Royal Derby Hotel

By far the best sports pub in Fitzroy…
This pub just keeps on getting better every time I go, they have great food, friendly staff, TV’s everywhere and a great big beer garden.

This place seems to be one of those places where it’s all happening. Okay, I can’t say that I’ve experienced a huge night here since I have only been here a couple of times after work, and that was to have a drink and then move on, but it isn’t a bad pub at all. It’s got a pool table and a huge beer garden, and well as some pretty nice beers on tap. It’s one of those places that I probably should go and check out later at night when all of the night owls emerge from their haunts, but these days I hardly do the late night thing. Still, this is a lovely pub, especially on a summers evening, to simply sit down in the beer garden and kill some time.

On the outside it kind of still looks like a dodgy pub but it’s a pretty deceiving building. Walking in I was so surprised that everything was well laid out, clean and fairly modern. You’d expect to see this layout beachside on a lovely coastal suburb somewhere. As far as local pubs go this place is a winner. Was suitably impressed that they showed all the AFL games and not just the Victorian teams playing.
The TV screens were almost everywhere you looked and they did it by sections so you could choose which game you wanted to watch and find a seat near that particular TV screen. Just loved it. Watched the Freo Port game in a separate room to the rest of the pub with comfy couches and friendly (although quite vocal) supporters.
It was quite busy but the bar staff still served me with a smile.
Slightly disappointed that the Pure Blonde on tap fizzled out 3 pints in so I had to pick another beer Bees Knees which turned out to be more expensive although I think they should charge me the same price of the beer I’m drinking especially if it’s on tap. (One of the staff incorrectly connected the keg so it wasn’t working properly). It was only $ 1 or so but still. Over a few pints drinking not the beer I want to be drinking. It’s a mild annoyance. Not one that would deter me from coming back.
Apparently they do trivia on a Tuesday night so perhaps we’ll be back then to check it out otherwise maybe pop in for a cheeky bevvy on a balmy Sunday.

I had a read through the other peoples reviews on the Derby and they are all old and out of date (like the pub itself was back then)…
Recently the pub has been redone and physically looks a lot nicer than it ever has before — but despite the fact that its been redone and looks nicer, it still isnt much better…
I think the issue with the place is that it hasnt really found its own proper niche: it actually has radio advertising on SEN (Melbournes footy radio station) and the ad describes it as «a country pub in the city, a little bit old school and a little bit trendy» or something like that. The location doesnt help either… Its located on the corner of Brunswick St (a cool, funky inner city street) albeit at the wrong end (ie, away from the cool people and places) and Alexandra Parade — which is the beginning of the Eastern Freeway — and thus the gateway to the dreaded Eastern Suburbs!!! So what is the first thing the people from the Eastern Suburbs see when they get to Fitzroy — you guessed it — the Derby!!! Now while you have a crowd of people from the Eastern suburbs there, you are not going to get too many Fitzroy locals in there…
So what, you may ask? But here lies the issue: a pub is a bit like a church in a way — in that a pub (or a church) is not the building itself — its the people. You cant build up a pub/​cliental/​congregation with people who float in occassionally on some weekends — you build it up with regular locals. Local regulars create the atmosphere and feel that a pub has — its what makes people like a pub. This place doesnt seem to have its own local regulars — its like its trying to manufacture an atmosphere instead of letting an atmosphere grow organically.
It needs to make a hard decision: is it going to be a pub for people who come down the highway from the Eastern Suburbs and specialise for that weekend cliental, or is it going to be a pub that caters for a local cliental? At the moment it seems to want to have a bit each way — but thats not quite working for it.
Great pubs become great pubs because they grow their own style organically and find something that works and stick to it — but this place hasnt quite worked out what it needs to do yet… I wish the owners the best of luck in this regard — they will need it!
Now for some details: Ive been here twice recently — the first time was a Friday or Saturday night and the place was all but empty — I went to meet some friends who for some bizarre reason were drinking there. That said, it didnt take us too long to leave and head to the Retreat Hotel — even though it is a few suburbs away… The second time I went was Grand Final Day (a few hours before writing this review) and the place was packed — the food was unbelieveably overpriced — but that may have been because of the Grand Final and was all just fatty junk food (chips, pies, hot dogs etc) — $ 70 for a platter of this rubbish to serve 4 people from memory… That said, the crowd were pretty nice but you just got the impression that they were all a bit too different from each other to make it a really really good trip to the pub…
Anyway, good luck Derby — hopefully I can go and visit and upgrade you to 3 stars in the near future!

