The beer garden is open six days a week. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
When you think of great food in Canberra, a few locations spring to mind: Braddon, Kingston, maybe even a few suburban shopping centres. Hume? Not so much.
But in the middle of this industrial zone, there’s a new precinct looking to change that reputation.
Hill Station Precinct is the latest venue from The Rabble Group (Assembly, Corella Bar and the short-lived Bada Bing), bringing together great burgers, beers, coffee and (eventually) a heritage events venue.
Rabble Group took on historic Hill Station and the surrounding land a few years ago, and has been quietly making improvements to the site. They’ve now set up Burgermaker and partnered with Loading Zone coffee van to create a newly opened beer garden and lawns.
“It’s a challenging location, but I think it can be a really cool venue,” Tom Phelan, Rabble Group’s Creative Director, told Region.
“The long-term vision is to have something like The Grounds of Alexandria [Sydney multi-venue dining precinct], just not in the city.”
The future plans at Hill Station in Hume. Image: Rabble Group.
Eventually, the group plans to renovate the old station and install a kitchen that can cater for functions and events (there was a restaurant there in the 90s). Given its industrial location, the site is ideal for late-night revelry, such as weddings or functions, or even live music concerts, because noise restrictions aren’t an issue. Down the line, there might be pizza and wines from local vineyards.
For now, customers are invited to relax and enjoy The Lawns, a beer garden with great burgers, lawn games and spaces for the kids to play. There are even a few cows and goats on site to feed (daily at 10 am), and chooks are next on the list.
Classic smash burger, crinkle cut fries, onion rings and Queanbeyan Bitter beer in the sunshine – does it get better than this? Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Visiting on the opening weekend of the lawns, I enjoyed the classic smashed patty burger with crinkle cut fries and onion rings, all washed down with a Queanbeyan Bitter. This beer is being brewed exclusively for The Lawns (but might end up in a few other venues soon) and is a dangerously quaffable session ale. The burgers are mint, the onion rings are crisp, and the chips are tasty. You can also upgrade your burger to a double or even triple patty if you’re feeling hungry.
During the week, the place is thrumming with Hume tradies – Loading Zone coffee van owner Jaz Sohoda is pumping out hundreds of coffees daily – and there’s some affordable brekky burger options to accompany your daily cuppa.
The Queanbeyan Bitter is on tap at Burgermaker. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
As Tom points out, Hume might feel far away, but it’s really only a 10-minute drive from Queanbeyan and parts of South Canberra. So they’re hoping to see the lawns at Burgermaker become a new family favourite!
Burgermaker is located at 51 Sheppard St, Hume.
They are open from 6.30 am to 2 pm Monday to Friday, and from 8 am to 2 pm Saturdays (Sundays coming soon). Follow Burgermaker on Facebook and Instagram. Find out more about the plans for Hill Station Precinct.
