Huxley’s

To find Huxley’s, look for the big fridge door inside Ugly Pizza. That’s the bar’s entrance. It’s a separate venue, but it shares with the pizzeria its owner (Feros Group) and executive chef, Mitchell Davis.

Davis is a member of competition-winning barbeque team Badass BBQ, so he has some solid know-how when it comes to smoking meat. The ribs are the signature. Enormous pork and beef ribs are served saucy and tender from being smoked in Davis’ impressive barbeque set up. He uses live fuel, such as Gidgee rump and ironbark – local woods.

Davis is a veteran of Sydney’s pub scene. He was making American-style burgers with brioche and American cheese before either were readily available. His latest line uses milk buns, the now ubiquitous easy-melting US cheese and a beef patty with a rare 70-30 meat-to-fat ratio. He uses sirloin, brisket and chuck. Depending on the day, you can get one for $10; or $1 spicy buffalo wings with blue-cheese mayo; a $10 bucket of fried chicken; or a foot-long double-dog hotdog.

Behind the bar there’s equally ridiculous American cocktails that look like elaborate desserts; two-litre jugs of beer; and alco-shakes. Otherwise there’s a good selection of craft beer and wines helpfully labelled as cheap, decent or good.