Melbourne craft brewery Kaiju! opens Cantina (and pizzeria) in Huntingdale

Craft beer and cider brewers Kaiju! have added a Huntingdale beer hall and pizzeria to their Dandenong South factory, which shipped 1.4 million litres in a bumper 2021.

The warehouse brewpub is in an industrial pocket near Monash University, five minutes' walk from Huntingdale station.

Spacious, cheerful and retro, blond brick booths, burnt orange upholstery and bent metalwork pick up the south-eastern suburbs' mid-century domestic architecture.

If artist Howard Arkley, who had a studio in nearby Oakleigh, had ever wanted a hoppy West Coast craft ale and a thin-crust pizza, this place would have fitted the bill.

After a two-and-a-half year gestation, founders and brothers Nat and Callum Reeves are thrilled to bring their beer to the people in a new way.

"It's been a dream of ours since before we started the business," says Callum. "I cannot wait to see people enjoying our product and the fruits of our ideas."

There are 16 rotating beers on tap, including experimental batches made in an on-site brew kit. The essential thirst-quencher is the Kaiju! Krush, a smashable West Coast-style tropical pale ale.

Thin-crusted pizzas are made by Iranian-born Jay Jafari, who blesses his pizza oven each morning as part of his prep ritual.

The margarita is good, the chilli prawn sings, but the cheeseburger pizza is probably the pick, made with ground beef, pickles, mustard and American cheese.

A powder-blue 1960s minibus has been refitted as a kiddie play zone and a Melbourne skyline mural by artist Mikey Burton ties in with his Kaiju! beer can artwork.

Open Open Wed-Thu 4pm-late, Fri-Sun 11am-late; kitchen open all day from February 9.

Kaiju! Cantina, 27 Hume Street, Huntingdale, 03 9706 5924, kaijubeer.com.au.