Hey there, and welcome to this episode of My Mate In. I'm Jaz. Today, I'm catching up with my mate in Brunswick East, Sarah. Hey, Sarah.
Hello. How are ya?
Going well. Thank you for joining me today. Where are we gonna talk about?
Oh, we're gonna talk about a local, two local haunts of mine, actually. I live in Brunswick East, and there's just it's literally just down the road from where I live. My partner and I go there quite regularly, and it's called The Beast. It's like a bar with food, and they do live gigs and local gigs. It's just really good. I often will go there, like, post work, post gym, and I'm famished and I want a burger. And I'll just sneak on down there and gobble up that burger.
What what kind of burgers do they do?
Oh, you your classic sort of like American burgers, like smash burgers, but they they they invent all sorts of ones with funny names. They've got veggie and vegan options. Oh, and they do. I love Wednesdays. They do at the moment, it's like soulful Wednesdays. They have like soul acts performing and it's $1 wings. So, you know, budget friendly.
Can't lose.
That's it. I'll smash 10 wings and just nom nom nom
So they do live music. Is is it kind of a single space where if you're there, you're you're around the music, or are there a couple of different spots?
So they've got, like, the at the front, they've got, like, tables where you can sit and drink and have the ambiance of Lygon Street. And inside, it's very, like, stripped back, got that almost like a punk vibe going on. There's stickers of the bands on the walls and the loos are gender free, but you know, there's obviously like ones that's this is clearly the urinal bathroom, but there's stickers all over the place and one has like Barbie dolls in it. It's it's just really fun. And they've got like a little stage at the back for all the live gigs and they have a cool TV, like, you know those seventies, sixties, seventies TVs that are like round something out of like 2001 A Space Odyssey, like this is what the future is.
And they have Mario Kart playing, so you can play Mario Kart. It's so sick.
Sounds excellent.
It's genuinely such a great local haunt. My partner and I talk about all the time, like any other burger joint just suffers because everyone goes to the beast. It's just got the vibe right for the area. And I don't think now, but for a while there they were doing live comedy acts on a Thursday night and that was really Yeah. Tuesdays is trivia because Tuesday trivia night and it's open all the time, like till late, but they'll open at like, I think at midday and it's just open and the kitchen's always open.
So if I finish work and it's, like, 03:30 and I randomly wanna eat, I I can. It's fine. It's I love that. What else? Oh, free refills on sodas, which for me, it's like, yay.
I don't really drink. Yeah. And also it'll be really quiet. So I often Those are the moments I like to go in the most and I'll just sit in a booth and listen to my music and have my little meal or whatever, read a book or listen to a YouTube video or something, have a drink. Even just that, it's that energy, it always feels welcoming. It's good. I love it. Love it. Love it. And as I said, it's literally, like, two minutes from my house.
Even better. Especially in winter. It's not so far. Love that.
Exactly. Exactly. Ugh. So
Do you mix it up and try different burgers, or do you have a go-to order?
Oh, I must admit I'm kind of like a creature of comfort and familiarity. I often will just get the classic, which is just like, you know, a burger with cheese, mayo, what's it got? Like lettuce and tomato, very simple. But they've got like What was it? One's called the Ron Swanson. It's got, like It's very like if Ron Swanson made a burger.
It has a mustache.
Exactly. It's just like meat upon meat. But my God, that's what Ron Swanson would have. That's the only way. That's the American way. Ooh and they do potato gems, Tots. Because tots American influence. So yum yum yum those tots. So good.
This is sounding like the kind of place that I'd really like to try.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And the vegan and veggie options are really good. Like, they're not just you know how a lot of places is just like an add on? It feels like, no. No. No. We've we've crafted some burgers for you. Don't feel like, oh, we'll just slap on a veggie burger and call it a day. You know? So that's good. So I like that.
That is one of the worst things, I think, when you when you're vegetarian or you're with vegetarian friends and you look at the menu and it's like, the mushroom burger. You're like, okay. Or the chickpea burger. Yeah. That's fine if you do it well and you're making an effort. But a lot of the time, it's just like, yep. It's don't complain. We've got something on the menu.
Yeah. We tacked on something for you. Be happy. No. It doesn't it doesn't feel like that here. It's it's it's actually really yummy. But I think the area is kinda is like, no. No. You you have to do good vegetarian vegan options or you're not gonna not gonna survive. So
Yeah. It's a great spot for that.
Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
The beast. I love the name. Anything else that we should mention about it?
If you really like live music and local acts, it's like the place to be. Like, it'll be jumping late at night on a Saturday Friday and Saturday night. I think they do Sunday sessions as well. It's just it's great. Like, they got posters up. They I think they also the the beast itself has its own merch. It's just a great little place. I love it. Oh, and it's it's wheelchair accessible. Another important point.
Awesome. Yeah. I appreciate you mentioning that.
And they have a accessible toilet as well. So good.
Do they charge a cover charge the nights they've got music on?
No. I don't think so. Yeah.
I love that.
Yeah. I think you just rock up. It's great. Honestly, it's so good.
It sounds like an awesome place. The beast, Brunswick East.
Oh, yeah.
Rhymes. Loving it. That's a nice little surprise. Thanks for coming along and sharing that with us, Sar.
Yeah. Absolutely. My pleasure.