Elite Event: Havana Nights

this was a great night and my first time meeting up with Melbourne Unilocal Elite squad=)
awesome people party here=)
the party was very fun with ice breaker and free drinks and ice cream and sandwiches!
loved the Havana theme≠) the staff was very friendly and smiley=)
was glad to meet Tresna on her last elite Unilocal event in Mel and hope to see some of the newly met faces on the future events!

Another top night from team Unilocal!I didn’t realise Los Barbudos had an upstairs section but now I do! We were treated to several cocktails from get go and an abundance of food despite being forewarned to eat beforehand :) I liked the ‘ice-​breaker’ Cuban cards which made us all seek out new Unilocalers.

What a lovely and festive way to kick off the year. It was great to come out and see all the Unilocalers, who I’ve missed over the summer. Los Barbudos is a great, festive bar. The mojitos were PACKED with mint, which I love love love. Our back, two food trucks served up bagel sandwiches and ice cream, but were sublime. It was a great night! Thanks everyone.

What a great way to kick off the year of Unilocaling. People were so excited the line to get in grew as it neared 7pm.
Upon arrival we were greeted with cocktail vouchers and cards. This was a great way to meet new people as we all had to find 3 others with a matching card.
The rum cocktails were perfectly matched for the evening with choice of mojito, Cuba libre or my favorite the dark and stormy.
The bagels supplied by the food truck were delicious. I tried their take on a Cuban which should definitely pop up on their regular menu and the cheese.
Short batch provided some delicious ice cream. It was a much needed cool treat on a warm summer night.
Thanks to tresna and the team for putting together such a great event.

What an awesome Elite event, I met so many new people but it still felt quite small and intimate.
The Boys behind the bar were working tirelessly to ensure we didn’t faint from heat exhaustion (it was a hot Havana Night).
The card idea, find people with the same card as you was awesome to ensure everyone mixed and mingled! Food was also awesome, the bagels were amazing!

The hardest question of the night: What should come first, ice cream or a bagel sandwich? The deliberating was hard people… As a Jewish American I have a natural affinity (passion/​intense love/​obsession) with all things bagel, but then artisanal ice cream on a hot summer night is also the bomb. A traditionalist at heart, the bagel sandwich won out and as Larry David might say, it was «pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good». Loved the food truck parked out on the astro turf behind the (above?) the and the small batch ice cream truck posed next to it completed the cute, summer night in the city picture. Also, the coconut ice cream was simply delightful.
Then it was time for a few dark and stormies (sic) and some good old Panama hat spotting. Along with a chat or two with old Unilocaling friends. Mucho Gracias Unilocal

What a great way to start the year! This was my first official Elite event and boy has it got me hooked! On entering the bar I was greeted by the lovely Mel who handed me a postcard that matched with three others in the room, what a cute idea. I immediately went in search of my three new friends! This was a great way to meet fellow Unilocalers!
The bar menu was simple, yet showed off the Cuban theme in style. The bar staff were super helpful and I’m sure would love to chat if they had the time. After sampling one of the great cocktails, we headed upstairs to the food truck. It seamed a big decision to leave the bar, but once we were up there, we were some of the last to leave!
Round The Way was an amazing choice for the evening, that was the best cheese bagel I’m ever had! Nom Nom Nom :-) I would also highly recommend the ice cream man from Short Batch. I tried the Green Apple sorbet– perfect for a summers evening, refreshing, light and full of flavour.
I had a great time, bring on the next Unilocal event :-)

Unilocal events are quite often like the varied postcards we received on this night.
All similar in style and appearance, yet there are also differences between.
This time, anticipation struck the crowd as people merged and met, all in
the mix to celebrate the first Unilocal elite event in style. I did have a few meals
before coming here, so I didn’t arrive starving.
There was plenty of food on offer and the filled bagels, (cheese and chicken)
respectively, both were amazing. As was the Ice cream flavours from short batch–
Which sounds like an awesome name for a coffee business. It was a great night
featuring many of the awesome Unilocal people I have come to know in recent times.
Drinks were good and I tried everything, but did keep it all in moderation.
The bar staff were great; not a grimace or groan in sight, always tending to
everyone queuing. A varied batch, but all united for one common aim, to
enjoy the night and have some fun. All in all things progressed very well.

