When The Baxter Inn made its debut in 2011, it changed what was possible in the Sydney bar world. Some nearly nine years later, it continues to be one of Australia’s very best bars.
How did we get here? The Baxter Inn was the second bar to come from the ownership duo behind 2010’s wildly successful Shady Pines Saloon, Anton Forte and Jason Scott. But whereas Shady Pines Saloon channelled a relaxed honkytonk feel (albeit with some of the finest service in the city), The Baxter Inn was Shady’s more grown up, more accomplished sibling.
Residing in a disused basement of an otherwise ordinary office block on Clarence Street in the city, the entrance to The Baxter Inn was hard to find in 2011 and it still is today — just sit across the laneway at The Barber Shop and see the steady stream of people asking them where The Baxter Inn is.