Restaurant Review: Stanley Beer Yard

Posted on 2nd Aug 2017

I was invited by Hello Joburg Magazine to review Stanley Beer Yard which is located at the trendy 44 Stanley, a mixed use development that fuses downtown urbanism with a subtle sophistication. I invited a very close friend to join me for lunch this past Saturday so that we could do a proper catch-up. We were both pleasantly surprised by the place. It has nice little shops, a variety of restaurants, a courtyard with a fountain shaded by trees.

Before we ate, we took a walk around 44 Stanley to check out the shops. I really liked Lucky Fish, a boutique store that sells these incredibly beautiful clothing – but way out of my budget.

Mr. Vinyl is a must visit for those die-hard LP collectors.

There is also a guy selling Bonsai trees just outside of Mr. Vinyl – if I didn’t kill every single plant that came my way, I would have bought one.

Stanley Beer Yard

With growling tummies, we made our way to Stanley Beer Yard. The staff we very welcoming and I found the decor reminded me so much of my old haunt back in Woodstock, the original Woodstock Lounge. It definitely has a lived-in feel, from the huge fire-place to the quirky chairs. We decided to sit outside in the courtyard under the trees. The band was still setting up when we arrived, giving us a few minutes to browse the menu and decide on what to order.

We chose the Cheese Platter for two and we decided to share the beef burger, which comes with chips. This was definitely pub-grub: filling and tasty.

Once the band started playing, Stanley Beer Yard started filling up quickly. It has such a great vibe and can see myself visiting again with a big group of friends, just sitting and chatting, laughing, eating and drinking for hours.