This one used to be my local so it has a special little place in my heart, if simply for the fact that it was rolling distance from home. Located on St John’s Street in Glebe it is somewhere that you would only go if you knew it existed. Despite advertising as “Sydney’s Premiere Live Music Venue” (the words false advertising or perhaps wishful thinking spring to mind here…) you do not get the feeling that people have flocked from miles around for their visit. It has a fair crowd most nights, mainly comprised of students from nearby Sydney Uni and young Glebe residents. There is also the strange regular couple who are prone to falling asleep in the corner during trivia and bumming cigarettes off the punters, who offer their share of entertainment. The bar has two levels. The first floor is really where all the action is. It features blond polished floorboards and slightly cafeteria style furniture (think chrome chairs, pine tables and bottle green couches). The front area tends to be quieter, for those opting for a chat rather than entertainment in the back area. The Roxbury is great for community entertainment, with something on most nights of the week, activities ranging from trivia, movie nights, comedy and live music on Friday. Upstairs there are some pool tables, a function area and small bar. Throughout my many trips to this place I do have one long standing grip – the lighting levels. They only rarely get it right. It is either way too bright and not entirely comfortable or flattering (if you rock up in the later part of a drinking session it can be down right scary!) or just dark (not sexy dark corners dark, just most of the lights switched off). If they got this right it would do a lot to warm the ambience up a bit. The bar staff are pretty cool – willing to swap a few witty comments while they pull your beer and prices are in the low to medium range. Food is average in taste and price, they often do cheap pasta nights, which is a blessing when on a tight budget. It may seem that I have been a little harsh, especially taking my opening comment into account. It is not that I think that the Roxbury is no good, on the contrary – it’s great. But you just have to love it for what it is and what it could be if they fixed the lighting!
review by: Katie Haire