23. Brunswick East x The Beast

My mate Sarah in Brunswick East, Melbourne, gives a shout out to her go-to for stacked burgers, live music, and good vibes: The Beast. This is a bar with all the goods: wings, a soul night, and live comedy.

Looking for other good places in Melbourne to grab a drink?
6. Side Quest x CBD, Melbourne x Beneath Driver Lane
1. Northcote, Melbourne x South Crescent & Kelvin

Episode Transcript

Jaz (00:11):
Hey there, and welcome to this episode of My Mate In. I'm
Jaz. Today, I'm catching up withmy mate in Brunswick East,
Sarah. Hey, Sarah.

Sarah (00:21):
Hello. How are ya?

Jaz (00:22):
Going well. Thank you for joining me today. Where are we
gonna talk about?

Sarah (00:26):
Oh, we're gonna talk about a local, two local haunts
of mine, actually. I live inBrunswick East, and there's just
it's literally just down theroad from where I live. My
partner and I go there quiteregularly, and it's called The
Beast. It's like a bar withfood, and they do live gigs and

(00:53):
local gigs. It's just reallygood.
I often will go there, like,post work, post gym, and I'm
famished and I want a burger.And I'll just sneak on down
there and gobble up that burger.

Jaz (01:10):
What what kind of burgers do they do?

Sarah (01:13):
Oh, you your classic sort of like American burgers, like
smash burgers, but they theythey invent all sorts of ones
with funny names. They've gotveggie and vegan options. Oh,
and they do. I love Wednesdays.They do at the moment, it's like
soulful Wednesdays.
They have like soul actsperforming and it's $1 wings.

(01:34):
So, you know, budget friendly.

Jaz (01:37):
Can't lose.

Sarah (01:38):
That's it. I'll smash 10 wings and just nom nom nom

Jaz (01:44):
So they do live music. Is is it kind of a single space
where if you're there, you'reyou're around the music, or are
there a couple of differentspots?

Sarah (01:53):
So they've got, like, the at the front, they've got, like,
tables where you can sit anddrink and have the ambiance of
Lygon Street. And inside, it'svery, like, stripped back, got
that almost like a punk vibegoing on. There's stickers of
the bands on the walls and theloos are gender free, but you

(02:19):
know, there's obviously likeones that's this is clearly the
urinal bathroom, but there'sstickers all over the place and
one has like Barbie dolls in it.It's it's just really fun. And
they've got like a little stageat the back for all the live
gigs and they have a cool TV,like, you know those seventies,
sixties, seventies TVs that arelike round something out of like

(02:42):
2001 A Space Odyssey, like thisis what the future is.
And they have Mario Kartplaying, so you can play Mario
Kart. It's so sick.

Jaz (02:53):
Sounds excellent.

Sarah (02:55):
It's genuinely such a great local haunt. My partner
and I talk about all the time,like any other burger joint just
suffers because everyone goes tothe beast. It's just got the
vibe right for the area. And Idon't think now, but for a while
there they were doing livecomedy acts on a Thursday night

(03:19):
and that was really Yeah.Tuesdays is trivia because
Tuesday trivia night and it'sopen all the time, like till
late, but they'll open at like,I think at midday and it's just
open and the kitchen's alwaysopen.
So if I finish work and it's,like, 03:30 and I randomly wanna

(03:41):
eat, I I can. It's fine. It's Ilove that. What else? Oh, free
refills on sodas, which for me,it's like, yay.
I don't really drink. Yeah. Andalso it'll be really quiet. So I
often Those are the moments Ilike to go in the most and I'll

(04:01):
just sit in a booth and listento my music and have my little
meal or whatever, read a book orlisten to a YouTube video or
something, have a drink. Evenjust that, it's that energy, it
always feels welcoming.
It's good. I love it. Love it.Love it. And as I said, it's

(04:22):
literally, like, two minutesfrom my house.

Jaz (04:25):
Even better. Especially in winter. It's not so far. Love
that.

Sarah (04:30):
Exactly. Exactly. Ugh. So

Jaz (04:33):
Do you mix it up and try different burgers, or do you
have a go-to order?

Sarah (04:38):
Oh, I must admit I'm kind of like a creature of comfort
and familiarity. I often willjust get the classic, which is
just like, you know, a burgerwith cheese, mayo, what's it
got? Like lettuce and tomato,very simple. But they've got
like What was it? One's calledthe Ron Swanson.

(05:00):
It's got, like It's very like ifRon Swanson made a burger.

Jaz (05:05):
It has a mustache.

Sarah (05:06):
Exactly. It's just like meat upon meat. But my God,
that's what Ron Swanson wouldhave. That's the only way.
That's the American way.
Ooh and they do potato gems,Tots. Because tots American
influence. So yum yum yum thosetots. So good.

Jaz (05:26):
This is sounding like the kind of place that I'd really
like to try.

Sarah (05:29):
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And the vegan and veggie options are
really good. Like, they're notjust you know how a lot of
places is just like an add on?It feels like, no.
No. No. We've we've crafted someburgers for you. Don't feel
like, oh, we'll just slap on aveggie burger and call it a day.
You know?
So that's good. So I like that.

Jaz (05:48):
That is one of the worst things, I think, when you when
you're vegetarian or you're withvegetarian friends and you look
at the menu and it's like, themushroom burger. You're like,
okay. Or the chickpea burger.Yeah. That's fine if you do it
well and you're making aneffort.
But a lot of the time, it's justlike, yep. It's don't complain.
We've got something on the menu.

Sarah (06:07):
Yeah. We tacked on something for you. Be happy. No.
It doesn't it doesn't feel likethat here.
It's it's it's actually reallyyummy. But I think the area is
kinda is like, no. No. You youhave to do good vegetarian vegan
options or you're not gonna notgonna survive. So

Jaz (06:24):
Yeah. It's a great spot for that.

Sarah (06:27):
Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Jaz (06:32):
The beast. I love the name. Anything else that we should
mention about it?

Sarah (06:35):
If you really like live music and local acts, it's like
the place to be. Like, it'll bejumping late at night on a
Saturday Friday and Saturdaynight. I think they do Sunday
sessions as well. It's just it'sgreat. Like, they got posters
up.
They I think they also the thebeast itself has its own merch.

(06:57):
It's just a great little place.I love it. Oh, and it's it's
wheelchair accessible. Anotherimportant point.

Jaz (07:04):
Awesome. Yeah. I appreciate you mentioning that.

Sarah (07:06):
And they have a accessible toilet as well. So
good.

Jaz (07:10):
Do they charge a cover charge the nights they've got
music on?

Sarah (07:14):
No. I don't think so. Yeah.

Jaz (07:18):
I love that.

Sarah (07:19):
Yeah. I think you just rock up. It's great. Honestly,
it's so good.

Jaz (07:23):
It sounds like an awesome place. The beast, Brunswick
East.

Sarah (07:26):
Oh, yeah.

Jaz (07:27):
Rhymes. Loving it. That's a nice little surprise. Thanks for
coming along and sharing thatwith us, Sar.

Sarah (07:36):
Yeah. Absolutely. My pleasure.