Havana Nights was a great way to kick start the year. The theme was perfect for the weather that we’ve been experiencing in Melbourne and needless to say that the weather did the event justice as well.
As usual (and that’s what it’s all about anyway!) the drinks were pretty good (Dark and Stormy me anytime!) and the bagels from Round The Way were amazing — I’m still thinking about the grilled cheese & Mayo bagel — let’s just say that it was bagelicious…
For those who had a crack at the ice cream from Short Batch, I’m sure it hit the spot.
It was great to meet some new faces as well as catch up with ‘old’ friends. I really like what Tresna and the team get us to play little ‘games’ to try and promote a mingling culture at events. Nice one guys!
… A great location, cool joint run by really fun staff and in the company of super rad Unilocalers… ‘Nouf said!
Now, as most of you know, Havana Nights was Tresna’s last event as our Community Manager and I just want to say that (even though we’ll still see her at some of the future events) she will be sorely missed. Two years ago, I made a call that I’ll never regret and that was signing up on Unilocal.
All the events that I have had the chance to attend, have been awesome with some being so rad that I’m sure that we’ll still be talking about them for years to come.
Thanks Tres and Good Luck with the new gig!

The event was lovely and on a splendid night for cuban cocktails. Dark and Stormy was my fav out of the three and totally in love with the coconut ice cream — for shz. The bar is great — a perfect blend of casual and sexy. Will be back when I find a babysitter!

Elite events are one of the greatest things to be involved with and makes running around trying all the hopefully good business in our travels near and far worth the effort, besides you know helping out other people. I finally got to break the mold and experience my first Unilocal elite event outsidemy home town of NY. Every was super friendly in true Unilocal fashion but some of the regularities made me feel right at home. (going to have to see where jando has been hiding all of our Unilocal shot glasses!) So I quickly refilled my Unilocal mint supply, just ran out the day before, and headed straight to the bar. Handed over my ticket and boom was greeted with one of the best mojitos I have had outside Miami and south america! Minty refreshing and a bar tender I could understand couldn’t be better.
I was curious about the food and found the hidden passageway leading upstairs but still its own first floor somehow and happened upon the sorbet cart and the food truck. They weren’t ready yet which was a shame, took about 30 minutes after the start to get the first taste unfortunately, so I sat down and enjoyed my mojito in a little bit more of a quiet atmosphere while downstairs filled up. As more and more inquisitive minds came calling upstairs I had some great conversations and had a very loud but fun game of guess where Im from with a few other newly australian members. The cuban sandwiches were filled with delicious goodness but maybe cause im from NY but the bagel bread was lacking. It had no flavor, was overly flaky and had the consistency of white bread. Bagels should be soft inside but seemingly crusty on the outside to give a nice bite however the people who ran the booth were very cool and eager to show off their food. I would suggest a different bread and they have a complete winner. the sorbet was delicious and very fruity and refreshing for a hot summer nite. However I am more of a cup person when it comes to sorbet and the sugar cone seemed to drastic a taste difference from the vibrant flavors of all the different sorbets they were serving.
Was a very good event that was very interactive. However, I was a little upset that nobody took me up on my pub crawl as I hung out in the area after the event, ended at 9, till 3am meeting an amazing out of people and had a pretty amazing night I will remember for a long time.

The first Elite Unilocal event of the year saw a hot’n’steamy night for a hot’n’steamy Cuban-​themed evening.
I dressed to the nines in a sparkly top and shoes, thinking everyone would be decked out in Havana-​inspired finery. Not so much, although there was the odd fedora or Hawai’ian-print shirt in sight. Unilocalers, you need to up your fashion game!
As we entered, those of us who brought a new-​to-​Yelp +1 got our present: an extra drink ticket. And our lucky +1s got their own present: a shot glass. (Sadly, my +1 lost his somewhere along the way.) We were also told to go get a Cuban-​themed postcard from some dude (a Unilocal employee? intern? volunteer? he didn’t introduce himself), which featured different designs. He told us to find another three people, although he wasn’t sure why. Rumors abounded, until word spread that the lucky winners would receive a bar tab. It was a cute idea to get people talking, and a couple of my friends were on the lucky team. They’ll have to return to get their $ 10 Mojitos (bargain!).
Because the emails describing the event all mentioned that we would only get a few samples of food, and just a couple of drinks, I tried to managed my +1’s expectations. But I needn’t have — this was a typical Elite event. By that I mean ‘an amazing night where you’re absolutely stuffed to the gills.’ Short Batch’s ice cream flavours cooled us down in between Round the Way’s different bagels (mmm…halloumi). So we didn’t have to head to Huxtaburger after all. The drinks were a treat, and I alternated between the Dark & Stormy and Mojito. It was fun to fiiiiiiiiiinally be in Los Barbudos during daylight hours, and to discover just where they put those food trucks they have visit.
It was a truly successful night, and I hope that some of the non-​Elite Unilocalers who were lucky enough to be invited will nominate themselves to become Elite — it really is worth the effort. Here’s to the next event!

