Ric’s Bar

I hate that I love Rics so much.
I am loyal to coming here every Saturday night after my routine bottle of pink passion pop with my partner who I also met at Rics. (Can be a good place for socialising with young singles. if your type is a struggling artist).
The bar can pretty aesthetically pleasing in a teen angst kinda way.
Watch out if you get secondhand ciggie smoke spewing sickness. The outdoor area resembles how I imagine a durrie factory on fire to smell.
The bathroom situation is a bad time!!!
One female toilet downstairs with no toilet paper is absolutely horrible.
Also major warning: security guard 156 is transphobic, so pee with one eye open!!!
If he finds you, your only options are to listen to 40 minutes of mansplaining or get kicked out. Choose wisely.

It’s strange that I don’t think so highly of Ric’s as I am usually one for big crowds on a Saturday night out drinking. But Ric’s is now a last resort for me.
I’ve come here three times now on a Saturday night, it’s understandably packed at 1 am but the layout of this bar just isn’t right for it.
First off, the bathrooms are nasty. The lines for the bar outside move very very slowly and there are tables and chairs around the bar area so it’s a very tight squeeze.
The narrow back «garden» area is where it gets bad. I honestly think they allow 100+ too many people stand around here. This back area is also the smoking area so add the stuffiness and stickiness of drinking bodies to the aroma of cigarettes and that’s your night at Ric’s.
If you’re anything like me and enjoy at least A LITTLE personal space and quick bartenders, then Ric’s is the last place you want to be.

Ric’s bar is always good on a Saturday night! Great place to go with friends for a drink/​dance or a nice place to sit!

Ric’s Bar is an awesome nightclub/​live music venue that caters to literally every possible taste! Right in the centre of the Valley mall this little spot never disappoints, boasting some of the best bands Brisbane has to offer most evenings of the week alongside a rad DJ spinning cool tracks between sets.
They also have an expansive back area decked out with fake grass, lawn furniture and other kitschy items, perfect place to have a relaxed drink with friends. It is also free entry!
Great bar and better people.

Another of my personal favourites in Brisbane. Very relaxed vibe, and available for both a relaxed afternoon session or «predrinks» before a wild night out. If there are too many people at the inside bar, try your luck upstairs or out the back — there’s always somewhere that drinks are available.
Great place for an afternoon/​early evening session, and a relaxing place to unwind at if the dance clubs are wearing you out. I’ve never personally had a problem with security (could be due to being female) but two male friends have claimed at separate times to have been refused entry.
Never a cover charge, and drinks are good and cheap — a dying combination in Fortitude Valley. Music is always playing, loud enough to be heard yet quite enough for conversation, and you’ll probably find all your uni friends there — especially if you’re a music student.

Always a fan of Ric’s. Can’t think of anywhere to go? Ric’s.
Central, live music, an outdoor area, cheap drinks, dirty. It ticks most of the boxes required for a good night.
The upstairs area is always a nice getaway from the noise downstairs. Stand next to a window and sober up as you look over the Valley.
Thursday night has cheap drinks — $ 3 basics and $ 10 cocktail jugs!
Very popular amongst the alternative/​indie crowd.
Most of which on a Thursday night are chugging down cheap drinks before going to Snitch around the corner. Meaning most of the crowd clears out around 9pm. Hello, table space!
Friday and Saturday nights can get quite busy and the band area becomes a dancefloor with accompanying DJ. You’ll have to fight through the crowd to get inside the venue.
Don’t dress up. They are known for being quite rude/​picky against some people (mostly males). Regardless of being sober or not.
Probably has one of the cheapest breakfasts in Brisbane.
Come for breakfast after a big night out.
$ 4 breakfast (with a drink purchase) — 2 fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato and toast! Plus a fairly extensive breakfast list.
Make sure you get a seat early and be prepared for up to a 30min wait on food.

Rics is renowned for hosting live rock performances and there is apparently always an extensive list of bands waiting on the sidelines to get an opening there.
Having been to The Bowery and the Brunswick Social prior on our Saturday night spent pub crawling in the Valley, I wanted to stick to my preferred laid-​back/​trendy and relaxed venue however Rics turned out to be quite the opposite — very loud pumping tunes, crowd on the dance floor.
Now don’t get me wrong — it is a great venue and I am sure students and those on the very low end of the Gen-​Y class love it but, nah it’s not really to my taste anymore.
I guess it also depends on what time you head there, we went quite late around 11ish and it was packed obviously but I reckon, if you went a bit earlier and, especially if/​when there’s a band on, it’d actually be a pretty cool place where you can relax, sit back and enjoy a drink.
The seating area at the front and out back provide great spots on a warm summer night to hang out. so, for those who have never been, it’s worth giving giving Rics a try… just to see how you go.

