Most would think of going to a trip to the local grocery store during the week as a tiresome bore and going to bars on weekends as the highlight of said dull week. But new kid on the Melbourne bar scene General Store And Co. have combined the two worlds that should be foreign to one another, but with the fun of the latter winning.
I attended the media launch of this wonderful bar on Tuesday March 25th, and boy did I have a good time. Though the crowd there seemed to be of the inner city (i.e. hipster) variety, don’t let that put you off. If there’s one thing that can be said of General Store And Co. is that they’re an inventive bunch. The place is going for a ’50s small town America store vibe to it. Hell, the place’s logo is of a coin with a mighty eagle; if a bold eagle isn’t American enough for you, I don’t know what is. It’s a store that has all your needs in the one place. Besides obviously being a store to pick up some cereal, soft drink or Puma shoes, it has odd items that don’t belong in such a place. From horizontal lockers, taxi car doors around one of the upstairs bars, flour bags, a milk crate version of the Statue of Liberty and even a small hairdressers upstairs, it’s an odd combo to say the least. I particularly liked how the ’70s era Shell fuel pumps citing petrol as 50 cents per litre are used as kegs to serve its patrons beer (only if petrol and booze were that cheap!).
Most of the action is downstairs with the venue’s main bar and lounge area, as well as two separate bars upstairs in small rooms. The staff here are pretty cool, very friendly and know their stuff. They offered you a range of drinks to try out (a lot of them were free on the night, score!). From a Canadian Club cocktail serve in little old jars to the Trumpeters Alcoholic Ice Tea (this drink is friggin’ awesome, you must try it if you can!), as well as your more well known drinks like Carlton Draught and Johnny Walker, you’ll find something to drink.
Trust me, if you’re a Melbournian barhopper looking for somewhere new, General Store And Co. has all your drinking (and shopping) needs in one place.
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