Joe’s Shoe Store

Again, a venue I’ve been to a few times, though can somehow never quite remember where it is. A good bar that is good at filtering out the brash factor of the loud, the bad and the douche. The front section is where you’ll want to be on a cold night, though it isn’t as capacious as you would first think. If the weather’s decent however, you’ll want to head out to the back, as it’s a great area to spend time. Though also probably very busy on warm afternoon/​early evening. Drinks wise, there’s nothing to falter, and this is coming from not having tried any of the cocktails yet. A slower paced venue, not the run and gun, shovel and guzzle, party venue that is the draw-​card for them young folk. Some might say indifference from the bar staff, particularly for serving, but I say Honest bar staff, that do not put on that saccharine fake overly smiley mollycoddling service.

My kinda bar. Good choice of local and foreign beers, bourbons and single malts.
After a few VERY good espressos and Lagavulins I was happy to stay and enjoy the vibe and music on turntable.
Did I mention a very fine selection of wines?!
I am not a fan of ‘hipsters’, but if this is a hipster bar, I am in! Good mix of young, old, sexy, weird and eclectic.
Great Pizza from the place next door if u need a midnight snack.
I will be back.

Living out in the country, I don’t really get the chance to go out in the city very often so one of my friends insited she show me ‘hipster Melbourne’ (her words, not mine) and Joe’s Shoe Store definitely resonates that ‘hipster’ vibe.
As the name suggests, it was once a shoe store and is now a moody wine bar complete with a giant ginger cat we affectionately reffered to as Paul. Wine’s not really my thing but they do serve spirits and have a couple of beers on tap. The décor is minimal, the lighting helps disguise those bags under your eyes and there are plenty of dark corners to hide out in. The courtyard out back is surprisingly big and (thankfully) there are heaters to ward off frostbite.
The real upside of this joint is that you can order pizzas at the bar and they’re delivered to your table from the shop next door. AND THEY ARE DELICIOUS! We ordered a prosciutto and a salmon pizza and my stomache was telling me to fight the other girls off for that last piece but my head prevailed (god damn manners).
This isn’t the sort of place you’d go to for a Saturday night rager. It appeals more to the quiet mid-​week catch up where everyone looks tired and staring into the abyss is totally acceptable.

Joe’s has it all sorted out so very nicely. Extensive wine list, moody lighting, dark corners for quiet chats, friendly vibe, and access to really, really delicious pizza that’s only $ 10.
Sit at the bar and chat to the staff or the people around you: everyone in Joe’s seems to be friendly without being overly chatty. Definitely get a pizza, even if you’re not hungry, because they are up there with the best I’ve had in a while (polenta-​dusted base, buffalo mozzarella, fresh sauce and fresh toppings, etc). And stay for a while, because Joe’s Shoe Store is just a really nice place to enjoy a few wines.

I may be biased because it is my local… but this has to be one of the best bars in Melbourne. You can always guarantee a great vibe in there. If you’re hungry order pizza from Pizza Meine Liebe next door. They have an awesome outdoor courtyard — where they used to have botchi out there, but it got too busy, so now there’s just more seating and tables.
The best time to go there is later on in the night when they belt out the classics like ‘nothing compares to you — Sinead O’Connor, or Prince or whatever random singalong tune they are feeling that night. The whole bar will start singing and it feels like you are at a karaōke party with 50 of your closest friends.
Did I mention they have a granita machine at the moment? Vodka and orange slushies… but they also mix it up each night!
Joe’s you will always be my number one.

I’ll keep this short. The last time I was there, I waited 15 minutes at the bar only to be charged $ 8 for a soda water. This may have been a simple error, yet trying to get the gentlemans attention again proved ineffective, and after another 5 minutes I left. The other times I’ve ventured up the hill to this Northcote institution, the wait again was substantial, and while the drink was ok, the experience overall left me wanting to drink elsewhere. The bartenders seem to think they are working at a house party with the pace set somewhere between indifferent and inexperienced. One is mindful of the size of the place and its popularity on a weekend, however the attentiveness and awareness of the staff makes this place one to skip.

