The corner shop

Location location location.

How much of a key ingredient is it for a bar? Being in the top spot on town is a winner, and being in the boon docks is too often a killer for what might be otherwise great pubs.

Wellington’s latest corner store is The Bruhaus, a bar on Victoria and Willeston with a impressive lineup of specialty beers on tap – good beers such as Renaissance and Three Boys, to name a couple of my favourites, with 50 in total, and another fair swag served in the bottle. They claim to serve 150 all up. That’ll do nicely for a specialty beer bar.

The Sunday Star Times panned them for ordinary breakfast selection (not to mention Robbie Williams on the sound system), and they berate themselves on their Facebook page for having bad avocados, but then you go through these teething issues don’t you.

Longevity in Wellington is another story. On its blog The Bruhaus admits it has very big shoes to fill which you have to give them credit for. It isn’t easy turning yourself into a lasting establishment, and being one of those cornerstone venues that successive generations talk about is even harder.

I can think of Molly Malones … but then as THE Wellington Irish pub, it’s a bit of a doddle … and The Thistle Inn, which has reinvented itself of late and will no doubt be printing money come RWC time. There’s The General Practitioner, which is doing well as the most recent iteration of a legendary Wellington corner. A list of cornershop legends wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the old Cafe Paradiso, now kitted out as Hummingbird, which is a destination in its own right.

Bars on the corners of Courtenay Place with Tory and Allen Sts, namely Public and Mishmosh, have been there for a mere few grains in the hourglass of time. The Occidental is a regular corner stop for lawyers and judges (do judges actually drink outside of chambers?) down the other end of Lambton Quay, and the famous triumverate of Leuven, The Black Harp and The Featherston on the intersection of Featherston and Johnston Sts. There’s 3C on Victoria and Chews Lane, and Sandwiches (now wearing a sombero), The Tasting Room and The Craftsman on the intersection of Kent-Cambridge and Courtenay, and who can go past the first floor corner that is the delightful Library Bar.

The Bruhaus is taking a stab at building up the intersection of Victoria and Willeston, together with Green Man across the road making a good fist of what was one of Wellington’s commercial real estate black spots for a while.

As the once ubiquitous corner dairy falls victim to the onslaught of supermarket chains and convenience stores, it’s good to see the corner shop pint pull is still about. And with The Bruhaus making a bit of a song and dance of their multiple ales on tap, I’d recommend throwing a bit of change their way and seeing what you think. As those boys from San Fran said …

“Down On The Corner, out in the street,
Willy and the Poorboys are playin’;
Bring a nickel; tap your feet”