The Hive Bar

The Hive Bar is the beating heart of Erskineville’s small but solid bar scene. Set in between the Erskineville Hotel and the Rose of Australia, it brings small bar chic to a village that has historically been dominated by pubs, and does a damn fine job of it. They’re a community-minded bunch at Hive. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling with gig posters, local notices, and murals by Sydney artists, and even the beer keeps it close to home with the house brew, E’ville, made especially for Hive by St Peters Brewery just down the road. Craft beer is definitely a goer here. 4 pines, Mountain Goat, Stone and Wood, Murray’s, Little Creatures, and St Peters Brewery have all earned their place on the menu, or if you fancy the harder stuff they also have a small but interesting whisk(e)y selection, including Talisker, Laphroaig, Jura Superstition and the Tasmanian distilled Sullivans Cove. They keep things domestic on the wine front as well with most going for under ten dollars a glass and not one topping a fifty for a bottle. Start really early with a weekend breakfast, or wait until beer o’clock to order a round of the wallet-friendly $12.50 pizzas or the ploughman’s platter with cheese, pickles, pate, apple, ham, salad and bread. On a Monday they do two movie screenings at 7pm and 9pm where a tenner gets you entry, popcorn and a drink, and on Wednesdays it’s open vinyl night so crack out your favourite albums and play DJ for an hour.