The Beaufort

Cool little spot hidden away in Carlton. They have a good range of beers (not sure what they have on tap — oldmate just asked me if I wanted a lager), some great tunes and a good vibe. Popped in for a few games of pool on a Sunday arvo and the vibe was great. They also just let anybody who wants to carve their initials into the bar.
Food is hearty and generous, and the atmosphere is awesome. Would definitely return again.

Good times to be had here – great drinks and food, all at reasonable prices. Can fill up quickly, so get in early.

Firstly, I feel shame that it has taken me so long to write about The Beaufort as it is, without a doubt, my favourite bar in Melbourne.
Located on the normally quaint and quiet Rathdowne street in Carlton, The Beaufort takes its inspiration from American dive bars with dim-​lighting, a wide variety of beers (mostly in cans) and a countless number of nautical knick-​knacks hanging from the walls and ceilings.
The American-​inspired menu will ensure you leave 5kg heavier but OH MY is it delicious (if you don’t get the deep-​fried pickles you are a fool) and their cocktails are some of the best in our fine town. My personal favourite is a Dark ‘n’ Stormy, but be warned, you will feel the aftermath of your drinking decisions the next morning.
The staff are absolutely lovely, very attentive and (without sounding like too much of a creep) a bunch of babes. Beards, tatts and skinny jeans — they’re the kind of boys that your dad would HATE you to bring home but my goodness they can make a good drink.

There is a storied diner in North Carolina called the Penguin Drive-​In. It has again fallen upon hard times but in 2010 I thought it was perfect: fried pickles, craft beer, metal on the jukebox and bursting with spirit.
I have even more love for the Beaufort.
Their dive bar cocktails are first rate: the Dark ‘n Stormy is a well-​executed classic, the Booze ‘n Juice is what it says and the boat drinks come in a tiki mug.
Their vegetarian menu is all rock: the Philly cheese fake and handcuts go wonderfully with the hot sauces, the deep fried pickles and ranch are essential, and pie o’ the week has never failed to delight.
My wife and I celebrated our wedding here. It is an unassuming, uncut gemstone.

Somewhat of a cross between an Aussie pub and an American hipster bar, the Beaufort ticks all the boxes for me. Good beers on tap, a respectable range of bourbon, pool table, and friendly bar keeps fairly ensures a good night out. Sadly, I didn’t get to sample the much talked about deep fried pickles (and picklebacks!) but that’s fine: Gives me a reason to get back to this super cool establishment ASAP.

This is definitely the unsung new hero of the Melbourne burger scene. As a bar, I could take it or leave it, but their burgers are AWESOME. The cheesesteaks are decent, the fried chicken OK, but go here for the burgers. I’d say top 3 I’ve had in Melbourne. No nonsense, just a normal delicious burger. The only fault I have with their burgers is that they’re a tad on the lean side for me — I like a high fat content burger which is near impossible to find these days.
Thick patty alert — their burgers have thick patties and some of my local friends who have never experienced thick burgers thought it was weird. They are wrong.
As an extra bonus, they serve normal Heinz ketchup and French’s mustard which seems to be rare in the new burger places, plus they have a great assortment of hot sauces. I highly recommend the ghost chilli sauce — it’s not stupidly hot, but will make you aware of its presence and is delicious. They also have all the El Yucateco sauces which are awesome.

Skinny jeans, check. Beards, check. Tattoos, check.
If you’re looking for a bar where all the cool hipster kids of the north side go to drink, you’ve come to the right place. We got to try the gumbo they were putting on for the the Great Gumbo Getdown night. I’ve not had much gumbo before, so I can’t compare, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. They forgot our order so we had to wait extra long for one of our dishes and the desert we ordered couldn’t be made because their oven blew up. It was the eve of Melbourne Cup Day so I do think they were probably a lot more busier than usual and they probably weren’t used to getting that many food orders.
If you do just fancy a drink though, it’s got a good vibe going down.

A place with a lot of rules. You can’t order food without having a seat though you have to order food at the bar. Of course, you can’t grab a seat while you’re in line to order food at the bar. You can’t order a beer with «Texas» barbecue, only bourbon. In real life, no one in Texas eats barbecue with bourbon — or with «apple cole slaw» for that matter. Oh yeah, and they charge for condiments.
It looks looks like a cool place if you’re a known regular. Otherwise, expect the hospitality of, say, an airport car park attendant working the booth in the dead of winter.
Not clear what these guys are trying to do — though apparently they’ve got enough clientele to not worry about adding any more.

Worst american food i had in melbourne, actually anywhere, EVER!
i had the hotdog, and everything was bad. dog was dry and shrunken, buns were burnt on one end and the cook barely gave it the effort of scraping off the char. my friend had the philly cheesesteak — freakin’ terrible, like the meat came from a bain-​marie that had been sitting there for 3 days! and finally chips and wedges — they even got that wrong — how do you achieve soggy and burnt at the same time?!
we were too drunk to complain, but this was clearly subpar food.
yall want to know how bad this experience was for me.
Im writing this review almost 2 months after i visited the beaufort and i still remember every bit. tsk tsk — true what they say about having more to tell when its a bad experience!

