Morris House is Melbourne CBD’s new four-storey mega-venue with a rooftop bar, live comedy nights and more

Melbourne’s CBD seems to have a pub problem. The city has plenty of fantastic small bars wedged into improbable locations, but seemingly lacks large, friendly pubs built for all comers. On July 10, however, large pubs will score a point with the opening of Morris House in what was the European Bier Cafe.

It might be more of a mega-venue, with its four storeys of dining, rooftop revelry and live comedy, but it is run by Australian Venue Co, who have more than a bit of form (200 venues and counting) in the pub game.

Spending $4 million on a top to bottom renovation, the group has peeled back the building’s harsh black palette, kept the basement comedy club, and delivered a white-fronted, green-accented temple to big-city fun for big groups.

The rooftop bar fits 180 people who can lounge on coastal European-inspired furniture, sip mezcal cocktails dosed with healthy green juice and nod along to DJs playing unobtrusive sets.

The ground-floor is for diners rather than drinkers, with table service, rattan chairs, timber finishes and a cream and green palette.

The menu reads like a time warp – there’s baked camembert and chocolate-pistachio fondant – but also like a postcard from New York. There are four bagels, all served with fries, a Waldorf-ish salad, and a baked cheesecake with a boozy jelly that channels a Manhattan cocktail.

Spanner crab pasta, steaks, a wagyu burger, garlic prawns and other easy-to-love dishes join a large section of charcuterie and salumi, all served with house-baked focaccia, playing to the big corporate gatherings that Morris House is built for.

Between the rooftop and the dining room is a level akin to a front bar: there’s live music each week, a terrace, booths to cram into and the option of doing drinks or dinner. All up, Morris House fits 550 people.

The full menu is available on every level, except the basement, where comedy is planned on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights. Styled on the comedy venues of New York, there are exposed brick walls, theatre-style seating and timber finishes to enhance the acoustics.

“It’s not your typical pub, especially with how dynamic it is,” says venue manager Dylan Hewlett. “No other pub in Melbourne has comedy in the basement alongside a dining room and a Mediterranean-inspired rooftop.”

Open Sun-Thu noon-11pm, Fri-Sat noon-late from July 10

120 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, 03 8563 0080, morrishouse.com.au