The Union Hotel holds a corner of King Street in Newtown, the inner-west Sydney suburb known for its music and its drinking strip. The pub traces back to 1946, when it took on the license of the former Union Inn nearby, and it now bills itself as the Newtown local for craft beer, whisky, food and music. A third generation of the family runs it today.
Published April 14, 2026 · By Marcus Webb
The room
The front bar keeps the character of an old Newtown pub while the fit-out has been rebuilt around a world-class back bar and a restaurant. Through the back is the bistro, Big Arties, a brighter, breezier room with its own bar and more modern seating. The split lets the venue carry a quick pint at the front and a longer meal behind it.
Newtown's King Street is one of Sydney's busiest bar and music runs, and The Union sits in the thick of it. The pub has stayed family-owned for just over thirty years, with the current generation behind the beer-led revival. That continuity is part of why it reads as a genuine local rather than a made-over venue.
What to order
The draw is the beer, with 22 taps that the pub says host more than 420 different brews across a year. Beyond the taps, the back bar stocks around 24 gins, mostly Australian, and roughly 30 whiskies for anyone switching off beer. The rotation is the point, so the move is to ask what has just gone on.
The bistro backs the drinks with food built for a long session rather than a quick snack. The gin and whisky ranges give a night a second direction once the taps are covered. A rotating local beer followed by an Australian gin is an easy way through the list.
Who it is for
The Union Hotel fits a beer drinker after a deep, rotating tap list, a group settling into a Newtown night, and anyone who rates a real pub over a polished bar. Skip it for a quiet cocktail date or a hotel-bar calm, since this is a busy King Street local. It rewards drinkers who come to work through the taps and stay for the bistro.
Best time to go
The pub runs daily into the night, with weekends the busiest along the King Street strip. An earlier visit beats the Newtown crowd to the bar and the bistro tables. The rotating taps make a return worthwhile for whatever has just landed.
Friday and Saturday fill fast once the King Street music crowd moves through. A weekday afternoon or early evening is the calmer way in, with the taps and the kitchen less pressed. Checking the day's hours ahead is wise, since a pub on this strip shifts its closing with the night.
The detail worth knowing
The rotating tap program is the detail that sets it apart, since 22 lines turning over more than 420 brews a year keeps the list moving. The pub took Time Out's Best Beer List and Publican of the Year in 2016, which marks the depth behind the taps. Broadsheet and The Crafty Pint both point to the beer-led revival as the reason to seek it out.
Holding that range in a genuine Newtown pub, rather than a dedicated taproom, is the appeal. The family ownership and the third-generation revival give it a story most beer bars lack. For a King Street beer night with a kitchen behind it, The Union is a default name.
The bottom line
The Union Hotel is Newtown's craft beer local, a 1946 King Street pub with 22 rotating taps, a deep whisky and gin range and the Big Arties bistro out back. Come early on a weekend, ask what is fresh, and stay for the food. It is a real pub rather than a made-over bar, and the rotating taps are the reason to return.
Keep exploring with our best craft beer bars in Sydney guide, the full Sydney bar guide, and our edit of craft beer bars worldwide. Pair The Union Hotel with Batch Brewing, Grifter Brewing, and Young Henrys.
