Tramway Hotel

If it wasn’t for the internet I would know that half of this pubs actually existed. Mind you when I first moved to Melbourne half the time I was only looking out for pubs that happened to be on the main roads (and half of them I missed). These days, having travelled around the city for the last few years (particularly the inner city), I am much more aware of the good, the bad, and the hideously ugly pubs. Anyway, this is a nice, and rather quiet, pub hidden away in the back streets of Fitzroy. I’ve only been here a couple of times, but the atmosphere is quite nice. They do have an outdoor area, but that is basically for the smokers.

Arguably the best bacon cheeseburger in Melbourne if not the world. Awesome friendly staff and a great selection of tap beers.

Very nice venue, good beers on tap and great tucker. BUT beware of the amateur and rude management! Never in my life have I been to a Melbourne pub that offers craft beers and been told, «we’re not keen on giving people too many tastings»! (I asked to taste a second beer but apparently that counts as too many lol). Had I asked to taste the Coopers or Heineken, I would understand this reply. But the whole point of craft beers is that they are unusual and unknown — AND expen$ive. (How else can I know which one I’d like to drink if the noob behind the bar refuses to let me taste more than one?) So I asked him to describe the beer I wanted to taste. Ironically, he is clearly pretty ignorant about it himself: He just reads out the name, type and alcohol content of the beer written on the blackboard, in a patronizing way. (Thanks a lot lol, but I do know how to read by myself).
To the owners of Tramway Hotel: Bad and ignorant management risk ruining what would otherwise be a great venue. That will be the last dollars I ever spend here, at least until you get someone who isn’t such a rude tool to manage the place.
PS. I’m writing this review as I sit at Carwyn Cellars in Thornbury. They have new craft beers on tap every week (14 taps!) and after I told the manager there about the lameASS service at Tramway Hotel he shook his head and offered to give me a taste of all 14 beers they had lol. (Tho I just tasted 3 before I knew what I wanted). I guess I’ll stick to places where they understand craft beer culture and good service.

$ 12 chili con carne on Mondays is so so so delicious! Perfect winter night meal. They also have a great range of burgers, which look pretty yum, and I’ll definitely be back to try one soon.
Tramway is a beautiful little spot– off the main roads of Fitzroy on Rae St, and such a cosy little pub to sneak into for a beer or a meal. Friendly, fast service. No complaints!

Update 2015; New menu sucks. Haven’t found a single thing I like on it. Old review below for old time’s sake.
Mind bogglingly good food. 20 – 30 $ for a decent feed and drink. However I would ask that you stay away please this is my local and I’m sensitive to overcrowding.
Will add proper review later.
Note to self: I never thought that I would be inhaling fig, chicken breast, macadamias and blue cheese with great gusto. What sort of twisted maniacal genius combines these flavours and makes them work? I don’t care to find out as I fear I will be sucked into a food hypnosis and enslaved as some sort of hopelessly addicted kitchen gimp.

This is a great little pub. Cute and cosy, this is a place that is immediately comfortable and perfect for a group to kick back and chat over a few beers. Great beer and cider selection to please both the male and female crowd, and it wasn’t ridiculously loud either. As a group of six, we could hear everyone at the table without shouting, which made for a fun and relaxing night.
I came after a dinner event, so didn’t get to try these infamous burgers but now know I definitely need to head back to tackle one.

On a cold Sunday night, a couple of hipster friends and I stumbled to Tramway Hotel to try the legendary burgers. Between the three of us, we tried The Tramway (beef and bacon), lamb and haloumi (me) and quinoa burger (vegan). The burgers are to die for and the hand cut chips divine. Good selection of wines and beer on tap — although I can’t go past ginger beer myself #swoon

How it took me until good beer week to discover this little gem is beyond me. But nonetheless, charming corner pub that does some great looking food, and from what I understand an award winning burger. The staff are friendly, the beers are great and they have a little outdoor area for sunny days. Definitely worth a visit! Great place to catch up with friends over a beer and food!

An all round great experience.
As far as burgers go, this is among the top. Delicious, delicious, delicious, at very reasonable prices.
Was a little noisy when we arrived, but it seemed to settle down as the night rolled on.
Definitely recommend this and will go back next time I’m in Melbourne.

