Sydney pubs without pokies

The top floor of the East Village Hotel is an A-grade, lofty drinking perch. They’ve added a vintage sports-themed bar dubbed the Athletic Club to the second floor. You can also sit outside on Liverpool Street, or head inside where things are a bit more Nordic. They’ve got a very pared-back tap-beer list – wine is the real focus here. So much so that they have a whole menu dedicated to wine cocktails.

The dead wood of shitty pub fare and the dreaded pokies of the old Lansdowne have been picked clean for the choice bits, like the bar, which now fronts an open kitchen sending out classed-up junk food that's good enough to lure in punters on its own merits.

Local and live, these guys book what sounds good and let you get on with having a good time. Just a small room that hasn’t had its decor updated for 50 years, a micro-brew bar line-up (no major brewery beers here), yummo bistro and lawn bowls, chilling out and catching some tunes is totally unhard. Kids are welcome to run around the upper bowling green – in fact, kids completely take it over.

The unassuming old timer on the corner of Crown and Cathedral Streets in Woolloomooloo prides itself on being ‘The Last Country Pub in Sydney’. There are open fireplaces, wooden floors with copper nails, good beer, good food, and old-school accomodation.

It’s a truly great pub that manages to strike an easy balance between being a familiar, cosy watering hole and raising the bar where it counts – the food and drink. We don’t much mind what old timey art sits on the walls, or if the playlist forgoes Chisel for the Natalie Imbruglia on occasion, but we do care quite a lot about what’s on our plates and in our glasses.

The Unicorn Hotel has not baulked at a single classic pub feature except the big screens and the pokies. And that hasn’t stopped people using this 'Strayan pub as a before and after spot for the SCG. There's darts and pool, and you can get cosy and romantic downstairs in the darker dining room, or head out to the back courtyard for a little fresh air. Or stay upstairs where people are getting a bit rowdy, in a good way.

It’d be a rare occurrence to find yourself at this Bourke Street pub not in the company of at least one doggo. This pub doesn’t just have a dog-friendly policy, they actively encourage you to pop in even if you’ve only got your pet for company. They have a menu for canines. A menu for kids. And a great menu for adults, including house-made pasta made by Grana.

The independent owners of the Henson and Sydney Park Hotel took this Petersham pub under their wing, restoring it to its original name and bringing back a strong community vibe plus a new menu. There are a couple of pretty outdoor dining areas, an indoor dining room where the walls are lined with framed cockatoo pictures, a pool room, and even a pinball room.

This well-worn hotel down the quieter end of Abercormbie Street gives locals a place to sink some beers, eat some great food and listen to some live music. There's a pool table, as well as outdoor seating so you can watch the world go by over a glass of wine.

Kick back at the Old Fitz for a long Sunday lunch, and give yourself over to the savvy page-long wine list, a who’s who of Australian lo-fi up-and-comers and some more established European names, with a handful of hard-to-find Belgian lambic beers thrown in for good measure.

This corner pub, just a stroll from the Enmore Theatre, has long been the unofficial pre- and post-drink location for every gig, serving a different crowd each night: indie kids, crusty punks, comedy fans, theatresports aficionados, old rockers, metalheads and hoodies.

There’s something wildly out of place about the Carlisle Castle. It’s an old-school Sydney working men’s pub, nestled in the back streets of one of the most gentrified bits of Newtown. It’s a long, narrow front bar with a paintjob last touched up in the Keating years, a few tables scattered around, a beer garden deck and a bistro. Were it not for the fetchingly bearded bar staff, you’d assume you were in the docklands of 1986. And that’s the Carlisle’s superweapon: it doesn’t fix what isn’t broken. 

At the Imperieal, drag is at the forefront, queer culture is celebrated, and the music is Palms-level perfection.

The Oxford Tavern's facelift hasn't altered its identity, but rather enhanced the thriving dive bar atmosphere of this pub's notorious yesteryears while making the most notable glow-up where it counts – in the kitchen.