18 Footscray Bars You Need To Visit For a Fun Night Out

Footscray after dark hits different: neon on Barkly, bass from hidden doorways, and a roll-call of bars with serious personality. Start with craft pours and skin-contact sips at Mr West, then slide into Misfits for DJs and good-time chaos. Crave yee-haw energy? Moon Dog’s Wild West saloon brings rooftop antics and arcade swagger. Breweries hum in old warehouses (Hop Nation, we see you), and wine-led nooks keep it low-lit and lovely. West side, best side — here are the best bars in Footscray that prove it.

Footscray Community Arts Has a New Outdoor Music Venue Coming This Summer

Big news on the river: Footscray Community Arts is finishing a major outdoor stage and amphitheatre, set to turn the historic site into the west’s newest music-and-performance precinct by summer. One last push remains — $70,000 by 15th October to complete accessible pathways, native plantings that re-Indigenise the lawns, and a ceremonial fire bowl for First Nations community use. Designed by MGS Architects with deep community consultation, the space weaves in landscape by Simone Bliss and site-responsive artwork from Moorina Bonini.

Expect free and low-cost gigs, markets and cultural ceremonies — a community-run upgrade decades in the making.

45 Moreland Street, Footscray 

The Vic Hotel

Back in form and proudly old-school at heart, The Vic is the west’s platonic corner pub: sun-splashed front bar, cold beer poured without fuss, and a dining room doing the comfort canon properly. Parma, chips, gravy? Naturally. A crisp schnitzel, a steak with peppercorn sauce, a roast when the weather asks for it. Out the back, a leafy beer garden soaks up afternoons; inside, sport hums on the screens and trivia pulls a crowd. Easy to find, easier to stay longer than planned.

43 Victoria Street, Footscray

Misfits 

Beats, bevvies and big heart. Taking over from Baby Snakes, Misfits keeps the arty DNA and turns the dial to “block-party salon.” Out back, a Drez mural splashes colour; inside, a raised stage and timber DJ booth draped in Reza Hasni tapestries signal good times ahead. Expect inventive cocktails, crate-digging DJs, pop-ups and panels that make it feel more clubhouse than bar. Neighbourhood energy, Footscray attitude, very easy to settle in for “just one more.”

30 Chambers Street, Footscray

Jambo 

Part cafe, part bar, part music den, Jambo is the west’s most joyful curveball. Every other fortnight the room flips to a comedy club, and suddenly you’re front-row for Melbourne’s sharpest up-and-comers. Come earlier for injera platters and tibs that make a beer vanish suspiciously fast; stay for the warm, community hum that always builds by showtime. It’s low-key on paper, electric in person, and wildly affordable at just $15 a ticket.

195 Barkly Street, Footscray

Mona Castle Hotel 

Technically Seddon, spiritually Footscray. The Mona Castle is the corner pub you wish was yours: freshly spruced, sun-splashed courtyard, and a front bar where the bartenders know your footy team and your order. Weeknight specials keep the place humming; the parma is the kind that derails best-laid Tuesday plans. Families, dates, solo sippers — everyone fits. It’s nostalgic without dust, modern without fuss, and the sort of local that turns a quick pint into dinner.

45-53 Austin Street, Seddon

Moon Dog Wild West

Three levels of yee-haw inside the old Franco Cozzo palace. Downstairs is saloon kitsch with a bucking bull and arcade chaos; upstairs swings honky-tonk bar and live stage; the rooftop goes desert oasis with city views and cacti. More than 100 taps, slushy cocktails that lean shamelessly fun, and craft beers for days keep the mood high. Families earlier, raucous later, burgers throughout. Moon Dog Wild West is maximalist, ridiculous, and exactly the night you secretly wanted.

54 Hopkins Street, Footscray

Hop Nation

Industrial bones, easy charm, serious beer. Hop Nation pours nineteen fresh taps in a spacious, warehouse-style room that feels built for catch-ups that become celebrations. Good Pizza’s square numbers do sterling duty — miso mushroom with truffle oil if you’re in a mood, vodka-sauce classic if you’re not. Staff will steer you from crisp pales to hazy experiments with good humour and zero snobbery. Bring a friend, bring a crowd, bring an appetite.

Unit 6/107-109 Whitehall Street, Footscray 

Back Alley Sally’s

Up the stairs, past the T-shirt-factory past life, into Footscray folklore. Back Alley Sally’s is scrappy in the best way: neon glow, battered couches, two-for-one cocktails that kick-start stories. Order a Slice Girls West pie, claim a corner, watch the room fill with the good kind of noise. In summer, the party spills onto Yewers Street, and the laneway turns into a sun-soaked extension of the bar. Cheap, cheerful, a little chaotic — a perfect Footscray bar.

4 Yewers Street, Footscray 

Bar Josephine

A bar with personality, books and banter. Bar Josephine is a blue-hued jumble of film projections, board games, local art and well-priced pints that have rescued many a Thursday. The front room is for nattering with the bar team; the middle room is your living room, but cooler; the leafy beer garden out back is where time pleasantly disappears. Cocktails are classic, wine is friendly, and the soundtrack reads like a well-travelled mixtape.

295 Barkly Street, Footscray

Bar Thyme

Bistro-meets-wine bar with low lights and high taste at Bar Thyme. Start strong with a gimlet or martini, then graze: ’nduja Scotch eggs, saffron-tinged mussels escabeche, smoked beetroot with almond cream. The list leans natural without preaching — Mornington whites, small-batch Aussie reds, things your palate hasn’t met yet. Vinyl hums, service glides, and somehow you end up staying for steak and peppercorn sauce. Date nights, glowy catch-ups, and an excellent solo stool at the bar.

