come to papi's

PAPI DULCE – THE LITTLE BAR THAT COULD!

Words & images Stefan Posthuma

2/372-374 Lawrence Hargrave Dr, Thirroul NSW 2515

Opened on a shoestring, the beginnings of Thirroul’s favourite dive bar Papi Dulce were certainly humble. Friends Ashley O’Neill, Barry-Luke Pearson and Andrew Juskiw had always talked about creating something together. After a few false starts, a run-down, and more importantly, cheap space on Thirroul’s southern strip became the setting for a local that’s now beloved for its top-notch burgers, fried chicken, booze, live music and authentic and honest personality. We caught up with the Papi’s crew to take us through how they went from nothing… to something pretty special.

You guys all have different experiences in hospitality. Tell us about how you got into the industry. Barry: I’m a chef – I began my apprenticeship at Hotel Illawarra. I cooked at some upmarket places in Canberra and Sydney, then moved back to Wollongong and worked at Harbourfront, before becoming Head Chef at Kneading Ruby. I always enjoyed higher level cooking but now I’m flipping burgers here and loving it just as much. Ash: I was at uni studying engineering… I hated it. My dad encouraged me to follow what I liked doing and that was hospitality. At 22, I decided I wanted to open a bar, so I moved around between different venues learning how different places operated. Andrew: I’ve had no hospo experience [laughs]. I’m a panel beater and was managing a team at an auto shop. I got the opportunity to jump in with the boys here, so this is my first hospo gig. I haven’t looked back. It’s been a massive learning curve, but an amazing one.

Tell us about the decision to open your first bar in Thirroul. Ash: It sounds dumb, but there really wasn’t that much thought behind it. I’d been toThirroul once to get a tattoo before we took over the space – I knew nothing about the northern suburbs. Barry and I had been putting our heads together for years coming up with ideas.We always thought we’d open in Wollongong, but we came up short a few times. Barry: We’d basically just push our plans and ideas to their furthest extent and see what’d happen.When we walked in here, we saw the venue – it was a shithole, but the price worked so we thought we’d push ahead and it ended up going through.

Once you found the venue, how’d you go about creating the concept? Ash: We didn’t. We had no money at the beginning. No set-up. Nothing.We opened the place off the back of about two grand for paint and plaster.We were kinda going for a neighbourhood bar, but we had no resources, so we just had to make do with what we had. It was shit.

What was the offering at Papi’s when you started? Ash: We always wanted to make sure the product and the service were good.The drinks were always solid. Good cocktails, craft beers, good wine.We also started putting on live music and people would come out to gigs. The response to that was great, and we started getting busier but after a few weeks of it… full lockdown. Barry: We were doing small bar food too… share stuff. It was good food, but we didn’t have the money to buy good plates to serve it on.We were using these shitty Kmart plates that were here already.

We basically became this dive bar that sold burgers, beers and cocktails

Barry, what was it like moving away from your high-end background to burgers and fried chicken? When I was younger, I wanted to chase fine dining – I’m not sure when, but I just stopped loving all that. I realised that you can have more fun and create a positive environment without the chef’s whites and all the yelling and screaming.When Covid hit, I realised I was a burger chef, which was tough to come to grips with. It’s never been what I wanted to do but people kept coming in saying,“these burgers are the best”. I’ve always made burgers a proper, respectable thing that we take pride in as chefs.

What impact did the pandemic have? Barry: It saved us, actually – people weren’t allowed in, but we were still making money selling burgers. When the doors were open, people might walk past, but it could have looked a bit divey and dark for them. When we got on Menulog during lockdown, people would get takeaway and see how good our food was, then when we reopened we had a big customer base who knew our product. Ash: Covid also gave us the ability to work on the business, the structure, the concept and our brand. I can’t cook so I was able to spend that time working on the business itself.

What changes were made at the venue once doors opened again? Ash: We followed what people were responding to, so we basically became this dive bar that sold burgers, beers and cocktails.While selling takeaway alcohol during lockdown, we learned there’s a big craft beer crew in the northern suburbs, so we focused on that, too. Andrew: The live music has been huge for us, also. Friday night is called Papi’s knock off.We get a bunch of bands in which draws a big local crowd.All the bands have their own following and they bring their friends and fans, so it keeps growing. After a rough start, when did you realise you were starting to become a successful venue? Ash: It wasn’t long until we were doing table service, taking bookings and getting a solid flow in place.We knew what we were doing and had some money in the bank that we were putting back into the business.That’s always a good sign. Andrew: When we started having to turn people away because we were full… that was a pretty big moment. It’s a good feeling. It’s busy, people are having fun – that’s what we want. Barry: Over summer it was pumping… we did some really big weeks and I thought, ‘What has happened?’. In January, I actually remember saying,“This is f**king unbelievable… what is going on?” Ash: There is some imposter syndrome attached to it – I’m always thinking that sooner or later the customers will figure out we’ve been making this shit up as we go, and they’ll stop coming… But yeah, it’s working now and it’s fun, so whatever.

Papi’s is a casual place that seems to be an authentic expression of your personalities. Was that always the intention? Barry: We spoke about having a casual nature from the start.We wanted to build a place where people could come and get on it and feel comfortable. At some bars, people don’t necessarily want to cut loose or be themselves.We’re fun-loving guys so we can help people relax and let their hair down. Andrew: We’re big personalities and we really just want to welcome people from any walk of life.We get older people who came to places like this when they were young.There are uni students who want cheap beers and something simple to eat, and we’ll get families come in with kids to have a burger and we’ll chuck on The Wiggles.The variety of people who enjoy themselves here is great.

Have you seen the nightlife in Thirroul change since you’ve been open? Andrew: For a long time, there was really just two pubs and one bar – so you couldn’t say Thirroul had a big scene. But now we’re here, Bar Franco opened two doors up, which is a great spot, and we’ve got a wine bar opening nearby soon, too. Ash: Wollongong has a really successful small bar scene, so Thirroul is the next logical town to have its own nightlife. I’d like to see this become a bit of a strip – we’re encouraging all our neighbours to get liquor licences, too. You almost had the keys to another venue recently… What happened? Are you still looking for a second place? Andrew: We had secured a spot in town. It was going to be our bigger venue – we were all pretty amped about it. It kinda got snatched from underneath us. It was pretty devastating, but these things happen. We decided to not dwell on it and just keep the ball rolling. Ash: Yeah, sometimes you’ve gotta take the loss. It happens in hospitality. It can be heartbreaking but you need to move on. Barry: We're actually the new owners of a food truck.We saw it advertised, went down to Melbourne and bought it! We'll be getting it on the road around the Illawarra soon to help expand the Papi's brand, which is pretty exciting. But we’re still actively looking for another venue, too – we will be opening up something in Wollongong soon.We want to do something along the same lines as this – live music, slightly divey, focussing on a good product and good service rather than a completely different concept. But the space and the customers will dictate what it ends up being.

Good luck with it guys… oh by the way, how do you actually say Papi Dulce? We don’t know. Say it however you want… we don’t care.We just call it Papi’s.