Welcome To Thornbury

I don’t often venture up Northcote way when I visit Melbourne but a friend had told me about this relatively new bar/​eatery/​thing and we decided to give it a try.
Melbourne weather is incredibly unpredictable so I was a little worried about being either freezing cold, melting or being rained on but the evening was gorgeous and my fears were unfounded.
Welcome to Thornbury was absolutely packed when we arrived, after shouldering our way to the bar and getting some drinks we managed to find a cute little bench by the garden to sit at and chat while deciding on which food truck we were going to order from. I decided on the one serving burgers, there was about a 20 minute way for food but this wasn’t a huge issue considering the amount of people present! My meal was really tasty, the burger was like something you’d find at a gourmet burger bar in the USA– just perfectly cooked and dripping with cheese and sauce so I was definitely a big fan.
Absolutely loved the relaxed vibe of this place and will definitely be visiting again next time I’m in Victoria.

I had been really looking forward to going to this place. I’ve got to say I was disappointed. Apart from Melbourne weather letting us down it was just so. …ordinary. Crazily overpriced food truck food. Small portions. Greasy. Not well put together. Really really long wait. All for the privilege of huddling in the cold on seating in the entranceway because the inside seating was full.
I personally feel the hipster phenomenon is fine but when you simply end up with less. …everything. … for higher cost, you’ve been had by the cool kids.

I’d had this bookmarked for a while and made the journey over last Friday night with a friend that was visiting. We were really excited upon seeing the trucks and Vegas style sign out the front.
It was a balmy Friday evening and this had brought the crowds, being my first visit I’m unsure whether this is typical but all the trucks we looked at had extremely long lines with a min. 45minute wait for food once you’d gotten to the front of the queue.
Not complaining as this is what one could expect however it was great when the girls at the pizza truck informed us of the wait, the guys at dude food truck appeared to be getting slammed and after a 45minute wait for 6 Mac and cheese bites I’d well and truly witnessed the crowds getting ancy. I think they needed to stop orders for a while and catch up on themselves. If you aren’t prepared to line up and wait for food I would say don’t even bother going, but if you are happy to take the buzzer (an awesome system) then you can take yourself off to the bar for a cooling ale and find a seat.
A good mix of food trucks the night we went and would head back for sure.

I’m not quite sure what they were supposed to be billing this as, but the very recent welcome to Thornbury seems to be a eclectic mix of outside food court, easy going dining, childcare centre, bar and crèche. There is a very Vegas sign out the front, reminiscent of 1950’s futurist architecture design. Inside it is quite similar, but warped between 70’s design, open and minimalist structural design, with a warehouse feel but at the same time the dining hall of a school camp. It’s striped back light and airy. The bar features regular favourites in spirits, tap beers, cocktails and so-​forth.
The current design is to allow 45 food trucks on rotation into the site per month. It’s a big space and no doubt it will prove exceedingly popular in summer time. There’s also a very casual feel, if not lazy, in which one can sit down with chosen food truck meal outside, or catch up with friends in the bar. The curiosity that remains however in the strikingly inordinate sheer amount of families that are here.
I get that it isn’t a full on raving bar, and the ambiance is far removed from a bar, but there’s still plenty of alcohol around, outweighed by the sheer volume of children. Yes, it’s more casual and family oriented, but last time I checked bars, alcohol and childcare centers aren’t usually recommended as a good mix. It’s all a bit strange really. But elsewise the various foods and drinks are a winner.