The Tempo Hotel

We stopped in here when we checked out Fortitude Valley. We were lured in by the steak special, — 8.50 for a steak, if you bought a drink, and they had a nice beer selection, I enjoyed my red ale.
The bistro area is just a small part of the place, where you order from the bartender and eat in a small area with some outside tables available. There is a big area for live bands, funnily enough I ran into the band getting ready putting on crazy makeup in the bathroom. I would recommend this place, to check out a band or stop in for the steak special.

If you are out an about in Fortitude Valley and are looking for somewhere to whet the appetite and slack the thirst, then look no further than The Tempo Hotel.
The bistro and pub has a pretty good rep for serving up good food and as I have eaten there on a few occasions I can certainly agree with that!
It is great value for money and there are always deals on, for example, buy a drink and get a steak meal for $ 7.50 and while you are probably thinking the cut of meat won’t be any good for that price you will be pleasantly surprised.
All the other pub faves are also on the menu like lasagne, chicken parmy and fish and chips as well as a few interesting choices like a beef rogan josh.
In all the menu is very satisfying and reasonably priced.
The venue hosts a variety of live music too, original and cover bands and artists, so there is always entertainment in the upstairs bar, but if its a chat and a hang with friends over a nice meal, then stick to the downstairs area.
All in all, The Tempo Hotel is a pretty great place for entertainment, food, drinks and catching up with friends, plus it is nicely located a block away from the Valley Mall. Check it out, I definitely recommend it.

One thing I love about the Tempo Hotel is their amazing Steak and drink deals. It is also a very spacious pub therefore is a great place to get together with a large group of friends.
I am not the first person to say it but I feel it needs to be said again; the $ 7.50 steak deal is pretty incredible. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of places offer cheap steak deals but these guys have got it down pact– they know what a medium-​rare steak should look like. Not only do they have cheap steaks but there is a drinks special on on most nights (I have not been here in a few months therefore do not know what the current deals are). I remember having a very good night here, when they had a $ 4 Corona special. We drank Coronas and danced all the carbs we accumulated away!
The Tempo Hotel is very spacious and does not seem to be as popular as the pub down the road (RGs), this is a good thing as it gets a lot less spacious and you do not feel like you have to share space with a bunch of loud drunks. The bar is nice and wide so and there are plenty of staff on hand so you will never have to wait a long time to get served.
Needless to say, I am a fan of this pub. The food and drinks may be cheap, but this is a quality place to hang out at.

The food at Tempo is, to say the least, surprising. This is one of the best value choices for a quality meal in the Valley and the outside tables are a fantastic place to watch the passing parade.
I’ve eaten there quite a few times, and although I’ve never found the steak to be amazing, I’ve had several other great meals including the lasagne, chicken parmigiana, fish & chips, and (most surprisingly of all), a delicious beef rogan josh curry.
The chips are great and all of the meals go perfectly with a jug of beer to share. Afterwards, you can wander into the chaos of the Valley or just pop upstairs to the bar, where you’ll be able to grab a cheap drink and watch some live music. It may not be the most flash establishment Fortitude Valley has to offer, but it’s slightly removed from the chaos of the main drag, entertaining, and unbeatable value for money.

I think that the shear size of the Tempo is what attracted me to it in the first place. We were out in the Valley originally set to go to a bar near by but to the advantage of Tempo the other bar which shall remain nameless for now was booked out for another few hours for a work party.
What surprised me was the fact that in the whole place there was about 6 people including us which was fine because we got one of the two pool tables which i imagine is an impossible when its full. The size of the place also made it look like it was even more deserted. What was also strange but quite nice was the fact that they had an acoustic musician playing and it seemed like we got a private gig. I think it was due to the time we were there that it was empty but i hope it does get more full later on at night. I think i will have to go at a later time next time because of what i have seen i am a fan of Tempo and think it could be a good night out.

Walking into Tempo felt like walking into a giant games room. This set of stairs I’ve seen and passed by for about four years now completely changed perspective for me once I got inside. In terms of what I have to say about Tempo, let me break it down to you in list form, because I just love lists, guys.
1. It’s a great open space, which makes it great for live music, and some of the bands are actually good.
2. …But the band I saw one night I went was covering ‘Moves Like Jagger’ and ‘Raise Your Glass’ and equally disturbing pop songs that should never be sung by a male band ever. Ever.
3. There are pool tables scattered around the place! Good for a little friendly competition through the night.
4. The drinks are actually pretty cheap! Which is a nice surprise when you’re struggling to rub two pennies together like moi.
5. Tempo attracts a nice little diverse crowd of people, so you’ve pretty much got your pick of people to chat to. Enough said.
6. You can book a function here, which I think would be pretty sweet considering the space. Good for a work Christmas party perhaps?
7. You can pop downstairs to Bowler Bar if you’re after a smaller, more indie vibe.

It is by no standard, one of the great pubs or bars that the Valley has a reputation for. It is, and always has been a dive. It’s changed names so many times in the past ten years that it’s constant transformations have become it’s defining feature. It is, for the most part, a fairly forgettable pub.
However, this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s ordinariness is the reason why it’s become a solid watering hole of mine.
The venue is big; housing two pool tables, plenty of places to sit down and spread out, a generous smoking area that doesn’t make you feel guilty or alone in being a smoker, friendly staff and they’ve even got half a decent pub meal on offer.
They’ve generally got some pleasant enough, if forgettable type of live music on of a weeknight and weekend (keeping in theme with the venue itself). During the day, Tempo is lined with tradies drinking lunch beers, and at night it’s bar stools seat undecorated, unassuming earthy folk who simply want to have a quiet beer.
Simply put, it’s a good place for a game of pool and a jug amongst mates.

The Bistro in The Tempo Hotel is one of Brisbane’s best kept secrets; this is where you will find the best value steak in the city. For only $ 7.50 you will receive the steak, beer-​battered chips and garden salad. And it’s a hefty sized meal. They also serve a number of other pub grub type dishes, such as fish and chips, with a few surprise extras thrown in, like the Traditional Irish Stew and Classic Red Thai Chicken Curry. All the food is great value, but nothing beats the legendary steak. The fact that’s it’s located smack bang in the middle of The Valley on Brunswick Street makes the prices even more amazing.
I have never been a big meat eater; when dining out I always choose something else over any slab of meat. My visit to Tempo was the first time I regretted my decision. I chose to have a pizza instead, and while it was good, the steak my friends ordered looked incredibly appetising. But, as they say, it’s important to make mistakes in life, as long as you don’t repeat them. I definitely won’t.
Note: the opening hours listed are for the Bistro.