Welcome to Sidecar No Sugar, a weekly Boothby newsletter about Brisbane bars and the people, work and creativity that grounds it. (You can sign up to get it in your inbox each week, right here.) This week, I chatted to Brennen Eaton, co-owner of Barry Parade Public House about their first birthday, what he’s learned in the last year and how the bar will continue to evolve.
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Before Barry Parade Public House opened its doors last October, co-owner Brennen Eaton posted a warm-hued photograph of the new, empty bar to r/brisbane. Taken by his friend Adrian McConnell, the image showed the quiet promise of a space yet to fill with life. The caption read: “I just opened my own bar on Barry Parade, a little neighbourhood spot between the Valley and Spring Hill.” It amassed 3.2k upvotes and nearly 200 comments – a small internet moment that captured the excitement of something new.
I just opened my own bar on Barry Parade, a little neighbourhood spot between the valley and Spring hill.
by u/BennonLovecraft in brisbane
The original post on Reddit shows sparse walls, and a bar yet to be lived in.
A year on, the bar has evolved in ways Eaton and co-owner Dan Gregory didn’t quite expect.
“Everything is so new,” Eaton reflects. “Managing other bars, you think, oh, I’ve got some experience, but when you become the owner, the new experiences are amplified a lot more.”
He and Gregory have developed a rhythm that keeps the place running smoothly. “Dan is usually the opener. He looks after the maintenance side of things, while I take care of the technology and social media. I look after beers; he looks after wine. We split it up as much as we can, but we still have that collaboration.”
That balance has carried through the bar’s gradual transformation. “As an owner you have to be good at adapting and pivoting ideas,” Eaton says. “We thought we’d push Cajun food but it didn’t really hit the market, so we’ve shifted to more of a wine bar feel. Small things too, like decorations and filling the space to make it more lived-in and homely. When you see photos from when we first opened, the venue looks completely different now — there’s a lot more character.”
The community has shifted too. “When we first started, it was mostly friends, family and industry people,” he says. “Now we’re getting a much wider mix — people from nearby offices, all different walks of life. It’s not just one target demographic anymore. We have local tradies working on the apartment nearby who come in once a week, and after that, we’ll get groups of architects from the offices nearby.”
The drinks offering has grown alongside the crowd. “We started with a small list but we’ve had more craft beer drinkers coming in, so now we have a heavier rotation. Once a carton runs out, we move on to something different and people really enjoy that. The food menu has also had a massive overhaul. We went from small supper meals to share-style, bite-sized dishes. The wine and cocktail offerings have grown too. It took a while to get right but we’ve got a solid new cocktail list now.”
Still, the bar’s tucked-away location — between the bustle of Fortitude Valley and the quiet of Spring Hill — has presented challenges. “That’s something we’ve had to struggle with, an obstacle in how we advertise and push our location,” Eaton says. “It’s been a bit tricky, but it’s working. It’s a nice, peaceful place — not in the riffraff of the Valley but still close by. If you want a few drinks before you go there, or you want to go out but not be in the busyness of it, it’s perfect.”
Looking back, Eaton is proud of what he and Gregory have built. “The biggest thing is how scary it’s been — one year already. When we first started, we walked into a lot of things we didn’t know much about. But you just learn to slowly adapt and keep your hopes up. It’s a bit of a battle, but it’s one I quite enjoy, and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store.”
The Last Word
You can Celebrate Barry Parade’s first birthday in person on Friday 31 October from 12pm.
Boothby Staff
