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The Standard Hotel

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

The Standard doesn't look like much from the outside. Located down a Fitzroy side street, it's barely lit up at night and could easily be dismissed as just another Melbourne pub that's fallen on hard times. Looks can be deceiving, however, and it's only once you venture inside that the Standard reveals its many charms.

According to the bar staff, the hotel is over 100 years old. Looking around the public bar, you'd believe it. Countless old photos of the Fitzroy Football Club adorn the walls, right next to taxidermy animals (doe? a dear) and old posters for long-forgotten boxers. The decor and ambience brings to mind a rowdy pub in a country town. Nearly every inch of the wall spaces is taken up with miscellaneous posters, photos and trinkets, the aforementioned dead animals on the walls and the bar staff are getting about in (non ironic) flatette shirts. Oh, and just for good measure, the stage has a giant cowboy mural behind which looks like it was inspired by Brokeback Mountain. Oh, and a beer garden out the back that looks suspiciously like every other beer garden, ever.

Then you remember you're in Fitzroy and notice that the waitresses are getting around in super skinny jeans and hoodies. Or leggings and leather miniskirts. In fact, it's kinda hard to differentiate the staff from the clientele since everyone is wearing the same kind of casually crumpled, downmarket clothes the area has become known for. The Standard may be an old hotel, but the crowd are young and fashionable.

Presumably, this younger crowd are here for the reasonably priced beers and meals. The hotel might not have a huge selection in either category but the meals are large and cheap. The beers, meanwhile, well, they're standard size - but they're also reasonably priced. As for the rest of the drinks menu; let's just say the wine selection is acceptable and you're probably pushing it asking for a Pina Colada.

Still, it's this old-school, country pub charm that makes The Standard what it is. In many ways, it's a relic of a bygone era; a time when each hotel was stamped with the personality of its owners and the surrounding area. Given the vibrancy of Fitzroy, that makes for a great atmosphere and a great place to drop in for a meal and beer.
Mikolai, May 2008