227 Barkly Street, Footscray

Hail Lilith

Vegan and very, very fun. Hail Lilith pairs bourbon-leaning cocktails with plant-based plates so satisfying you’ll only notice the vegetables when you go to order seconds. Saltbush focaccia with bourbon butter, black sesame hummus, watermelon “tartare” — all big-flavour, no compromise. The signature Hail Lilith (bourbon, vanilla vodka, pomegranate, black cherry) is dangerously sippable; the room, all moody corners and good music, feels like the after-party you’d actually attend. Steps from the station.

40A Leeds Street, Footscray

Lay Low

A speakeasy without the attitude. Lay Low hides behind a modest door and opens onto polished concrete, soft light and a bar team who can riff on classics with native swagger — pepperberry-spiked Bloody Marys, wattleseed and macadamia numbers that make brandy feel modern. Minimal-waste smarts, zero-alcohol cocktails that don’t taste like a compromise, and a playlist that works with conversation rather than over it. Slip in, slow down, stay a while.

93 Buckley Street, Seddon

Littlefoot Bar + Kitchen

Neighbourhood soul with a maximalist streak. Neon signs, velvet curtains, murals, fairy-lit corridor to a covered courtyard — Littlefoot is built for nights that escalate. The cocktail card reads local and playful (Treasure Island’s pineapple rum-mango-lime sunshine is a house favourite), and the room flips easily from after-work to late-night with DJs and live sets. Their pop-up next door means more space when the west turns out in force. Ever lively, always welcoming.

223 Barkly Street, Footscray

Mamma Chen’s 

Community first, good times naturally follow at Mamma Chen’s. This absolute pearler is an inclusive live-music bar with accessibility designed in: ramp access, wider doorways, a dedicated wheelchair space near the stage. The beer garden’s roomy, the bandroom’s intimate, and the bookings skew eclectic in the best way. Drop for a mellow arvo drink, stay for a cracking gig, leave with a new favourite local act. It’s friendly, unpretentious and proudly Footscray.

42A Albert Street, Footscray

Mr West Bar & Bottleshop

Mr West is the inner-west’s drink oracle. Downstairs: shelves of natty wine, rare spirits and curios you can take upstairs for a small corkage. Upstairs: a moody, industrial-chic bar with a wall of rotating taps that swing from crisp pilsners to pastry stouts and the odd cocktail on pour. Staff can talk mezcal without mansplaining and steer you to exactly the thing you didn’t know you wanted. Serious selection, zero ego, repeat visits guaranteed.

106 Nicholson Street Mall, Footscray

Mrs Mutton’s Bottle Shop

A gentle corner glow on the Seddon fringe. Mrs Mutton’s borrows the warmth of Japanese listening bars — vinyl spinning, timber tables, soft light — and pairs it with a thoughtful spread of natty drops, craft beer and spritzy things (yuzu is a house habit). There’s a tidy bottle-shop edit if you’re on the run; otherwise, sink into the beer garden or new back bar and let the hour stretch.

65 Victoria Street, Footscray

Pride of Footscray

The beating heart of the west’s queer nightlife. By day it’s rainbow-bright and welcoming; by night it turns into a full-throttle party — drag shows, DJs, dance floor mayhem. Upstairs, Superbia hides as a calmer, cocktail-forward refuge with cheeky Thursday two-for-ones. Come for Drag Bingo, queer trivia or simply to feel the happiest version of a neighbourhood bar: inclusive, high-spirited, proudly itself. You’ll leave Pride of Footscray with glitter on your cheeks and a grin.

Level 1/86-88 Hopkins Street, Footscray

Sloth Bar

Unhurried on purpose. Sloth is a multi-level tangle of kitsch, pot-plants and good humour, with spots for every mood: leafy courtyard, lounge room, bar stools, balcony. The rum list gets a workout, the craft beer rotates, trivia is properly competitive, and the bring-your-own-food policy keeps things democratic. It’s the Footscray bar you suggest when no one can decide — the answer to “somewhere easy” that somehow becomes the night’s highlight.

202 Barkly Street, Footscray

West Footscray Wines

Bottle shop by day, neighbourhood bar by instinct. Pull a stool for oysters and a glass from the rotating list or commit to a bottle from the 300-strong wall and pay modest corkage. The selection at West Footscray Wines is smart without being showy — approachable Aussie makers alongside a few wildcards — and there’s always something nibble-friendly to go with it: cheeses, charcuterie, the sort of snacks that extend conversations. Post-work tilt, pre-dinner pause, effortless date spot.

Shop 1/578 Barkly Street, West Footscray

Now that you’ve explored our guide to the best Footscray bars you need to visit, why not venture a bit further and check out Geelong’s top drinking spots? Or, uncover the must-do experiences in Ballarat for a delightful day trip.

Writer

Kelsey Harrington

29 September 2025

Kelsey Harrington is a Melbourne-based writer with a sharp eye for the city's ever-evolving food, wine, arts, and culture scene. Her journey into the creative industry took the scenic route—what started as a passion for capturing Melbourne’s energy through a camera lens led her to Sitchu, where she worked her way up to Melbourne Editor. With over four years in the industry, she’s all about uncovering the best places to eat, drink, and explore. Off the clock? You’ll find her diving into a platter of fresh oysters and crudo, gallery-hopping, or sipping an extra dirty martini while plotting her next adventure.