Better at Bert’s

Bundaberg is well known for its rum, but Bert’s is changing that reputation with fine dining and exquisite cocktails.

Story + Photos Mandy McKeesick

Dusk has fallen on Bundaberg, Qld, and a steady stream of well-dressed patrons enters Bert’s Restaurant and Bar on the town’s main street. Some come as part of a function, heading upstairs to a pink-fluted bar and private dining room underlain by patterned floors. Others come for parties beneath tiered chandeliers, and slide into deep Chesterfield lounges and blue velvet booths. Couples find dark, intimate corners. All have come for a touch of glamour, fine dining and cocktails.

Bert’s and its 1920s decor – low lighting, rich colours and tactile fabrics – is inspired by one of Bundaberg’s favourite sons, pioneer aviator Bert Hinkler.

“I used to work 3 doors down as a travel agent and I would walk past this 19th century building, which was once a mortuary, every day as it was being renovated and dream of what it could be,” manager Shae Felix says. “Then I was offered a job and Bert’s has become my baby. When we opened in 2018, we were pioneers like Bert Hinkler. Back then, there was no fine dining in Bundaberg and definitely no cocktail bar.”