Here’s cheers! The best bars for your end-of-year work drinks
After a long 12 months of work, you and your team deserve to go from eight hours to happy hours. And with so many options for your end-of-year celebrations located right here in Melbourne’s southeast, you won’t need to go far to celebrate!
It’s near impossible to narrow down all the countless unsung heroes of Melbourne’s bars, but we’ve given it a shot.
So if you and your co-workers are looking for a place to party – or curious to find out where the team at Gary Peer go when it’s wine time – read on.
College Lawn Hotel
Tucked away in the back streets of Prahran, the food, drinks and vibes take a front seat at College Lawn Hotel.
From set menu options to canapes and beverage packages, College Lawn Hotel offers a range of menus to suit your taste and budget.
Because really, whoever said eating is cheating has clearly never had a pot and parma from this place.
With a courtyard bar, beer garden and terrace – you’re sure to find a bright and warm space to celebrate with your team.
The Osborne Rooftop and Bar
Okay, so a group of co-workers walk into a bar… and have the best end-of-year drinks their workplace has ever seen.
Wowee. Where is this bar, you ask? Well, with a rooftop, cocktail lounge, restaurant, private dining room and courtyard, take your pick. There’s a bar for every mood at The Osborne.
In fact, the team at Gary Peer even held our own social night at The Osborne towards the start of this year.
And being just a short walk away from South Yarra’s charming Chapel Street, The Osborne’s location is top shelf.
So why not match the buzz this place is generating with a buzz of your own – when you and your colleagues come to visit?
Neptune Food & Wine
If you want your notion of a typical wine bar and restaurant to be shaken (and stirred) – check out Neptune Food & Wine.
Right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Windsor, there’s no atmosphere quite like the one at Neptune – with moody lighting, innovative architecture and friendly service.
So whether you’re seated in the main bar and restaurant with the rest of your team, or you’ve brought the entire office upstairs to party at Neptune Private – this place is guaranteed to serve up a good time.
And really, would you expect anything less than perfect seafood from the Roman god of waters and seas?
Check out Neptune Food & Wine.
Bar Carolina
When in Rome (or close enough), do as the Romans do.
So it’s only right that as soon as you and your colleagues set foot in Bar Carolina, you delve into their contemporary Italian dishes, wine and cocktails.
A piece of Italy in South Yarra, it’s the perfect setting for you and your team to break some bread and celebrate the year that was.
The ideal location for your classier colleagues, Bar Carolina’s bustling, chic atmosphere will have you all saying “bellissima!”
Harvie
You know what they say: when life gives you lemons, use them to garnish your Harvie Spritz.
At this stylish-yet-refined rooftop bar in Armadale, you can celebrate the end of the year with your co-workers to the backdrop of a (tequila) sunset.
Unique to the area with its Art Deco style, all your partners in wine – and in work – will feel truly relaxed and welcomed amongst Harvie’s inviting aesthetic.
Clean, modern and sleek – we can’t think of a better place to stop and smell the rosé after a long year’s work.
Murrumbeena Wine Bar
Located just a few doors up from our Murrumbeena office, the Murrumbeena Wine Bar is made for celebrations.
Why? Just read between the wines.
A cosy and casual bar that knows the way to a local worker’s heart is through their stomach.
So if you want to sample the best that the local, family-run, boutique wineries, independent breweries and distilleries have to offer – they’re all stocked in Murrumbeena Wine Bar. But be warned, you may ascend to cloud wine!
Check out Murrumbeena Wine Bar.
Milton Wine Shop
Should you stop at Malvern’s Milton Wine Shop, they’ll have you at merlot.
Stocking wines with a focus on quality and honesty, Milton Wine Shop brings you some of Melbourne’s finest drops.
And with multiple packages available depending on your function’s requirements, you and your team will be able to wind down the year in your own style.
And really, great minds drink alike. So if we love it, you’ll love it!
Toorak Cellars
Is a part bottle shop, part wine bar a good venue for your end-of-year drinks? You bet shir-az it is.
Choose from the upper courtyard, upper dining room, or go all in and hire the entire venue. Whatever the function size, Toorak Cellars has got you covered – unless it’s over 70 guests, you party animal, you! But lucky the other options in this list can cater those ragers.
With the belief that wine should taste like fruit and minerals instead of oak and alcohol, Toorak Cellars serves an ever-changing menu of twenty wines – by-the-glass.
But if you’re not a wine-drinker, don’t worry. There’s also a selection of beers and cocktails to make sure there’s something for everyone at your end-of-year celebrations.
Newmarket Hotel
If you and the team want to finish up the year kicking back and kicking on at your new favourite local – right across from our St Kilda office – then St Kilda’s Newmarket Hotel is the one for you.
Complete with a dining area, front bar, basement function space and beer garden, this place has the space for groups of 3 to 300!
And if it’s range you’re after, it’s range you’ll get. Featuring 15 beers and ciders on tap and a wine list extending from Australia and New Zealand to France and Italy. Plus a range of exotic and classic cocktails. You’ll be spoilt for choice!
But just as a general rule: take a pitcher, it’ll last longer!
