The Local

The Local, next to Circus Oz, serves as a useful counterpoint to the glitz of The Pier and Exchange pubs on neighbouring corners of Bay Street. Previously one of those awful Elephant & Wheelbarrow chain-pubs it retains the same, dog-eared, quasi-English style interior and as a result appeals no doubt to the town's numerous ex-pats.

This is a no nonsense boozer with a large array of beers, mostly from afar. You wouldn't necessarily take someone there to impress them ... unless they had a peculiar fondness for nanna carpet that is. Mind you there's a bar upstairs, complete with small balcony overlooking some of the town's more questionable architecture over the road, and this was one of only a handful of pubs in Melbourne to secure a license for showing the World Cup soccer earlier in the year.

Despite the box-like industrial exterior, The Local was originally built in 1872 as the Royal Mail Hotel, being the other side of the former mail exchange from the Exchange Hotel. As far back as 1888, it was one of 23 hotels proposed to be shut-down during the temperance movement; it is one of three of those establishments to have survived to this day.

Beers on tap: Cartlton Draught, Classic Blonde, Boag's, XXXX Gold, Kosciuszko Pale Ale, Heineken, Grolsch, Peroni, James Squire Golden & Amber Ales, Kirin, Guinness, Kilkenny.
Wine range: $7 - $9.50 a glass
Parma: $22 (see my review)
Gastro: No
Tradie vs Yuppy: Neither, just down to earth