Umm, hello? How cool is Joe’s Shoe Store?
Pull up to the bar, order a cocktail or one of the interesting beers and ciders on tap and then scarf down pizza from next door neighbour ‘Pizza Meine Leibe’. I like this kind of venue cross over. Why bother with a food menu when you have a more than capable neighbour who can keep your punters happy so they sit and drink a few more rounds because they’re not rushing off for dinner? Genius.

I am so relieved that these people kept the original signage; with it’s amazingly dated typography and real character. What was once a Shoe Store (thankyou signage) is now a charming wine bar found in Westgarth.
The cozy venue provides a great wine list and can keep you going for most of the night. To eat, there is a brief list of antipasti, meat and cheese or you can order from Pizza Meine Liebe next door and have pizza delivered.
Only consolation is the coziness after more than fifteen people recommend and try it out and stay. The place can transform very quickly from a small intimate cozy space to a sardine can and a crowded nightmare. Claustrophobics need not apply.

I often find myself caught between thinking of Joe’s Shoe Store as a pretentious waste of time and a timeless classic. The barmen are all interesting, willing to chip in with a joke or two while flipping bottles about their person like a ninja with numchucks — which is pretty cool in my book; and then they go and do something like roll your Cooper Pale Ale across the bar, as if to say that they are serving up the perfectly average Coopers beer because it is brewed in the bottle and thus needs the barman to distribute all of the indigestible yeasty residue throughout the bottle for your benefit. It is a fine line for me.
They have a record player usually spinning some good tunes, some leather booths and a nice backyard. There is a laid back vibe about the place, but I can’t help but feel that people are laying back just enough so that if a photo were taken unexpectedly they would still be striking a pretty good pose. The drinks menu is also interesting with a slightly continental slant of old world wines and Italian beers aplenty.
I normally go to Joe’s Shoe Store, sit down and immediately start feeling a little uncomfortable with the clichy crowd. By my third beer I have gotten over my insecurities and order a pizza from Meine Leibe next door and settle down for another drink — I only settle down enough so that the better looking side of my face is pointing towards any cameras mind you.

Joe’s Shoe Store has got to be one of the easiest places in Melbourne to loose a few hours of your life to pure pleasure. Good drinks, good tunes and food from Pizza Meine Liebe next door.
It seems a lot of people just pop into Joe’s Shoe Store for pre– or post– dinner/​movies drinks, but I’m a fan of taking a stool at the bar and staying there all night. It’s really that pleasant. Now that I’m thinking about it, Joe’s is a completely faultless bar. The wine list is decent, the beer is cold and the service is great. They can even make an awesome coffee to enjoy in the warm vintage industrial style interior or out in the peaceful courtyard. A friend of mine even swears they mix the best G&T in Melbourne, but I’m still undecided on this one (I’m not convinced anyone does it better than me…)

These folk do a pretty decent relaxed cocktail vibe and let you order in pizzas (very good ones in fact) from the pizza shop next door. They also do a great selection of top shelf beers, which is where my heart lies.
I love the chance to try new beers from around the place and Joe’s takes pride in serving up some regional delights. The booth situation is great (you don’t really have to mingle too much with other folk) and the atmosphere is for the most part pretty chilled out. They also do a fine range of mocktails for the tee-​totallers out there and should be commended for looking after our non-​boozing friends.
Where Joe’s falls down a few pegs is through the sceney-​ness of the place. It’s hard to say whether it’s encouraged (actually the staff have been pretty relaxed and sweet when I’ve been there) but man you get some wankers inside. Good for a short time, and maybe hit and miss depending on patrons.

Also known as «Sebastian’s place». Well, to some. He’s the character behind the bar of this shoe store turned awesomely fun little lounge room bar.
‘Lounge room’ as in: a dedication to spinning good old tunes on the record player and the option of ordering pizza from Pizza Meine Liebe next door and scoffing if over some beers at your table. And if you’re shy, you’ll soon get over it as the groups of rowdy young Northcotians tangle and talk out in the long and narrow courtyard, and Seb keeps the lock-​in-​style party going inside.
Definitely the most fun you’ll have at a shoe store, and possibly the most fun you’ll have in a small Northcote bar.