Rics is the kind of place that is enjoyable depending on when you choose to go there. On a weeknight or early Friday/​Saturday night rics is a pleasant no-​fuss bar where you can just chill out. However, on a late (11pm onwards) Friday or Saturday night, this place gets crowded full of people and becomes a whole lot more pretentious. I am honestly not surprised by Oliver’s story; for a place that claims to embrace alternative– Rics can be just as shallow as those clubs that won’t allow guys in sneakers.
On a more quiet night though, it is a complete different story– Rics will be relaxed with good music playing in the background. I have had some good nights here; seen some great local bands, danced around, played Space Invaders etc. The drinks at Rics are priced to match the average price for drinks in the valley.
Rics has been around for years that it seems everybody has something to say about it. Like other reviewers have said; people will claim to hate it but somehow find themselves on their dance floor at the end of the night. I think it is an OK place to hang.

How much time have you taken away from me Ric? My memory loss usually starts and finishes when walking through these doors on a weekend. If you’ve been a student in the last couple of years you’ve no doubt been to Ric’s at least once if not a hundred times. Like most places in Brisbane, outdoor areas to drink are the most sort-​after. It can get quite warm and humid in our little town and the back area at Ric’s provides the perfect amount of breeze and cool air to suit drinking cheap beer.
The upstairs dance floor is also a bit of a cheeky secret in Brisbane as well. Ladies you won’t find greasy drunk guys ogling and groping anyone, there are actually guys who appreciate some good music and just want to have fun like you do.

I used to be quite a big fan of Rics. During my clubbing heyday I would often go to their upstairs bar and dance floor on a Friday or Saturday to watch DJs mixing vinyl favourites to the rapture of the crowd. I always appreciated the free gigs downstairs and the reasonably priced drinks.
Yes, good old Rics was fated for a four or even five star review until one fateful day earlier this month when I spent precious minutes of my life lining up to show the bouncer my ID only to be denied on the grounds that I had a COLLAR?!
I sense your confusion. Why should a collar be grounds for any sort of discrimination. Surely this standard feature which has permeated much of upper-​body covering menswear for centuries should not be met with such a reaction.
It makes one wonder, are there some recently discovered and unpublicised hazards associated with wearing a collar in a confined space? Can the collar’s pointed edges somehow cause injuries to other patrons (it wasn’t popped btw)? Or are clubs like Rics on the payroll of the multi-​billion dollar T-​shirt lobby?
As I pointed out to the bouncer, many people in the venue that were visible from where I stood were wearing collars. HE himself was wearing a collar. If he’s searching for reasons to deny people entry into the venue due to overcrowding concerns, perhaps he might want to reconsider admitting the girl in front of me in the line, who drunkenly fell into a temporary divider before being waved into the chaos…
It seemed I was wasting my breath; the fellow wasn’t receptive to logic or intelligent argument. Which is probably why he is a bouncer in the first place.

Look, I know there’s already a lot about Ric’s, but I can’t skip over Ric’s without commenting and getting a little nostalgic. Ric’s has been the default place for my friends and I ever since I turned 18. We’ve gone through love/​hate stages in our relationship, and now I think we’re on an even keel, Ric’s and I, willing to have a contented respect for one another. We even stuck it out through its random change of ownership and transition from just Ric’s to Ric’s Bar and Grill. (remember that?) Ric’s still remains my default place on a standard Saturday night in the Valley.
No matter where else I go, I always end up at Ric’s; always end up complaining about the one bathroom downstairs when I could easily go to the bathrooms upstairs; always dancing to a random song I don’t remember the next morning; always hanging out with my friends around the weird game machine things; always finding new fascination in the pictures and writing on the bathroom wall. I’m not ashamed that it’s my default. Ric’s is the safe, go-​to place where you’ll always run into someone you know, always enjoy the music (whether it’s a great live band or some classic Ric’s tune), and always spend too much money on spirits.
Wear skinny jeans and sport a great quiff boys, and you’ll fit in without an issue. Just kidding! (But seriously).

