All photos: Ryan Cripps
On Monday night at Helvetica in Perth, the small bar industry of WA gathered to celebrate the industry at the Small Bar Association of WA’s Small Bar Awards.
It’s the fourth annual event for the Small Bar Association, and the event is designed to recognise the great things that are happening in the small bar scene in WA.
Winners of the People’s Choice award for Small Bar of the Year, Frisk
The industry was asked to nominate the bars that they thought were the best examples of small bars in the state, and the votes were tallied in three different award categories: the People’s Choice award and the Best New Small Bar award, in which the public was invited to cast their vote for their favourites; and the Critics’ Choice award, in which a panel of three critics (Fleur Bainger of STM Magazine, Tessa Gallagher from The Urban List, and our own Sam Bygrave of Australian Bartender magazine) assessed and scored the six finalists in that category.
Winners of the Critics’ Choice award for Small Bar of the Year, Mechanics Institute
On the night, the winners of the Critics’ Choice award was Mechanics Institute, coming on the back of their win in the Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards for Small Bar of the Year in September.
The People’s Choice award went to Northbridge bar, Frisk, whilst the 2015 Best New Small Bar was Sneaky Tony’s.
Winners of Best New Small Bar, Sneaky Tony’s
Take a look at the full list of finalists below.
People’s Choice and Critics’ Choice — Small Bar of the Year:
- Helvetica
- Choo Choo’s
- Bar 399
- Mechanic’s Institute
- Clarence’s
- Frisk
The Best New Small Bar Award
- Sneaky Tony’s
- Rodney’s Bait n Tackle
- Strange Company
- Guildhall
- Budburst
- Hopscotch
- Dominion League
- Lot 20