The Eight Best Bars with Fireplaces in Brisbane
Warm up with a few fireside beers at these cosy pubs, apres-ski bars and ice cream joints. Really.
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It gets to a certain point in winter when it doesn't matter which Brisbane bar is trendiest or which has the cheapest drinks. There's a far more important question afoot — which has a fireplace?
While most Brisbane venues are more interesting in appealing to the summer crowd (we're looking at you and your rooftop pool, Limes) there are some seriously winter-friendly gems with snug interiors and natural, log-fire heating that make leaving the house an easy feat. Here's our top eight bars in Brisbane boasting a solid fireplace — aka places where you can find yourself with a belly full of pale ale and the warmest tootsies in town.
AT SIXES AND SEVENS
James Street's go-to bar has style, substance and a fireplace to boot. At Sixes and Sevens is housed in a heritage-listed cottage on the corner of James and Arthur Streets, a bustling pub where you can find the likes of James Squire One Fifty Lashes and White Rabbit Dark Ale on tap and snuggle into a leather armchair at the end of the day. While the building interior has received a bit of modern makeover, the homely feel and exposed brick interiors have been well preserved — that includes the fireplace. While they're a little hesitant to stoke it up, Sixes are not ones to say never — we bet by August it'll be burning 24/7.
67 James Street, Fortitude Valley
THE GRESHAM
There's only one thing better than a fireplace and that's a heritage-listed one. As Brisbane's only heritage-listed bar, The Gresham fireplace is the kind you'd imagine Branson from Downton Abbey stoking while thinking of his late Lady Sybil, his socialist Irish roots and his rumbling feelings of attraction for the local school teacher. Not that we watch that show. Anyhow, if you're stuck in the CBD with ice cold fingers and the hankering for a brewski, the Gresham is your spot.
308 Queen Street, Brisbane
THE CHALET BAR
The Chalet Bar is reason alone to be optimistic about the cooler months. Brisbane's first après ski bar is prime grounds to kick back and warm up like you've just had a busy day on the ski field. In case you have to engage in some intense ski talk around the fireplace, we recommend watching Vertical Limit or Snow Dogs before coming here. Other than that, expect a roaring fireplace surrounded by candles, chesterfield lounges and antique ski paraphernalia at this snug little bar.
320 Boundary Street, Spring Hill
ALFRED AND CONSTANCE
A busy, but a good one. If you can find a path through the hoards of Ralph Lauren shirts and venture inside one of Alfred and Constance's many rooms, you'll find a cracking fireplace and some comfy leather seats to match. To improve an already idyllic winter setting, lash out and order a warm, oozy pudding. That'll be pair nicely with a Nine Tails Amber Ale and a fleece blanket.
Corner Alfred and Constance Streets, Fortitude Valley
COWCH
If you've ever said it's impossible to eat ice cream in winter, then wash your mouth out. South Bank's dessert bar Cowch can satisfy a whole range of cravings, especially one for a warm fireplace. Their super modern, spruced-up fireplace is the kind that would make Grand Designs Kevin McCloud green with envy. Make sure you get in early if you want a seat fireside — Cowch gets busy on the weekends and the easiest way to lose an ice cream appetite is outdoor seating.
2/179 Grey Street, South Brisbane
HUNDRED ACRE BAR
Hillstone St Lucia's Hundred Acre Bar is as warm and cosy as Piglet's tree cottage. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner this bar is perfectly suited to Brisbane's cooler months with it's homestyle cooking, multi-page wine list and huge fireplace that sits elegantly on the dining room wall. Hundred Acre Bar has only just been renovated so this fireplace is a newy — consider this winter a long, long housewarming.
Indooroopilly and Carawa Streets, St Lucia
TORO BRAVO
Fortitude Valley's Toro Bravo specialises in three things: wine, tapas and keeping its patrons nice and warm. With its Old World Spanish wine, beer and Latin cocktails menu, this bar is perfect for everything from a lively night out to a cosy, food-filled one by the fire. There's also plenty of smoking and charring going on here, which is really just a fireplace meets fresh meat. Yeah, we're counting it.
455 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley
CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET
Okay, so it might be an ornamental fireplace, but sometimes the placebo effect extends to heating. Woolloongabba's Can You Keep A Secret is so warm and jolly that its fireplace doesn't really need to be lit. This vintage store-meets-bar is fitted out like Granny's house with an old piano, humble chandeliers and antique landscape paintings. Grab a warm drink, rub your hands together and play a serious game of pretendsies in front of this antique fireplace.
619 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba
