Sydney’s competitive hospitality industry is seeing another high-profile closure, as two inner-city food and drink venues will permanently cease operations by the end of August, just 20 months after opening their doors. European-inspired Bar Julius and Mexican rooftop restaurant Lottie, both located within The Eve Hotel Sydney in Redfern’s inner south, are owned by hospitality operator Liquid and Larder. Following their exit, well-known local hospitality brand The Apollo Group will add the two spaces to its expanding portfolio of premium dining and bar venues.
The Apollo Group already has an established presence in the immediate area, running neighboring hit venues including Olympus Dining, The Apollo and Cho Cho San. The incoming takeover forms part of the ongoing development of Redfern’s $500 million Wunderlich Lane precinct, a mixed-use hub that already hosts a boutique hotel, independent grocer, and multiple popular dining outlets.
Bar Julius first made the closure announcement public via a brief, warm Instagram post on Tuesday. “Bar Julius will be closing its doors at the end of August,” the post read. “We’d love to see you before last drinks.” The announcement caught many local regulars off guard, with dozens of commenters expressing surprise and asking for clarification on why the venue, which only launched in early 2025, would shut so soon after opening.
In an interview with *The Sydney Morning Herald*, Liquid and Larder owner James Bradey, who owns both venues, confirmed the closure stemmed from a failure to meet required financial performance targets. “I’m really proud of what we’re doing, but we haven’t hit the heights financially (that) we’d like,” Bradey explained.
Bradey also shared an unexpected contributing factor: the venue’s name itself. Bar Julius was positioned as an all-day dining spot that served breakfast to hotel guests, but the “bar” label led many potential customers to assume it only opened for evening trade. Bradey revealed the team had originally planned to name the venue Baptist, but another local business in the development claimed the name first. “It’s certainly more successful at night … maybe we should have called it Bistro Julius or just Julius,” he said.
The closure is far from an isolated case in Australia’s current hospitality landscape. Amid a worsening national cost-of-living crisis that has pushed operating and supply costs sharply higher, dozens of beloved Sydney venues have closed their doors in recent months. One of the most high-profile losses was MoshPit Newtown, a iconic inner-west live music venue that announced plans to shut in November. The 9-year-old space, which launched in 2016 as a launching pad for emerging punk and alternative music acts, cited skyrocketing operating costs as the core driver of its decision, saying the announcement came with “truly heavy hearts” and left the local music community reeling.