The Elephant & Wheelbarrow

This English-​style pub didn’t do a lot for me in terms of atmosphere… my husband liked it (he loves English-​style pubs for some reason, and he especially loves big TVs, which they have at least one of). The bartender, who — by the way — looked just like Emma Stone, was really friendly and helpful. I wanted to try a cider, which I don’t know much about, and they had at least four on draft. She was able to recommend one that wasn’t too sweet and let me try it before serving it to me. They also had a decent amount of beers on draft. It would probably be a good place to watch the game and was fairly busy for a Wednesday night. They had an upstairs, too, which was closed, but if it were open I believe the bar could fit quite a few people.

Looking for a good value pub meal on a weeknight in Melbourne, the Elephant and Wheelbarrow will not disappoint. Two visits were enjoyable with friendly service and acceptable comfort — though a tad tight and noisy — the meals were good value though not great, the house wine satisfactory. All in all it fits the bill for a pub meal well, we’ll be back.

The Elephant & Wheelbarrow is your average pub, serving a vast array of beers and what seems to be good value pub grub.
I tried the pulled pork sliders and was happy with the quality and taste. My dinining companions shared a Ploughmans which was sizeable and another had a hearty burger & chips. Not a one of us had a complaint about the food.
The service was okay but the staff member working the upstairs bar on the night we were there didn’t really appear that interested and a smile seemed to be almost impossible as did her manners.
It’s not a venue that I would go to on a regular basis but I’d happily go back.

Typical English-​themed pub; you know the drill! I’ve watched the Asian Cup matches here four nights in a row so far and it’s been good.
Great lentil burger (minus tzatziki) and the fries are good. That’s the only vegetarian/​vegan option, sadly. But it is a bog-​standard pub so we can’t expect miracles! They have Coopers Pale on tap at a reasonable $ 10.50 as well as the usual suspects.
Not my kind of music but with Frenzal Rhomb blasting out of my noise-​cancelling earphones I can’t hear anything else so all good!
The free WiFi wasn’t working but Telstra’s free Melbourne trial was so still got it free, anyway!

First of all i want to mention that it’s a nice and cozy pub with a good atmosphere BUT some things are a no — go here…
Very pricy
&
Low food quality in my case
I’ll start with the Fish & chips for 22 $
The fish was ok but the fries were cold nit salted and not ready fried. The only highlight was the homemade Tatar Sauce. i had plenty of better fish & chips for half the money in the UK or Wales and even Australia.
As sad as it is I won’t come back here I prefer every shady pub on Smith St. Instead of thus here.
The pint of Ale costs 11,40 $ which us a joke in my eyes. Is is good but too pricy.

This place was fantastic. Rolled in there on cup day. Ice cold draft and some of the best chicken parm I’ve ever eaten

Look as far as pubs in the CBD go, this one is actually alright. There’s a second level which is far roomier than downstairs, which gets pretty effing hectic.
Pretty traditional and delicious range of standard pub fair, and some nice beers on tap!

Foods alright, friendly staffs were nice, just how small a 10 dollar cheese cake was shocking!

When this place first opened, there weren’t many places like it around. It’s a traditional English-​style pub with good beers on tap and a dark interior with dark wood everywhere. It’s a bit pricier than average, but that is good because it keeps the rowdier crowds away. Great place to go chill out and have a few pints with your friends.

Just had a beer and nachos — beer was ok, but expensive and the nachos were burned, over-​salty and tasteless at the same time.
Can’t recommend.

Drinks are fine, overpriced but about the same you would get anywhere else. Food is ok but at times a bit bland and salty. Service can be nice if you get the right staff working there at the time. Other times service sucks, slow and /​or rude. Fed up and will not come back.

I went to this place earlier in the day for a beer. Before bouncers were even seen in the bars for the night Went back to my hotel took a nap for about 5 hours and wanted to go back. Headed back, as we walked up to the door the bouncer grabbed my coworkers arm and said I need to talk to you. Questioned us on where we were coming from, how much we had to drink. As the other bouncer came out he said that «if we are going to have a problem with you then we would rather keep you out of the bar now. Really buddy? How are you gonna say you will have a problem with us as we walk up to the bar. I might be here for business and not sure the next time I will be back but I will tell you that I WILL NEVER step foot in the establishment again in my life.

