Joeys is the new Hideout

A little entertainment at the opening of Joeys.

It's a sign of how long your editor has been out of the pub business that he is bemused by the fact that a vodka mojitu comes on draught ...

Just one of the things I've noticed tonight at the new pub in town, Joeys, writes Brian Byrne.

There's a cosmic connection in that I was the very first customer tonight to what has been The Hideout since the early '50s. Those who have lived here as long as I have will know just why that is. It was, mind you, an unwitting happening. I had expected at least an hour of customers before me.

Anyhow, Joe Fraser—the new operator of this pub that started out as the Magnolia Hotel, then became Flanagan's Motor Bar and subsequently my grandfather's Byrne's Hotel and finally my dad's Hideout—has done the right thing, I think. I was only saying in the last while that The Hideout name should be let go. The pub and restaurant brand my mum and dad established, and was continued by my late brother Des, is no longer relevant. I rather suspect that the difficulties encountered by a succession of previous operators since Des sold the business were in some part due to trying to run a pub where the name no longer reflected the original management, history, or ethos.

The new operator has done more than change the name. Money has been spent. The interior is modern, a well executed stone backbar and quality woodwork on the counter and floor make for a classy ambience. What the operators sign as 'phase one' of the business is something that doesn't try to be anything other than a good lounge bar. One which can have its own place in a very competitive pub business in Kilcullen.

This isn't an easy trade. Even though I left my own place in this pub in 1977, I still have an interest in a business which I was born into through generations (I still clear glasses if I happen on a table that needs them when I'm out). I hope it works out. Kind of think already that it will.

Magnolia Hotel. Flanagan's Motor Bar. Byrne's Hotel. The Hideout.

Joeys.

A new name for a new business and a new time. Adios, Hideout. Hola, draught mojitos.