The moment you walk into Old Mates you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Melbourne. Australian accents everywhere. Posters of Kylie, Jimmy Barnes, Silverchair, Australian Women’s Weekly Cook books and Mambo T-Shirts adorne the walls. Australian Rules Football and National Rugby League play on the tv’s behind and around the bar. The sound of Cold Chisel’s Flame Trees and Dragon’s April Sun in Cuba fill your ears. You are in a quintessential Australian pub. But you are in Lower Manhattan.
Old Mates Pub is, well, a place for you and your old (and new) mates to have a drink, a good meal and a good time. New York City hasn’t had a proper Aussie pub since The Australian closed during the COVID pandemic in 2020, and the arrival of Old Mates this year has been a welcome one, for not just myself, but the countless Aussie expats who call New York City home.
Old Mates is the brainchild of radio hosts Andy Lee and Hamish Blake, restaurateur Eddy Buckingham (of Chinese Tuxedo, Peachy’s, The Tyger, and SoSo’s) Bluestone Lane founder Nick Stone and a group of investors that include Australian basketballer Patty Mills, cricketer Pat Cummins, actor Hugh Jackman, tennis star Ash Barty, and surfer Mick Fanning.
It offers traditional Australian pub meals: meat pies and sausage rolls, parmagiana, a burger with the lot, fish and chips, lamb chops and pavlova for dessert. As well as Australian bevvies such as Cooper’s Pale Ale, tinnies of Sydney Beer Co Lager and a selection of over 40 Australian wines. They also have cocktails and non-alcoholic cocktails named after great Australian songs, like New Sensation, Spinning Around and Walking on a Dream.
The three level venue has a basement that looks like an Aussie dive bar. The first floor, The Harbour Room, over looks the Hudson River and pays homage to the carpet in the Members Lounge at the MCG. The whole venue is a nod to Melbourne, especially Richmond bars and RSL’s. There is even a beer garden out the front.
The place is often packed by 5.30pm with Australian expats, Australian tourists and New York City locals. On opening night the beer ran out in five hours! They have hosted rowdy surprise DJ sets by Dom Dolla, turning the place into a boiler room, a bit of Revolver Upstairs in New York City. It is a slice of down under in the big apple.
On an evening there recently, as Sounds of Then (This is Australia) by Ganggajang played, I ran into an old mate from my days in Australian parliament. I couldn’t help but feel that for the few hours you are at Old Mates, you really are home. So if you want a good cold beer, a place to watch some footy on a Friday night, or feeling a little homesick, visit Old Mates.
Try the My Happiness cocktail, a cold Old Mates Lager on tap, and the fish and chips.
Old Mates Pub
170 John St, New York, NY 10038
www.instagram.com/oldmatespub
AWNY | Australian Women in New York 