We came here for dinner on a Sunday night and had a lovely time. It was pretty quiet, and I could actually hear the company I was with! Perhaps I am getting deaf, but I hate places where you can barely hear your neighbor over the BOOM BOOM BOOM music.
Décor is traditional ‘pub’ — dark woods, comfy chairs, cricket on the TVs.
I had a beef pie with chips and a salad accompanied by a pint of beer. Service was fast and the food was good — the sauce in the pie was great and the salad was fresh. Value for money was also there as we both are and drank for less than $ 50. Not to shabby!

Nice «British» Pub with a selection of food, a pretty good choice of tap beer (dark ale white rabbit, stella artois, cider…) and a 8 $ pint of James Boags, that’s a pretty good deal.
Tv for the sports events, plenty of space, nice atmosphere, what else could you ask to a Pub ?
Just been there once but it seems that it’s a nice place enough to enjoy a beer.

I’ve heard of The Elephant & Wheelbarrow numerous times from a mate of mine however have never set foot in it until Tuesday night. I have to say I quite like it actually.
Great location at the corner of Exhibition and Bourke Streets, this traditional English pub offers a broad range of beers, wine and serves food as well. I don’t know why but I love pub food. There are days when all I want is to head to a pub, grab a beer and a parma — nothing fancy and I’m not fussed, that’ll do it for me and oh yeah add TVs on the wall dedicated to sports — pretty good deal.
I was quite hungry so decided to have the seared salmon fillet which was a pretty big serve and not bad. The dish cost $ 18 which was not too bad considering that pub food are generally in the $ 20s range.
With an upstairs area with a bar as well, the place was pretty busy and so it should especially on the eve of a public holiday.
Will definitely go back for drinks some other time.

You can’t beat a good counter meal and quality beer with sport on the side. Of the city pubs this end of the CBD this is my favourite. The Sunday roast is especially good value.

It is indeed a traditional English pub, and yes there are countless pubs all over England that look just like this one, but they’re not the ones I ever enjoyed being in, and so too for this English pub in a faraway land.
Despite the all-​things-​British theme, there are only two English beers on tap — Tetleys and Old Speckled Hen — and three Irish drops — Guiness, Kilkenny and Bulmers cider. The Australian beer list is far more extensive with James Squire, Coopers, Boags and more on offer. There’s also the usual suspects of international beers — Stella, Kronenburg, Heineken, Peroni, Becks and Carlsberg.
The food menu features all the comfort British dishes you’d expect from a good English pub — bangers and mash, fish and chips, shepherd’s pie and a good breakfast fry-​up.
On the top floor is a small gig room where I saw a not very well-​known British comedian who was here for the comedy festival in March.

When i think ‘Traditional Pub’, i think of The Elephant & Wheelbarrow. This place screams Traditional British Pub.
Everything about it is «Pub», The Food; Everything from Bangers and Mash, Shepard’s Pie, Steak and Chips, Burgers and Fries… You get where i’m going with this. Large portions for around under $ 20. The Veggie Burger i got was unbelievable, portion was massive and chips were big and crispy! Loved ‘em.
The interior is all about big booths and wooden everything (reminds me of my dad’s house actually). The crowd are anyone from Backpackers, Tourists, Business suits, party people, it’s all just a big range of boozy people.

A real touristy English pub in the heart of the city. Actually more English in its style than most pubs in London are these days, and that says a lot about the kind of décor here: dark stained wood, big booths and tables, basic tables under umbrellas outside. The menu is also as you’d expect: bangers and mash, fish’n’chips, burgers, steaks, most overpriced. And the entertainment? Standard again for an English pub: all the big sports events of tele, covers bands on the weekend.
I’d never choose to come here after work or on a weekend night as it gets pretty rowdy and packed with suits and loafer-​types, but if you’re just after a pint on an afternoon, the outside tables aren’t a bad place to sit for a while.

I like the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. I don’t always know why.
Maybe it’s the dark wood panelling. Maybe it’s because it’s been here since I have (more or less), since I moved down from Canberra back in 2000. They had Hahn Premium on tap, one of only a few places in Melbourne that did. A little taste of home, when I was alone in a big city.
They don’t anymore, but that’s okay — they’ve got around twenty other beers and ciders on tap, so you’ll probably be able to find something you like. Only complaint I’d make is that they’re pretty much all serious beers — none of your cherry ale here.
But yeah, I like the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. It’s simple, it’s about beer, and it’s got comfy seats.