Pints, pool tables and five kinds of parmy – Gas Hound levels up Newstead’s bar scene
If you believe footy is best watched with a cold beer and a roaring room, Gas Hound Bar & Kitchen has your name on it. The Newstead spot pairs wall-to-wall screens and game-day buzz with a menu of polished pub favourites. It’s part sports bar, part bistro – and entirely built for a good time.
Brisbane is a sports mad city. How could we not be? With several teams at the top of their game calling the city home, there’s never been a better time to be a fan.
So why doesn’t Brisbane have more sports bars? We’ve got a few, to be sure. But while the comforts of catching the game from the couch are alluring, there’s nothing quite like the energy in a bar where all the TV screens are tuned to one winner-takes-all game.
The team at Hallmark Hospitality is upping Brisbane’s quota with Gas Hound Bar & Kitchen, a modern Australian bistro with a sports-bar pulse. Taking over the Gasworks-adjacent site previously home to Maggie May, Gas Hound supplants the throwback supper-club vibes with a concept that offers guests a little bit more.
“People need some more reasons to come to venues now, besides food and beverage,” says Hallmark Hospitality director Cade Hopman. “We want to offer more for the locals, because I think there’s more of a need in the community.
“That’s why we went for electronic darts, pool tables and live sport – you’ve got multiple reasons to come. Newstead doesn’t really have good sports bars.”
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While traces of Maggie May’s retro-tinged fit-out remain (including the olive-coloured booths, velvet curtains, fluted glass, a mirrored back bar and timber panelling), the Hallmark crew – alongside Queensland-based Space Cubed Design Studio – sought to add more biophilic design touches (courtesy of a new pergola, planter boxes and growing vines), while also adding a bit more elbow room for activities.
“We wanted to open it up a bit more,” explains Cade. “We really wanted to put some focus on the outside area too, because there’s a lot of outside area here that wasn’t utilised very well previously. The picnic tables have been a great addition – we’ve got more of a wow-factor from the outside.”
Alongside two pool tables, which sit near the venue’s entrance, a previously partitioned space at the Longland Street end of the venue has been given over to a pair of Computer Score electronic dartboards programmed with an assortment of aim-testing game modes.
“There are about 20 or 30 different games,” says Cade. “It’s not just a standard 301 – there’s all different styles of things you can play on there as well, which is pretty cool.”
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There’s not a seat in the house without a view of a television screen, but even the most ardent of footy fans will find it hard to concentrate on what’s happening on the field when their food arrives. Executive chef Jason Flett has created a menu with modern Australian inflections, showcasing local ingredients via pub classics with seasonal twists.
“We didn’t want to complicate things, we just wanted to have an elevated pub menu,” explains Cade. “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel – we want to serve food that goes with the sports side of things.”
Feeling peckish? Gas Hound’s menu is big on snacks, including croquettes with chorizo and manchego cheese, chicken wings, popcorn tofu, barbacoa tacos and dirty fries. These are followed by Handhelds – think smash-patty cheese burgers, steak sandwiches and Southern fried-chicken sandwiches.
If your hunger levels are more substantial, skip ahead to the mains. Here you’ll find five kinds of chicken parmigiana (our pick is the smoky maple parm with maple-glazed bacon and Napoli sauce), fish and chips, and woodfired steaks. There’s also a clutch of pasta dishes (including a baked gnocchi alla vodka), salads and desserts.
Cocktails keep pace with the venue’s energy, with playful twists on the classics like tropical-inspired margaritas and slow-sipping old fashioneds infused with top-shelf spirits. Tap beers are plentiful, as are wines.
Gas Hound Bar & Kitchen is now open – head to The Directory for more information.