road in Redfern) with their name on it. This is the case for a lot of ‘house beers’ you see in venues so they don’t lose a lot of points for this.
I Think You Should Go
Owners Duncan (left) and Jimmy (second from the left, or ‘right’) are genuinely nice guys.
Yes, it’s a gimmick but it’s just a bit of fun, especially with mates on a Sunday arvo where they have a live acoustic set. Ultimately, Buddy’s has a very nice ambience that seems to be powered by the fact that we’re all serving ourselves.
“People come in and feel like we see people’s hips itching for a dance and people top themselves off with a drink like you would at a house party; grab a random drink from the fridge, or tap wall, and have a conversation with a stranger over a drink.” - Jimmy
Personally, I hate self service checkouts (why am I not seeing the savings for doing unpaid cashier work?) but the friendly staff and clientele make up for what could be a lack of human interactions. I don’t want every bar in the world to be like Buddy’s but I’m glad there is one.
All images supplied via Buddy’s.
