If sinking craft beer and knocking back some mega burgers is high on your to-do list then you’ve come to the right place.
Welcome to High N’ Dry, Leichhardt's new pop-up beer and burger den. It’s the latest project from Hashtag Burgers, the crew with the legendary burger bar formerly known as Down N’ Out. After losing their legal battle with U.S burger chain In-N-Out, they’ve renamed their CBD bar “Nameless Bar” and, to really stick it to 2020, opened High N’ Dry—an entirely new pop up in partnership with Canvas Events.
High N' Dry is locked to run for six months, potentially longer. The menu is short and sweet but it’s all about quality over quantity.
“It’s hard to pick one signature but High N’ Dry will be featuring the same epic weekly specials as our CBD venue Nameless Bar. Our most popular burger is our classic single wagyu beef burger which features a flame-grilled wagyu beef patty and our signature secret sauce,” says owner Ben Kagan.
“My personal favourite burger on the High N’ Dry menu is the Nashville chicken burger, we spent months developing the recipe.” Made with hot chicken, (Nashville-style, obviously), it's topped with shredded lettuce, red-eye mayo and oozing blue cheese sauce.
Coming in at a close third, there’s a delicious stack for the vegos out there made with deep-fried panko-crumbed mushroom, American cheese, lettuce, jumbo pickles, sliced tomato, raw onion and High N’ Dry’s staple secret sauce. And it’d be remiss of us not to give a special shout out to the cheeseburger spring rolls here—a crunchy and euphoric party in the mouth with every bite.
The bar sports a juicy selection of more than 25 different types of beers, as well as a full suite of wines, spirits and two novelty shooters that absolutely have to be tried. One hits your tastebuds hard on the salty front, the other is a sweet punch to the face.
“Our Picklebacks are a shot of Jameson with a chaser of our house pickle brine mix,” says Kagan.“And our Snickers shot is a mix of Frangelico, Kahlua and a sprinkle of salt.”
As for the fit-out, it’s a kaleidoscopic mix inspired by the 80s and 90s arcades. Housed within an abandoned Italian restaurant in Leichhardt, there are exposed brick walls, neon lights and a tonne of bric-a-brac trimmings too. If you’ve been around the traps, you’ll remember this spot as Alfio’s—a brief Italian pop-up from the Don Pepino’s crew back in 2014.
“We show old hand-drawn cartoons on TV—think Ren and Stimpy, Thundercats, Batman etc.—and have filled the walls with old comic books and our favourite vinyl records,” Kagan adds. “The general vibe is chilled, we want people to feel like they are hanging out at their friend’s house.”
Make sure you book to avoid any disappointment, book here.
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Image credit: High N’ Dry