Kent St Hotel

The Kent St Hotel trades out of an 1884 Victorian Italianate that first opened as the City Hotel. It ran as Mr Tipply's for most of the last decade before Brett Strauss and the Nettlewood Pub Group took a 20-year lease, stripped it back across twelve weeks in 2020 and reopened as the Kent St. The fit-out reads Cuban — a hundred-odd potted plants overhead, caster-wheel furniture that rolls away when the weekend DJs start, a stone pizza oven in the kitchen. Weekday $15 specials cover rump steak, schnitzels and parmis; a Mon-Fri happy hour from five drops spirits, beers and wines to six bucks.

Dogs are welcome throughout the Sydney CBD pub, inside and out, though the plant-heavy outdoor terrace is the one most leashed regulars aim for. Brett Strauss also runs The Chippo a few suburbs over, which gives the two pubs a shared cadence.