My new favourite bar in Melbourne! Great music, friendly staff, delicious (and unusual) beers and a sweet nautical theme!

A friend chose the Beufort for some quiet birthday drinks, exciting us all with tales of deep fried pickles. Clearly, we couldn’t go wrong. The beer is cheap and plentiful and the menu is drool worthy. The pickles come with a ranch dipping sauce and are everything I could have dreamed of. I was disappointed to not be hungrier as the rest of the menu looked wonderful as well, including burgers, chicken wings and a Philly cheese steak. YUM.
The nautical theme kind of clashes with the Americana menu, which I find confusing but in the end not a huge deal. I’m not sure what the deal is with the ‘no hookers’ sign out the front. Are they trying to be funny? Edgy? Serious? It’s a bit offensive in this day and age, and I’m not really sure why it’s there to be honest.

The venue is a neat addition to an otherwise derelict strip of Rathdowne street… a good place to come with a few friends to shoot a game of pool whilst hanging in a very nice rendition of a US dive bar… I had the doom burger and must confess myself a little disappointed, I had grander visions however the patty/​sauces just didn’t hit the spot the way I wanted it to. However the deep fried pickle… my goodness :)

Gorgeous little pub with cute nautical themed décor and friendly staff.
We only visited briefly but the effort put into their menu (and drinks menu) was obvious. Yum!
Prices were fine and they were happy to reserve us a nice big table.
I’d like to visit again to try the house special drink — a mix of sailor jerry spiced rum and cherry coke!

DEEP FRIED PICKLES AND BEER!
Ok, now that I have got that off my chest, The Beaufort is a great bar.
Pull up a stool, order a beer and some tasty bar treats (did I mention deep fried pickles?) and leave your mark by carving your name or perhaps a phallic drawing into the bar. Given that state of said bar, it is clear this behaviour is encouraged here.
Mention this place to any person that works in hospitality and I can guarantee you will be greeted with an enthusiastic response. This is the drinking persons bar of Melbourne.

I don’t think there is a better bar in Melbourne.
The Beaufort is really just a bar. Many of the customers and the staff qualify as ‘hipster’ but the bar itself is rather ordinary. It’s great for groups as there is lots of standing room in addition to plenty of seating. Due to its location there is always a nice crowd at The Beaufort but it never feels overcrowded.
They have a solid offering of both domestic and foreign beers. What they lack in quantity that may up for with quality. The taps are always interesting and they carry some good standards such as Brooklyn East IPA.
Similarly, The Beaufort’s menu is not long. All of the options read like typical bar food but the quality is much higher than one generally gets elsewhere. I’ve had several of the items and they all surpassed my expectations (which weren’t low). If you’re not interested in bar food, maybe you shouldn’t go to a bar to eat. Otherwise, have fun trying all of the different offerings.
Maybe there are places with better crowds, or places with better food, or places with a wider selection of drink; there is no place that pulls it all together as well as The Beaufort.

Well done Beaufort, great job!
I was so excited when I read about the Beaufort in Time Out Magazine a few weeks ago. Jerry n cherry, dark and stormys, AND picklebacks!!! This place sounded right out of Brooklyn. Take into account the bar’s nautical theme and I’d say its right out of Red Hook, Brooklyn. And, oh yeah, so am I. It’s difficult to describe the charms of Red Hook unless you’ve been, but the Beaufort will get you halfway there.
It goes without saying, but I prefer bearded bartenders and portraits of sea captains on the walls of any and all drinking establishments I choose to visit. The Beaufort delivers on both fronts.
I was so excited to find that they not only carry Pusser’s Rum, they make the famous Painkiller cocktail that I’ve been craving since I last had one at Pusser’s in January. It was great. A bit pricey, but understandable.
In addition, they have a brilliant cocktail list featuring mostly rum or whiskey based cocktails (just as you would expect in Red Hook, NY) But wait, they even offer a cocktail named Red Hook… Coincidence? You tell me Beaufort…
But wait, there’s more! FOOD. The menu features some fine American specialties including fried pickles and Philly cheesesteaks. I was amused by their vegan choice «the girlfriend burger.» everything was delicious and the food prices were great. Yes, low enough prices to impress an American.
Since I can’t be at sunny’s bar on the Brooklyn shore, I am happy to spend my time and money here at the Beaufort. So then, new friend, welcome to Melbourne. I’m very happy that you’re here.

As a place to grab a beer this place is pretty good, dimly lit, good beer on tap, good tunes.
As far as food goes they have good bar snacks (the fried pickles are the best I’ve had anywhere), however, if you’re after a main meal this is not the place to go.
$ 12 for a pulled pork roll that was finished in a couple of bites and the pork was more like roast pork. The food is snack size, I really think if they want to offer snacks that’s cool, but it needs to be snack size prices also.
To summarise:
As a place for beer — 4 stars
As a place for a main meal — 1 star

Best fucking dive/​fine dining in the world. Way to bring quality food and drinks to a desolate environment without a Bowie and douchbag attitude