Crows Nest Hotel

There seems to be at least one ‘old persons pub’ in pretty much every suburb, even the really exclusive suburbs, and the Crows Nest Tavern seems to the the contender for Crows Nest. Mind you, when I was here it was undergoing some renovations but I’m not sure if it is going to turn the place into some hip and trendy joint, or some really classy establishment, rather I suspect that it is simply going to be the same old Crows Nest Tavern (that I’ve only been to once, but them some places all you need to visit is once and you can pretty much tell everything you need to know about the place). Anyway, after reading the Unilocal reviews I am pretty confident that my first, and only, attendance at this place has pretty much summed it up.

OK so the crowie has just undergone a massive facelift. Its been closed for what seems like a good year (for all intents and purposes — I’m not calling the tiny bar they had open during the renovations a representation of what the crowie stood for prior to renovations), and its recently reopened to ‘grand fanfare’.
The renovations have brought much additional space to the venue, now opening up the upstairs area, multiple bars /​performance spaces upstairs and down, and a synthetic tree/​smoking area reminiscent of the oak located at the pub of the same name (but on a much much smaller scale).
I was afraid that the renovations might have sucked all the life out of what affectionately became such a random throw of the dice of how your night would end up if you ventured here. Thus far I’m unable to develop a conclusive assessment. But on the night I went they had 50c wings served with super spicy sauce (or not so spicy should you choose), and beer. So we’re making progress here but it seems the beer prices have gone up massively (perhaps just a Sydney thing).
The performance space next to the upstairs bar needs further work, with a band or soloist playing in there the bar staff nor people ordering can barely hear each other.
Crowie you get 2 stars for now… The prices are killer (in a bad way) preventing making this a regular unless offset by cheap wings… but perhaps justifiable if you cannot get in anywhere else.

Bouncers on Sunday 22^nd may are aggressive and overtly threatening and generally not nice and hateful
Don’t go if you want to get in
Don’t come

Ahhh the Crowie! I’ve been a model citizen attending this pub for a little over a decade since my teenage years. It really is one of the ultimate local joints, and has been for 400 or so years. As trendy small bars come and go, ol’ faithful is always there with welcoming open arms through till the early hours of the morning.
Yes, the carpet smells, there are beer stains on the ceiling and the mahogany bar has layer upon layer of varnish combined with spilt bundy rum — all the hallmarks of an excellent pub — but the team there is creative, and in the past they’ve thrown plenty of parties — even converted the entire front end of the pub into a huge adult-​sized ball pit!
I’ve had Crowie branded onto my rear at a young age, and it will likely remain there for the rest of my years. It’s gradually becoming one of the better Sydney pubs, but I kind of hope it never gets there.

Desperate times call for desperate measures :-) when all else is closed along the upper north shore and you want a drink that does not cost you a bomb, you have three choices… go to the city, go to Minsky’s or end up here ;-)) As much as I hate to admit it, I have done all three and can’t decide which one is the worst of them all ;-))
This place has been around for years and, used to be a total dive with smelly carpets. At least now its renovated but, still a dive ;-)) The waitress would not give me more than two drinks per order and I had to have a friend come with me twice to get drinks for our group and she kept asking me who I was buying drinks for… felt like I was in kindergarten.
There was a band playing which was ok but the place was pretty empty for a Thursday night. I know that is not the norm as I have seen it jam packed on the weekend and so on.
I would not turn up here sober and i don’t think I ever have… well maybe once about 10 years ago ;-)) its an average bar that meets a need after the 11 – 12 bar closing times in the area as it is open till 4.

We had a quick lunch break here last week.
They have $ 10 lunch deals which seem great. A friend had the chicken snitzel for $ 10 which was covered in cheese and bacon on top. Decent serves.
I had the grilled chicken ceaser salad. This was also quite yummy. A bit too much dressing for my liking so didn’t really finish the salad, but this could also be because the serve was quite big too.
All in all, decent food for a decent price. Great pub food.

What would the north side be without the Crowie? Sober, boring, and with less accidental pregnancies, one would imagine.
The Crowie has now hit ‘institution’ status, thanks largely to their brilliant 5am license. When all else fails, hit the C-​Hiz. It’s an older crowd — late twenties to mid thirties — but they get remarkably loose, and by remarkably I mean heinously. The place is infamous for it’s cougar hunting, which is a bit of a misnomer because the cougars, they hunt you. Aggressively. And in packs. Slobbering, grizzled packs. It’s hella fun.
The awesome pub rock bands they get in to rip the roof off the place are cancelled out by the Security on the front door, who have an unfortunate reputation for beings surly, difficult and more than a bit pervy.

I thought this was a decent place to have drinks with friends and eat a hearty meal. There seems to be ample space to hang out, sit, and/​or gamble. I didn’t find the Crowie to be especially grimy either compared to other places I’ve gone (which is good for those who stay sober for most of the night).
Bar food in the States is usually disgusting and dirty, so I wasn’t expecting much from the food here. But I was pleasantly surprised by the fish&chips and burger&chips. Both were decent; chips were crispy. So I was happy!
I’m not sure if I would ever proactively choose to hang out at the Crowie, but I wouldn’t mind going back if it was suggested.

A friend of mine had recently moved to Wollstonecraft and had discovered that every so often there was a good comedy night on at the Crows Nest Hotel.
So over I went to his place and we dined on domino’s pizza before heading up to the pub for some good old fashioned LOLing. The support acts were quite good, a nice little bit about Kiwi porn stars kept us entertained, before the ever dry and incredibly talented Tommy Deans took to the stage as headliner.
We continued drinking throughout the night, laughing at his clever and witty observations about life and Australia through an American’s eyes.
The pub is quite large and the food is reasonably priced and of good quality. Beer battered fish, beer battered comedians and beer battered beer; a good night out.

I have never started my night at the Crowie. Plainly put, the Crows Nest Hotel isn’t the most pleasant place in the world. That title probably belongs to either your grandma’s house or the soft and warm embrace of Salma Hayek’s chest. And yet, I have spent more time in the Crowie than I ever would have imagined. The first time I walked in here with friends, the smell from the bathroom was mind-​bending: being winter, the air conditioning was cranked and as a result, the smell of vomit was dense. And that was the ladies’ room.
The last time I came here, we walked in, looked at the main bar, thought «Nah», then walked into the next room, looked at the gaming lounge, thought «Nah», then walked into the next room, looked at the front room, thought «Nah», then walked back into the main bar and proceeded to inexplicably kill a few hours. With this in mind, it might surprise to be informed that there’s a high level of fun to be had by sitting back and people watching in here, the drinks won’t break your bank, and one of my buddies actually met his long-​term girlfriend here, so you never know.

The «roughest dive out» is one way to describe this joint. With the smell of sweat, vomit and urine in the air, it is a place that requires alcohol consumption and lots of it! Obtain a VIP card and each girl who enters receives a free drink upon entry.
Also known as «The Crowie», the venue offers pub food with cheap steaks, live music and trivia. Arrive on a Wednesday night and the place is usually gearing up for a big night with events for local university students. The closest station is St Leonards, however, it is not within walking distance. It is best to catch a taxi from the station or it is likely you will end up lost. It is not recommended that you go to the Crowie when sober…