What a way to hit off the new year and meet some new faces.
The atmosphere at Los Barbudos was brimming with energy and excited voices as we were checked-​in and given mysterious cards and the instruction to «find three people with the same card».
My plus one scored a very useful shotglass and was in awe from the beginning and to make things even better, we met fantastic people, tried cooling drinks, ate a bagel burger and dug into some gelato.
Drinks-​I tried the Mojito first and then Dark & Stormy. The venue was a bit hidden in the sense that I am not sure if I would have gone in without knowing. Drinks were on level one and there is a stairway leading to food trucks!
Bagel burger-​There were a few to choose from and the guys from Round the Way worked super hard to feed everyone and catering to people with different food requirements.
Dessert– Short Batch gelato provided us with refreshing green apple, coconut, strawberry and my personal favourite MANGO!
Thank you Melbourne Unilocal,volunteers, vendors and Unilocalers for making it a fun night. In the end, the there was a lucky draw for a drinks tab for the winning group.

What an awesome start to the new year for Unilocal!This event had some cool food sponsors I’d never heard of before, great drinks and an awesome little side quest. Even though I didn’t know why I was looking for matching postcards, it ended up being a great way to break the ice and get people talking. I ended up meeting a handful of awesome new people whom I may have never spoken to if not for my frantic postcard search. I even walked out with a bar tab!
My +1 was immediately excited by the mojitos, whereas I was more drawn to the dark n’ stormy. By the end of the night we had tried each of the drinks, and agreed that there was no bad choice — they were all fantastic! Thank you to the awesome bartenders who tirelessly made the drinks for us.
It was a bit of a bummer not being able to take drinks upstairs, but once I saw the ice cream and bagel truck that complaint was quickly forgotten. Originally I tried the vegetarian bagel only because it was the only one available when I got to the front of the line… but I found myself ignoring the meat options and going back for more grilled cheese — it was amazing! The coconut sorbet was just… out of this world. Steve was a really nice guy and I hope that I come across his glorious ice cream cart in the future.
I was sad to hear that this was Tresna’s last event as community manager, but I was happy to hear that she’ll still be around, hanging out at other events in the future. Thank you so much to everyone involved for making this such a fun night — you totally convince my +1 to sign up to Unilocal

This was my first elite event. Wow — what a great group of people! Basically everyone I spoke with was lovely!
Drinks all featured Havannah Club, which was fine with me.
But the food was super — bagel burgers by Round The Way. Those dudes were workin hard to get us super tasty snacks. Everyone left with a delicious food baby!
And for sweets, I had coconut sorbet by Short Batch which was sublime in both flavour and texture!
Thanks to Tresna for the invitation. Would love to attend next time!

What a wonderful kick off for the year, and such a fun event! Drinks, food and foot tapingly good music, what more does a girl need.
A mojito to start the night, loaded with mint and wonderful Havana Club Rum, very tasty. Once we worked out that there was more room upstairs and the food was hidden there it was time to make a move to grab some pre nibble dessert.
I tried the green apple ice cream from Shortbatch and was well impressed it tasted so fresh. I think it worth hunting that cart down to try the other flavours.
The «Round the Way» guys need to add the «Cuban» to the regular rotation, that was one tasty bagel. I’m hoping I see them at other events too to try out some more of the options.
Back down stairs for some more socialising and hunting up the other three postcard holders was a good bit of fun and a great way to meet more people.
Finishing off the night with a Dark and Stormy drink, more rum, lime and ginger beer, very nice.
Had a great time with the Melbourne Elite and Thanks to Tresna for organising another great event.

Los Barbudos was the place to be as a snake of eager Unilocalers waited to be granted entry into the first elite event of 2014. A lovely crowd, spirits were high and rum pours generous. The bar staff were cheery as they mixed up three different cocktails for the thirsty cubanesque crowd.
Did you try those bagel burgers? Whoa. Round the Way packed those bagels with generous amounts of Cuban good times. To find them and their bagel-​y goodness check the website for food truck locations:
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And just as you’re thinking you’ve won at life along comes Small Batch, Steve is a cool dude and I recommend hunting him down to try that coconut ice cream *drools*.
Thank you Tresna another fabulous event, sad to hear it is your last, but excited to meet the next CM as the community continues to grow.
Thank you Los Barbudos for opening just for us, thank you Havana Club for all the RUM, thank you Small Batch, thank you Round the Way, thank you to fellow Team Maracas — we’re all winners at heart.

A great kick off for the new elite year with a steamy night at Los Barbudos.
Stating the night with a great selection of cocktails all featuring Havana Club Rum, my favorite being the refreshing Cuba Libre. I got really excited with the ice cream and tucked into my desert of Green Apple ice cream from Short Batch before the juicy grilled Kefalograviera cheese bagel burger from Round the Way.
As usual the Melbourne Elite group are a great bunch to hang out with. What about the great game of trying to find your matching postcard being held by 3 other guests.
So from this hat wearing bearded one, Los Barbudos has the tick of approval.
Thanks Tresna!