The John Curtin Hotel

A great little pub for a drink after uni or work and a bite to eat.
They have a rotating menu with different food providers. At the moment they have a great selection of BBQ delights!
This place has the right amount of grungy feel without making you feel dirty. Staff are (like in most pubs) young and friendly!

HUXTABURGER!
Great, I got your attention. Sitting literally 5mins walk away from the city is the John Curtin Hotel. I nice mix of modern and traditional pubs. It’s is just far enough away from Lygon St that it isn’t absolutely swarming with Melbourne Uni students. The demographic is quite mixed with an excellent vibe.
The drinks menu is abundant and the food is, well, Huxtaburger. I’m not sure who decided it’d be a good idea to chuck it in a pub but I need to find them and give them a nice warm hug. Really made my day.
If you’re after a chilled night or a nice place for dinner before heading out, The Curtin is for you.

Bringing Huxtaburger here was a very smart decision. Instead of traveling to the other side of the city, I get to enjoy these burgers closer to home. The staffs here are simply amazing. They’re friendly and attentive — bartender’s pretty cute too!
The only downfall is the lack of hygiene. When I visited here during the evening, there were houseflies inside the restaurant. Thankfully the weather was good so we took a table outside.
Music here is pretty great and also there’s a mini showing of random video clips during the night. I remember watching Woody Woodpecker. The place is pretty cozy at night. Would recommend to come here with friends if you’re looking for a place to grab a drink and chill.

Pretty decent pub right on the edge of the CBD. Heaps of gigs, good for a quick beer on Lygon St!
This place used to be fantastic back in the day — $ 10 for a parma and pot, and while the kitchen went MIA for awhile there, it’s been back for awhile now and offers a pretty decent feed.
The parma and burgers and all pretty nice and reasonably priced, and it’s a nifty little spot that feels like a real proper pub. Nothing too fancy, not too old man… They have frequent gigs upstairs and there’s always a good mix of people around grabbing a drink. Bar staff are friendly, and always up for a chat.
Really good for a quick meal or beer before venturing over to anything at Trades Hall!

Well. What a surprise. A local pub in the Melbourne city centre. It’s not quite in the CBD, but almost-​a-​valid-​use-​of-​the-​word-​literally a stones throw away.
This place is a vibrant mixture of students, tradies and those fleeing from further up Lygon Street. As a result, this place has a perfect cheap-​but-​bohemian feel. The food itself isn’t extremely inspired, but if you’re after a pub lunch you will be more than satisfied.
Decent food, reasonably priced beer, solid counter-​meals, interesting music. Great as a local, or perfect for a quick pot on the way.

Came here on a monday for trivia night, the theme beign superheroes. The pub itself is pretty typical but they have some decent beers on tap — jug of 2 brothers GRIZZ was only about $ 17. The staff were pretty friendly and helpful as well. During the course of triva we learnt they have jug specials — carlton for $ 13. We also discovered you can BYO take away food or get food delivered which is pretty rad.
The trivia itself was really cool and we had a really good night. Can’t speak for the food the pub itself serves, but we will be back for sure for more trivia and beers!

This was my first time in a typical pub. (Yay!) So I can’t really comment about the pub-​ness of the place, but I can review it like a restaurant.
I ordered the eggplant parmigiana, which on Friday costs $ 13. (It’s a dollar more on the other days of the week.) I love eggplant, so I was really happy to see the huge huge slices of eggplant on the plate covered in cheese and tomato sauce! The dish was really satisfying. It also came with a small salad and some fries — or I guess «chips.» (Please forgive me! I’m an American trying to adjust to Australia for a semester!)
The place itself was nice and pleasant, although it was kind of hard to talk to people because the music was so loud (but I don’t know if this is how pubs are).

A pretty traditional student-​y kind of pub, the John Curtin Hotel god one for an understated afternoon/​evening out with friends. Inside it looks a bit dark and broody but is actually pretty upbeat in atmosphere. The booths are a good size for medium groups, with one or two large enough to fit a bigger crew. Another plus is that the music’s never too loud and it’s easy to conduct a conversation.
There’re only a couple beers and one cider on tap, but the prices are the cheaper side of average, as is the food. The menu is your standard pub fare and nothing too special, but when lamb shank’s on the specials board you can be sure it won’t last long, so tender is the meat. They also do a particularly good chicken parma, which is on the larger side of average and enhanced by the option of self-​serve chilli flakes at the kitchen counter. The bar staff are friendly, particularly Leon, who always gets to know the regulars.
There’re a couple of benches out the front that get filled pretty quickly on a warm evening, although the trees along the footpath have a cheeky habit of dropping bits and pieces of themselves into your drinks around springtime.
There’s also a recently revamped band room upstairs that hosts live music gigs most nights of the week and the occasional gallery exhibit. It also does trivia on a Monday night.
All up, the Curtin is an easy and unpretentious staple pub where you can enjoy a relaxed couple of beers.

Although it’s on busy Lygon Street right near the corner of Victoria Parade, the John Curtin is unassuming and easy to walk straight by without noticing it.
Being so close to RMIT it’s a student hang out, but not to the exclusion of all others thanks to being so close to the Trades Hall and other businesses on the fringe of the city. There are a few tables out the front that are a favourite spot of mine to have a quick drink post-​work, or to spend some time on a sunny afternoon with a newspaper. The great thing about the John Curtin is that no one will take a second glance at you if you’re enjoying a beer alone — it’s a haven for wanna be alcoholics!
Being a student hangout there’s always a bigger than expected crowd on weeknights, and if it’s warm the street can be overflowing with people. The food is nothing fancy but it’s so cheap it doesn’t matter — a great spot for a pub meal if you’re on a budget.

I ventured to the John Curtin Hotel for the first time last night (I can’t believe I’ve never been to this place before) and have to say that I was really impressed with the atmosphere and ambience of the place.
I went to see a friend’s band perform in the massive band room upstairs and the whole evening was a heap of fun. The downstairs area, outside seating and band room upstairs all are inviting spots.
Beer is pretty reasonably priced with pints of Coopers under $ 8 and the clientele very friendly. I’ll be back…

Right next door to where I studied a couple of years back, the John Curtin was my little hidey hole away from all the bozos at school.
This place is kind of a tradie type pub and sits opposite the union buildings (Trades Hall) on Lygon Street. It’s open for, and does, killer tradie lunches at stupidly low prices — no ‘gastro’ label here. There are a few tables on the street to enjoy the sunshine, or you can enter the cave-​like bar area to escape the cold winter southerly.
They play rockin’ tunes here and there is a massive band room upstairs. At this point the room is a little under utilised, but I’ve been to a few shows here and when it fills up, it can sound pretty good.
The staff here are easy going and it’s the perfect place for a cheap beer and a bit of a relax after work/​school or before a night out. They don’t deal in wankery here, so the clientele are usually pretty well behaved if a little eclectic. This is one of the best secret little inner city pubs, and I hope it stays as is.