fancy hank's

nothing overly fancy here.
a lot of effort put into the meats and some dishes surprise positively in their magnificent flavours. some others not so.
the pickles are awesome.
good wines and beers.

while they managed to fit a big group.. no surprise since the venue was empty, and i guess it was empty due to the ridiculous prices and sizes of the food. we came with 14 people, got the set menu at a price of $30 per head and got one tray of meat!!! one tray of meat for 14 people. this tray had 6 pieces of brisket and pulled pork only! we would of preferred a cheaper meat with more quantity. i mean how is one tray with 6 briskets and some pulled pork supposed to feed 14 people. needless to say we were not happy and left to go eat elsewhere as this food was basically an entree.

this was a bit of a weird place. i couldn’t decide if they were trying to be ‘fancy’ or not. my husband suggested the name fancy hanks is probably quite apt then, which i guess it is! there’s not many food options and i felt that the dessert menu was lacking. i can’t say i’m a fan of ribs in general but the corn bread was a first for me and i’ve gotta say, nothing like what i expected, but alright.
the staff were helpful, friendly and knowledgeable but they did seem to put everyone in the same corner of the room which made it quite crowded and didn’t use the space well. can’t say im hanging out to go back, but it was ok.

been here a few times and it's always a winner. great atmosphere and cocktails were awesome too. a bit of a wait for a table sometimes but there's a rooftop bar we could wait in so no big deal. highly recommend the smoked chicken, easily the best thing on the menu.

great drink selections for starters, not sure what this drink is called (some sort of g&t) but i was pleasantly surprised! food was great, between my friend and i ,we shared the beef brisket, lamb ribs and a few sides. amazing flavour and very tender meat. great place for after work hangouts!

thank goodness for the pitmaster’s selection. the menu had so much to choose from it was hard to nail it down to a few. the pitmaster’s selection had 3 different types of smoked meats: beef brisket, pulled pork shoulder and sausage link (either beef or pork), a choice of multiple sides ranging from baked beans, corn brea, fries and the option of choosing between freak milk rolls or biscuits and a choice between of potato salad or coleslaw. all that for $50pp.

i’m happy to pay that much again because it was bloody spectacular! the meats were perfectly smoked to the point of being so tender. the sides were a perfect accompaniment.

the gentleman at the bar was exceptional. really love this place. don’t know why i didn’t try it sooner!

for a table of four, we ordered the beef brisket, pulled pork, 2 servings of the sausages (4 sausages in two different flavours), the bbq chips, coleslaw and fried cauliflowers. it was a perfect amount of food to share between us. i was surprised by how reasonable the price was! and thank you to the gentleman that served our table yesterday (sat the 29th of sep) with impeccable customer service :)

pork ribs special, best ribs i’ve ever had! amazing!
nice place with a cool decoration. nice bar with a very open and cool staff. also a good place in melbourne to find good beer.

one of the well known american bbq joints in the melbourne cbd. located off the top end of bourke street is a small american bbq joint. be sure to book for a table as the restaurant has limited seats. we came in a large group and decided to order ala carte as we were able to have a greater range of dishes and meats compared to the $50 feed me menu. 

for our meats we ordered brisket, pulled pork, lamb ribs and pork ribs. all the meats were tender and tasty each with their own unique flavour. the highlight were the lamb rib, the cherry bbq sauce perfectly accompanied the lamb. 

for sides we had the mac & cheese, potato salad, buffalo fried cauliflower, bbq chips and roast beet salad. all of the sides were delicious and balanced out the heavy meats. 

satisfied with the food and loved the atmosphere. don't be afraid to order a la carte as you are more likely to get a better variety than the feed me menu.

rated 3.5 stars
came to fh rooftop bar recently when melb's spring finally kicked in (for the day at least). lovely location, had to go up 2 flight of stairs but lucky this preggers mama need a bit of a walk hehe..

rooftop was ok. we were the first one there at 12 and a few more joined us a bit later on. plenty of seats.. but very uncomfortable ones. the side ones were too high for the table.

the bar menu was limited to the bugers. reasonable prices but doesnt incl sides. i got the pull pork burger which was good but very messy to eat. my coleslaw was going everywhere haha.. plate could have been a bit bigger. ordered extra chips which was ok too.

overall pleasant meal. would love to come back and try the restaurant menu.

what a delight eating their smoked meats 🤤
beef brisket is my favourite. mac and cheese and their pickles are also delicious.
we’ve been here many times and food is always great.

be cautious about ordering ribs. we preordered as we had been informed they sell out, therefore we were anticipating high quality. we were bitterly disappointed. chewy slightly fatty ribs that were most certainly not tender or falling off the bone. we have honestly made better ones at home. when mentioning this to the waiter he explained they were meant to be chewy. ????? what?? i’m no bbq expert but never have i heard this in regards to ribs. for the money spent it was not great. brisket, chicken wings and texan sausages were fine. mac and cheese and corn bread were the highlights. wasn’t the worst place but probably won’t visit again.

fancy hanks is that loveable bqq, slow cooked, smoked meat bonanza on bourke street. now think of all of that soul food goodness in a brunch menu. yep, that’s right folks, fancy hanks is doing bottomless brunch and they’re doing it well. every sunday from 12pm-2pm you can have bottomless cocktails (kentucky iced tea & pomelo spritz) and two brunch dishes of your choice for only $50. if you’re still hungry you can order extra dishes for $12.50 but if you team up with a friend and order two different menu items each and share, you can almost try the whole menu. so grab you’re friends for a sunday sesh coz this is a goodie.

came here on a friday night just before 6pm and were seated at the bar, which was fine. there were two people at the bar who were tending to one customer. my partner and i waited and waited, then waited some more. tried to get the attention of another person who was nearing us but he went right past us as well. finally, a guy came out and put an apron on, saw us looking and came to us straight away. we made our orders and the food came out really quickly. i had the wings with chipotle ranch, deviled eggs and the mac and cheese. my partner had the brisket and cheesy chips. he said the chips were nice but the brisket was dry. my food was average, but i felt the wings were a bit tough and dry as well. san antone in crown is still our favourite american bbq place in terms of food quality, though.

everyone is writing and complaining that they didn’t get the pork ribs but we did and they were crap. i can’t think of any other word to describe them but crap. if you like fatty chewy ribs i suppose you might enjoy them but my husband did not, i’ve never seen him spit out so much food before. i’d already eaten so i tagged along and wrinkled my nose at $76 for half a rack of ribs, chips and a pot of beer. big boy does it way better for half of that and at least offers something to clean your hands with afterwards. good fries though.