There was once live music here. Friend’s bands and i played on a small stage, then an even smaller floor space all black white checked and kinda cool. It was a dive bar, but the grossness of seemed to work. The brew was good and cheap and the beer garden was huge.
A few years ago they retro fit the place. Bringing in hip retro furniture, keeping the checkered dance floor space and glitzing it up with some shiny new surfaces. I thought, ok, at least the music is still goo, and hey, I can get a cheap pub meal and the beer garden is still huge so everything is ok.
Then the live music went, and I can’t work out where. Saturday and Friday nights turned into something else where people bump and grind against one another, not something I want to eat my steak sandwich around. At least I can still hide in the big beer garden.
Trivia nights during the week like most pubs is still a winner, and the food is good enough to be pub food, but if you’re looking for bands this is no longer the place to be.

I actually love the Royal Derby Hotel. Living about 100 meters away, this place is kind-​of my local.
I had dinner here tonight and it was great. They have $ 5 Pizza’s and $ 2.50 Pots on a Thursday. The venue is really spacious, has a good sized dance floor, and decent outdoor area.
They also run a gay and lesbian event here called ‘Danceteria’ and it’s a lot of fun. It’s a $ 10 cover fee, they play funky electro-​indie-​pop and have amazing drinks specials ($ 2.50 Shots). I can usually leave here pretty tipsy and not spend more than $ 40!

This is a huge corner pub that sits on the fringe of Fitzroy at the north end of Brunswick St. Its large retractable windows beckon in punters from the street to sit amongst the cosy couches. The signage out the front promote pizza and steak specials along with all the latest foxtel action on the big screen — therefore you kinda know what you’re getting yourself in for.
The interior is pretty groovy for a pub, with blends of second-​hand couches, flocked wallpaper, velvet curtains and a decked beer garden. I wanted to try one of the $ 12 steaks on a Friday night but I got there at 8:10 to find the kitchen already shut. I settled for a pizza that was a bit like cardboard and not that tantalising. The place has a bit of a suburban, sport loving vibe that for me just doesn’t feel comfortable — I think it needs to find its own identity and stop trying so hard.

Last night was the first time I’ve been to the Royal Derby and I have to say I thought it was a pretty cool pub. Wednesday night is trivia night and a raucous, young and fun crowd were in for what was a really well-​organised quiz.
Quiz nights can be a dime a dozen around Melbourne’s northern suburbs but the Derby quizmaster worked the crowd brilliantly with the trivia highlights being guess-​that-​song opera singing and competitions to win a free jug. The $ 12 chicken parma was great value too.
As the above reviews say this pub is in a great spot on Brunswick St and there was no sleaziness as far as I could see apart from yours truly.
I can see how The Royal Derby would be a bit of a workers isn’t an all-​night pub but the setup would be good for big sporting matches as well as a few quiet beers on the couch with mates.

Hmm… This is a place I really just don’t get. This is a fabulous old pub on a highly visible corner in Fitzroy, yet the focus of the joint has always been kind of skewed towards the sleazy. Used to be that they’d encourage a rugby crowd (they actually still do in a weird way) and that in turn changes the vibe of the place completely. The difference between the Derby and, say, the East however, is that they don’t really seem to embrace anything much else.
Every time I walk past the Derby I glance inside to see what seem to be the same two old blokes occupying the bar space. The main room is filled with really shitty décor and a half-​baked recent renovation did little to raise the aesthetic of the place. Truth be told, this place is a shit hole, has always been a bit of a shit hole and probably will be a bit of a shit hole. If that’s your bag, then great, it’ll keep you and your friends from all the decent places in the neighbourhood.

The only real reason to go to the Royal Derby is for Danceteria, the straight-​friendly gay 80s night that happens once a month and draws a pretty sharp and good-​looking crowd (Lycra ahoy!).
For a club night, it’s a good venue, with open spaces for dancing as well as little nooks and couches for private conversation and, well, whatever else. There’s also a sizeable outdoor deck with a pool table, although the last time I was there, the security guard was limiting the number of people who were allowed out and there was a line-​up (though granted, it’s probably not the venue’s choice to do that).
The bar was a win with $ 4 vodka sodas, and they seem to have put on more staff than they used to have, which means getting served no longer takes an age.
I’ve stopped into the Derby for an afternoon beer, thinking the deck would be sweet, but there was no attempt at an arvo vibe and it felt a bit like sitting around a house the day after a party — kinda dirty and like you missed the fun.