If you’re an arts student in Brisbane I am certain that you’re going to spend or have already spent a lot of time at Ric’s. Technically it’s named Ric’s Bar, but if you call it that people will give you a weird look and walk in the other direction. So let’s be clear… it’s called Ric’s. Ric’s.
Ric’s is experiencing a lot of bad press lately for some reason. Suddenly it has become a little less trendy or you may here people say, «it’s nothing like the old Ric’s». Honestly, I think these individuals need to get a grip. The renovations in my opinion are great! The once desolate outside area is now a wide-​open expanse, with the added bonus of an extra bar! Lately I’ve been having a lot of superb drunken chats out there with old and new friends and I am saddened that some people are missing out on it, mostly out of pride of pretention. In addition, the venue is quite large when you really think about it! If you ever get bored of the people or the location you can just move upstairs, listen to some music and get yourself another drink. I hate feeling trapped in a venue but I also hate barhopping. So Ric’s is the perfect balance of feeling both nestled and free!
On a more technical note, drinks are relatively cheap. If you’re pinching pennies but still feel the need to get loose and fancy free, I recommend a bottle of the house wine for $ 20. After downing a few of those I imagine you’ll be feeling pretty merry and be dancing in no time. Speaking of dancing, the music is an indie mix with a few classics thrown in here and there. Pretty easy to bop and pop along to.
Definitely check Ric’s out and see if it’s your thing. Don’t go along with the crowd just cause they’re too cool to know a good thing while they’ve still got it. Not cool man!
P. s. I can’t believe I said man.

While Ric’s is a staple bar for many an indie youth’s weekend madness, I personally prefer to visit Ric’s on a weeknight to listen to some chilled out live tunes and enjoy a beer or two. Recently, I saw Brisbane locals Stars of Thursday and O’ Little Sister perform some of their originals on a blissful Tuesday evening. The weekday gigs are normally held at reasonable hours (around 8−10pm) so it is definitely doable even if you have work the next morning.
Ric’s has old charm to it, with its sticky floors doors and walls. It is quite easy to find a stool to sit on during the week but be warned that they are all wonky and if you are anything like me you are bound to fall off even when sober. Like all bars during the week, the stale smell of alcohol-​feulled debauchery from the weekend past lingers a little too strongly for my liking. Nonetheless, it is totally worth checking out some of the local talent on a weekday for a very different Ric’s experience.

Ric’s was a staple part of a healthy night out for me in my uni years. Fab and funky beats upstairs (bring back DJ Grozny!) and live originals in the bar downstairs.
In recent times the clientele seems to have dropped off a bit — kids today don’t seem to want solid fun times from their bars and clubs, but fancy décor and pretentious fashion. You won’t find any of that at Ric’s — it’s down to earth all the way.
And you absolutely cannot go past a Ric’s/Fat Boys $ 4 Breakfast. They’ve been on the menu since I moved to Brisbane in 2003 (and long before that) and they’ve mopped me up many a time after a particularly huge night out. Plus they do have other delicious menu items, but really — the $ 4 Breakfast is a Brisbane icon. Much like the establishment itself…

«Guys Lets NOT go to Ric’s tonight.»
Oh past me I have heard this from you very very often
but in the apocalyptic post-​club morning vision, future me will count 5 Ric’s entry stamps on my person.
And why not?
Ric’s is something special,
no Humphrey Bogart won’t be waiting with a Scotch and Soda to greet you (a La Casablanca)
But Ric’s is the premier alternative Bar/​club of Brisbane.
.well used to be anyway
given the popularity of the Brunswick St Mall + advantage of no cover charge,
the usual indie/​hipster clientele is supplemented with some surprise «Normies in Team shirts» on Friday and Saturday nights.
Still I think its retains some amount of its old charm,
The sticky floors, the amount of graffiti in the toilets and trashbaggery on the dance floor
you can’t deny its not seedy, there are no filters here
at 3am this is the REAL side of brisbane coming out.
In fact Ric’s played an integral part of me and my friends adolescence
This is where I popped my club cherry
This is where I saw amazing live acts like 6ft Hick,
Gentle Ben and his sensitive side and Main St Brats
Where I had a 10AM Beer stop after Zombie walk
Where I danced on tables and
Where the term RicsRegret™ was coined.
And while it’s now competing with new indie clubs like
Woodlands or Black Bear Lodge
Love it or hate it
If you’re like me
you are probably going to end your night here.