Fitzroyalty

Hyperlocal news about Melbourne's first suburb: Fitzroy 3065

Archive for the category: Smith St

lunch at the new Birmingham hotel on Smith St

20 May 2013 | 0 comments

The Birmingham hotel has had a poor recent past. Live music has come and gone, a campaign proclaiming ‘it’s not shit anymore‘ a few years ago didn’t last and it slipped into irrelevance before closing. Now it has reopened after a complete refurbishment featuring a vintage industrial theme based on the industrial heritage of its namesake city.

The interior walls have been stripped back to bare brick and the floors to bare timber, and there’s a pressed tin lined bar with stools and table with chairs and high tables with stools throughout.…

Woolworths Fitzroy breaches Australian consumer law by refusing to offer a refund for faulty goods

8 May 2013 | 3 Comments

Some time ago, perhaps a year or a bit more, I bought 4 Woolworths ‘essentials’ brand AAA 800mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries, made in China, from Woolworths on Smith St in Fitzroy. They recently failed to charge and are dead.

NiMH rechargeable batteries are supposed to be capable of dozens, if not hundreds, of recharge cycles, and should have a life of several years. I would have recharged these batteries only about 5 or 6 times. They can be reasonably considered to be faulty and unfit for purpose.…

lunch at Masak Masak, Smith St Collingwood

2 May 2013 | 0 comments

Masak Masak is a new casual Malaysian eatery on Smith St in a space where a couple of generic cafes have previously failed. In reinvigorating the space and changing its use I think it will do well, because there’s been nothing else like in the area since the closure of Roundhouse Roti a few years ago.

I had beef rendang with roti canai and my friend had soy braised pork with rice. The rendang was fantastic but the roti was a little dry, and my friend said her pork was very good.…

Woolworths on Smith St bullies local government representative

17 March 2013 | 12 Comments

The City of Yarra councillor Steve Jolly, of the Socialist Party, is more active than most councillors in engaging with residents and ratepayers. He sometimes has a stall outside Woolworths on Smith St, and it was there on Thursday 14 March that Woolworths management called the police in an attempt to evict Jolly from the footpath.

smith st politics fitzroy city of yarra business

Courtesy Steve Jolly / Twitter / photographer: unknown / copyright: used under the fair dealings provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 / 2013…

the Birmingham hotel is closed

5 February 2013 | 0 comments

Over two years ago I wrote about the struggle of the Birmingham hotel on the corner of Johnston and Smith streets to determine a sustainable business model. I suspect that the search continues as the pub is closed for what looks like a major renovation of the interior. Hopefully it won’t be another soulless faux-southside job like the Royal Derby…

smith st johnston st fitzroy deadpool business …

lunch at Karavan on Gertrude St

30 January 2013 | 0 comments

The former Frederick Gugenberg men’s fashion shop on the corner of Gertrude and Smith streets closed over a year ago and, in 2012, became the venue for some pop-up shops. It has recently reopened as Karavan, a Mediterranean / middle eastern cafe.

Although many new restaurants have opened in Fitzroy in the past few months, I am not inspired by the American diner trend and there are only so many burgers I want to eat.…