If you’ve hurtled down Wickham Street in recent months, you may have noticed the scaffolding surrounding Fortitude Valley icon The Wickham. The tradies have been keeping busy inside the 1885 building, transforming its tired innards into a polished new venue. Boasting four new spaces, a new food offering and a progressive venue concept, the revamped hotel reopened its doors to the public late August.

A new bar has sprouted where the original dance floor was, the carpark has been converted into a courtyard and a weekend nightclub has opened upstairs. The new Corner Bar serves darker expressions of beer, while non-beer drinkers can sip on a wide selection of international wines and classic cocktails. If you prefer to drink in the fresh air, head to the Garden Bar and plant a cocktail pitcher or spiced rum punch on a long table. Savour a concoction like the bacon bloody mary, strawberry and vanilla mojito or pearcumber fizz, or a schooner of Little Creatures, Bulmers or Fat Yak on tap.

The Wickham’s new food menu is whipped up in a kitchen fitted out in an industrial shipping container, covering good old pub classics as well as a range of paleo, gluten-free and vegetarian options. Chow down on a Korean hotdog with kimchi, chipotle sauce and fat chips, grab a share plate of pork belly fritters or wild mushroom arancini, or have fun with a retro throwback like duck liver pate with toast or Aunt Dorothy’s sherry trifle. If the belly rumbles have hit before the kitchen opens at 11:30 am, swing by The Alden Street Cafe for coffee, tea, smoothies and snacks to go. As a traditionally gay (LGBTI) venue since 1996, The Wickham is proud to offer an all-inclusive venue where everyone is welcome. The hotel has also launched a weekly Out on Sunday session, featuring tunes from DJs Harry K and Tim Persley, cocktails and nosh every Sunday afternoon from 2:00 pm in the new courtyard.

For contact information and trading hours, check out our Stumble Guide.