Seven Sydney Bars and Restaurants You Can Hire Out for a Private Party with Nine Mates
Celebrate that big occasion with a night of bottomless margaritas, dancing on tables and dinner in a Parisian-style theatre.
Seven Sydney Bars and Restaurants You Can Hire Out for a Private Party with Nine Mates
Celebrate that big occasion with a night of bottomless margaritas, dancing on tables and dinner in a Parisian-style theatre.
If you're one of the unlucky ones who celebrated a birthday, anniversary, big promotion or even a wedding during COVID-19, you're probably itching to catch up with your mates for a night out on the town. After two months of solo dancing in living rooms, we also wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to celebrate the fact that you can now hang out with nine of your nearest and dearest — and in bars, restaurants and pubs, no less.
With NSW's newly eased restrictions, which came into force on May 15, 'food and drink premises' can reopen for a maximum of ten customers at a time. This isn't financially viable for all, but some are trying it out, and offering once-in-a-lifetime experiences, too, like private discos and big pasta dinners. You do, in line with the government's new restrictions, have to eat though — you can't go dropping all your cash on booze.
So, if you've ever wanted to hire out Hubert, take over an entire pub or feast on endless tacos matched with bottomless margaritas, now — for a limited time — you can. We've rounded up seven Sydney spots that are letting you have a private ten-person party filled with food, wine and dance-worthy tunes. Get booking though, these places are already filling up fast.
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This long-standing, pint-sized CBD cocktail bar has won just about every award there is. Now, for the first time ever, you can get the space for your own private night out with nine mates. Bulletin Place is already known for its top-notch tipples, but it’s going even one step further for this and creating a bespoke cocktail list for your party, informed by an online questionnaire completed prior to booking. You must order food to accompany the booze, which won’t be hard, with everything from marinated olives to chilli hummus, cheese and a wide selection of charcuterie on the bar’s menu. It’s taking bookings of all sizes (up to ten) for up to six hours. There’s a $1000 minimum spend to secure the venue.
Bookings: email [email protected]
Image: Cesar Echeverri
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Inner west pubgoers will no doubt be familiar with The Oxford Tavern — the Petersham pub is known for its barbecue (sweetly dubbed Black Betty), sunny courtyard and craft beers. If you’ve ever wanted to hire out an entire pub for just your closest crew, this is it. For 1.5 hours (midweek) or two hours on weekends (Friday–Sunday), you can get full access to the beer garden, dive bar, pool table (free) and 90s-style arcade. Midweek bookings are $80 per head and weekend ones are $100. For that price, you get a main meal each — opt for a classic pub feed or one of the pub’s signature barbecue dishes — and unlimited sides, including poutine and mac ‘n’ cheese. Best of all, you also get bottomless beer, cider, wine and spirits.
Bookings: online.
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If you were looking for a party, Prince of York brings it in spades. The three-level CBD venue, a restaurant, bar and nightclub, is letting you and nine mates hire out the entire venue for the night — for a minimum spend of just $100 a head. You can spend that money however you like, too — on a long dinner (with spicy meatballs, rigatoni, hanger steak and boozy tiramisu) or spread it across a selection of snacks (smoked mortadella, crab sandwiches, burrata) and cocktails. For the disco side of things, the team will help you create a playlist or you can hire your own DJ, and you’ll get free rein of the underground nightclub, Pamela’s. The venue is taking bookings of all sizes (up to ten) from Monday–Thursday; on Friday and Saturday there’s a minimum spend of $1000 to secure the venue. You can lock in a two-hour slot at 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm and 8.30pm on any of the days.
Bookings: email [email protected] or call (02) 8066 0550.
Image: Kimberley Low
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Bondi’s new Caribbean-inspired bar, La Palma, has also reopened for private events of up to ten people for a limited time. It’ll set you back a minimum spent of $1050 ($105 per person), but you’ll get the entire space for 2.5 hours. Oh and bottomless booze and food. While La Palma might be known for its rum cocktails and Cuban sandwiches, it’ll be serving up bottomless margaritas and tacos for your private fiesta. Select beer and wine are on the bill, too, but it’s the margaritas that’ll really get the party going.
Bookings: call (02) 8386 6874 or email [email protected].
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For a more elegant do, the CBD’s swanky subterranean spot, Restaurant Hubert, is letting you reserve its Theatre Royale for your own ten-person soiree. From the moment you open the door, Hubert will hurtle you headfirst into a C.S. Lewis-style adventure, taking you from dreary Bligh Street to the resplendent old-world opulence of post-war Paris. It’s like an adult version of Narnia, only this time there’s steak and wine. You’ll be sipping cocktails, popping bottles of bubbly and eating fine French fare, with the 120-seat theatre all yours for $200 (minimum) per person.
Bookings: [email protected].
Image: Daniel Boud
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Reopening as Lil Poppa’s (for now), Oxford Street’s late-night restaurant and bar is letting you take over its digs for a night of negronis, wine, cheese and hip hop tunes. Big Poppa’s is usually filled with punters wall-to-wall; but now, your party of ten can have either the ground-level or the underground bar to yourselves. You can either book in for a three-hour slot (5.30–8.30pm or 8.30pm–12am) for a $120 minimum spend a head from Tuesday to Saturday and $140 Sunday, or book out the entire venue (5.30pm–midnight) for a $2000 minimum spend (or $2500 on Sundays). Either way, you’ll be tucking into burrata, salumi, pappardelle with lamb ragu, braised beef cheeks and more. Plus, if you book in for a group of ten on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday, you’ll score a free negroni each on arrival.
Bookings: email [email protected].
Image: Kitti Gould
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Last year, two Sydney hospitality heavyweights — Icebergs’ Maurice Terzini and Acme’s Mitch Orr — came together. The result: Bondi’s fun Italian osteria, Ciccia Bella. Now, amid COVID-19, it’s changed tact and letting you dine at the coastal hotspot all by yourself (with nine of your nearest and dearest, of course). Expect Orr’s signature creative pastas and a mostly Italian wine list that “focuses on drinkability”, as well as organic, biodynamic and sustainable drops. Put together by Icebergs Group Wine Director James Hird, no less. And, you’ll be wining and dining along to disco, dub and post punk tunes, curated by Kali (aka Carly Roberts, Founder of Picnic Touring & Events).
Bookings: call (02) 8090 6969 or email [email protected].
Image: Daniel Boud
