Shed bars of Adelaide

Poppa Neutrino’s Rickety Fish & Holey Cola Bar

“We fashioned the Rickety Fish from the leftovers of a pop-up shanty town that was part of the Adelaide Festival,” say owners James Brown and Nicole Donnelly. “It’s a shrine to the late Poppa Neutrino, the first person to sail a boat made of junk across the Atlantic Ocean. The bar is a place for fun; there are no rules here – it’s like a micro-nation. The bar’s claim to fame is that it’s the home of the world’s first Earth Sandwich. To make it we placed a piece of bread on the ground, called someone randomly in Newfoundland (which is antipodal to Adelaide) and asked them to do the same, and lo! The Earth Sandwich was made. We also occasionally perform a ceremony called a “Screech-in” inspired by a Newfoundland tradition. In Newfoundland, non-Newfoundlanders have to do a shot of Screech (Newfoundland rum) and kiss a cod; our version involves shooting mezcal and kissing pizza.”

Big Willy’s at Papershell

“My wife, Jessica, and I bought and developed this property on an old almond orchard after I worked a harvest with the previous owners,” says owner Surahn Sidhu. “The shed bar is the jewel in the crown. It’s a creative studio and a place where I can put all the things I’ve accumulated on my travels: my 20 guitars, my camera collection and my old Kawai organ. Big Willy’s is a space where people can let their freak-flag fly. On a typical night, my wife beats me at eight-ball, we light a fire in the old pot-belly and play something instrumental on the turntable. On the weekends my old man serves beer and my brother cooks streetstyle satay. Our go-to drinks are tins of Melbourne Bitter and nebbiolo magnums. And I dish out shots of house-made chilli vodka – it really gets those synapses firing.”

The Paradise Prawn

“The Prawn was started by the group of guys that ran Lola’s Pergola, a pop-up at the Adelaide Festival,” says owner Max Savage. “They used the leftovers to build the shed bar. It has been going for about five years now and each generation of owners adds to it. At one point the bar’s theme was Top Gun; now it’s vaguely seafood, but with a large portrait of Michael Jackson and lots of Adelaide Grand Prix paraphernalia. We have beer on tap, and we always have tins of West End. I think the reason shed bars are having a moment is because a lot of Adelaideans migrate to other cities, but those who stay have an abiding love for the place they live and want to make it somewhere special.”

Le Big Lebarski

“I watched The Big Lebowski over and over and over again and fell in love with Jeff Bridges’ character, The Dude,” says owner Steven Stefanopoulos. “That was the inspiration behind the bar – the walls are painted to match the bowling alley and the ceiling is chequered like the dream sequence. And we only serve White Russians. We also didn’t want to invite friends over and just sit on the veranda – instead we turned our dingy shed into something crazy. Every time someone visits the bar for the first time they have to leave something. My friend from Singapore, Steve Berton, left a little “hell suit” and some cash. In Singapore they bury the dead with these items in case they need to bribe themselves out of hell. We also have a little severed toe with green nail polish that attracts a lot of attention.”

Hex Club

“I travelled to the UK in 1984 and moved into a flat – Flat 6, 6 Parade St, Queen Gardens – where I met six new friends all originally from Adelaide who have consecutive birthdays in May,” says owner David Harding, aka Fruity. “The seven of us created Hex Club: a club made up of six bars, located in my six-sided shed. The bars are Dusty Boots Bourbon Bar, Gringos Mexican Cantina, Crack-a-Toa Punch Bar, Rumba, Top Shots Bar and The Candy Bar. They’re made up of stuff that I’ve picked up from tips and hard rubbish – my favourite is a German clock set inside a wooden casing with “Greetings from Woomera” engraved on the front. There are also skulls from my family’s farm. The bars only open for events and friends’ gigs, but every May we open on the old long weekend to celebrate the six birthdays.”

The Salty Seagull

“The Salty Seagull is situated on the beach – you walk out the door and you’re right on the sand dunes – and it has an ’80s surf theme,” says owner John Bowler. “Most of the objects in there are completely random, but my favourite is a life-size cut-out of surfer and AFL legend Tony Modra. Our signature drink is the Blue Lagoon – it’s a disgusting bright-blue drink that’s made with one part blue curaçao, one part vodka and four parts lemon juice and topped up with lemonade. Adelaideans are quite localised and lazy – we much prefer going to people’s houses than going out in the city. It’s cheaper and easier, and you can drink whatever you want in your shed.”