Tramway was decent. We had the steak, pork, and lamb burgers (in order from delicious to painful). Everyone in the place looks like they just came off of climbing a very hipster mountain in Portland and the staff are marginally nice. If you are in the area and hungry — do it but if you have to go out of your way don’t bother.

Holy cow… or pig in this instance. We surely have been spoiled with one of the best burger joints around. I’ve been to the Tramway a few times now, and not nearly enough as I would like. However, as I’ve been frequenting the North Fitzroy area more closely as of late, my attendance at this wonderful establishment has skyrocketed.
Let me break it down for you: What Tramway does well is burgers. Burgers and beers. Beergers, if you would like a portmanteau.
If you’re a meat-​eater, you must try the Pulled Pork. It is succulent and delicious and basted with the most incredible slaw and BBQ sauce. All burgers are served with chunky hand-​cut fries. They shouldn’t even be called fries — they should be called wedges, because that’s what they are. A great touch is a small dish of stewed cider apples with a sprinkling of cinnamon. The beef, Greek lamb and chicken burgers also get a massive tick from me.
If you’re one of the vegetarian types, there are two options. One is a quinoa and hummus mixed pattie, the other is a portobello mushroom. They spelled the word ‘portabello’, but we won’t hold it against them. There’s a very strong dry cider on tap, in addition to Mountain Goat Steam Ale and Grizz — an American style dark ale. Pretty close to an IPA, and one of the closest things that you’ll get to cask ale without installing a hand-​pull and cellar without refrigeration.
There’s plenty of seating, but this doesn’t stop it from getting busy. This place packs out very quickly, and as a result, it can take a little while to get your food. But if you don’t mind waiting half an hour or so, sit back, play some provided boardgames and sink beers until you’re in delicious burger heaven.

The Tramway is a cosy pub in Fitzroy that has awesome burgers. On Tuesday nights you can get your burgers for $ 12 with thick cut chips.
I am a big fan of the Quinoa & Hummus burger but also like the Portobello mushroom burger and last Tuesday had the Pulled Pork burger! So delicious.
The Tramway is a friendly pub and is nice and cosy inside with often the fire going in winter but also has a small outdoor area and seats out the front, if you wish to eat/​drink outside.
They have an extensive range of beers and very friendly staff. I come here every now &then to meet friends. If you are very very hungry and in the area you must try a burger at the Tramway!

Awesome burgers! Great matching beers. Friendly, child friendly too.

I like this pub. It’s ‘pubby’, without being grungy and over-​the-​top blokey.
There’s seats in the sun, candles on the tables, great beers and ciders available by the jug, board games, hot waiters and the most epic burger menu you could ever imagine. They even have a happy hour Tuesday to Friday between 4 and 6 ($ 6 schooners).
I recently attempted to eat the Greek burger — a monster of a thing that I think even the hungriest person alive would struggle with. A gigantic beef pattie was topped with deliciously salty haloumi, salad and mint yoghurt all before being smooshed between two halves of a La Madre bun. On its own it was always going to challenge the size of my stomach, but then the side of chunky chips and some relish really pushed the boundaries. I left defeated, vowing to come back soon to go up against the Bison Burger.

What kind of magical pub has an entire menu dedicated to burgers? JUST burgers?! I think I died and went to heaven because I consider burgers to be a food group by itself.
The burgers at Tramway are delicious, gourmet and well-​priced. «But how many variations of a burger can you possibly do?» I hear you ask. I’ll tell you! What about:
* Salmon and trevally
* Portobello mushroom
* Quinoa and Hummus
«But Jackie, they sound too fancy for my bogan taste. Anything more traditional?» Why of course petal! Try the Tramway burger — your classic beef and bacon burger, or check out the Chicken Breast if you’re more in to the white meat.
The Tramway sits on a corner so it is always full of sunlight and is very inviting. Plus the gorgeous staff members are incredibly friendly and perfectly suit the ‘locals’ vibe.
Yep, this is a great stop-​off for those weeknights catching up with mates.

I’d heard whispers of a kick ass burger bar slash pub in North Fitzroy but hadn’t a clue what its name was. Imagine my — pleasant — surprise then when I stumbled across Tramway Hotel quite by accident last night and boy did it live up to expectations.
Despite the seemingly obligatory ‘Hotel’ in this pub’s name, the Tramway Hotel barely resembles a pub at all. The menu is fifty fifty burgers and other mains; the bar hugely well stocked; the wine list very good indeed; and the barmaids? Well they’re chattier than the broads on Coronation Street. But despite all of this, the Tramway just doesn’t have the feel of a pub.
The décor is modern and beautifully designed, all slate grey paintwork and exposed timber panelled walls, polished recycled glass — I think — floors and plenty of flashes of red, with some pretty spiffy giant lightbulb type lights hanging along the length of the bar.
And the burgers? Amazing. I shared a chicken burger with chips and the burger was mouthwateringly tasty. A mixture of grilled chicken, bacon, lettuce and aioli on a multiseed bun, I haven’t had a burger this good in aeons.
That said, said burger came close to being usurped by Tramway’s insanely good chips which were served with a homemade ketchup so unusually brilliant that I kind of wanted to chuck it in my handbag. Or ask for the recipe. Tramway is my new favourite pub in burger bar clothing. If you haven’t been, go.

Sandwiched between Fitzroy and North Fitzroy this classy little pub/​burger diner is like the meat in the middle of two hamburger buns. Set of the beaten track in the backstreets of Fitzroy, Tramway is the perfect place to go for a pint and a burger. And their burgers are pretty good indeed. With a whole menu to choose from there is a burger for everyone. They are not necessarily cheap at $ 16 – 18 each, but the drinks are pretty reasonably priced, and lets be honest you pay that for a pub burger anywhere these days.
Tramway is a clean pub, with minimal seating on the front pavement and a little smokers courtyard out the back. But you won’t miss the beer garden here, the main dining room is just so light and fresh anyway.
And the chips. Yes the chips are the best chips I have ever tried. Ever! They are hand cut hunks of soft, fluffy goodness inside, golden crispness on the outside, scattered with just a hint of rosemary and garlic salt. Oh and the tomato sauce they have in squeeze bottles scattered throughout the venue — is homemade and absolutely delicious.
So next time you have a hankering for a burger. Give the multi-​national chains a miss and head to Tramway. You won’t be disappointed I promise. And don’t worry about being asked if «you want fries with that’? No you will already have greedily ordered fries, before the barman can even ask what drink you want. Don’t worry they won’t judge you for it, they are used to this kind of reaction after all.

I’ve heard so many people gush about the burgers at Tramway in recent months, and after finally dining there, I have to say that I completely don’t understand what the fuss is about.
Yes, there’s a large selection of burgers, with what sound like some delicious flavour combinations, but my burger was definitely nothing to write home about. As a Tramway burger virgin, I thought it best to keep things simple and just order the standard Tramway Burger (which comes with bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, etc. and costs $ 16). The burger itself tasted fine, but there were problems with the execution. The meat patty was huge and overpowered the other flavours. Also, the bun was too dry and just wasn’t very nice. The chips that came with the burger were thick cut homemade wedges, that were crunchy — not because they had been fried to a crisp, but because the potato was undercooked. I also had a taste of the venison burger (which predictably tasted too gamey for my liking and I never would have ordered anyway) and the salmon and dill burger, which was really mooshy and just turned the burger into a bit of a sloppy mess.
What Tramway does have going for it is an impressive beer selection (both on tap and by the bottle). But if you’re after a delicious burger, I’d be bypassing Tramway and heading to the Union Hotel in Fitzroy. Now THAT’S a burger!

Ah Tramway. My little bastion of sanity in a fucked-​up Fitzroy. Thank goodness for you Tramway. Thank goodness for your little model tram above the door. Thank goodness for your unobtrusive outer aesthetic complete with slate panelling. Thank goodness for your tasteful décor and spacious layout. Thank goodness for your fine rotation of quality beers available in pots, schooners and pints for my drinking pleasure. Thank goodness for the fine selection of bar snacks you offer and for doing hands-​down the best pub burger in Melbourne. Thank goodness for your fabulous chips also. Thank goodness for your fantastic musical knowledge and the fact that you’ll play a record start to finish without batting an eye. Thank goodness for your friendly and courteous staff that actually give a shit about your drinking and dining experience and genuinely want you to come back because you’re not as much of a fuck head as most other folk in the area. Bless.