1. State Library exterior
    Photograph: Daniel Boud
  2. A rooftop bar with light wooden timber flooring, round table and bent cane chairs
    Photograph: Supplied
  3. State Library of NSW Mitchell Reading Room
    Photograph: Supplied | State Library of NSW Mitchell Reading Room
  • Bars | Cocktail bars
  • Sydney

Library Bar

The coveted rooftop of the State Library has scored an all Aussie cocktail bar

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Time Out says

Sydney has scored a big-ticket rooftop bar atop the historic Mitchell Building at the State Library, taking full advantage of the stunning vista from one of Sydney's most prized locations. The secreted away spot has been a favoured staff lunch spot since the 1940s and now, thankfully, the team have decided to share it with the rest of us.

The bar is divided into three sections; the observation deck offers a panorama of the harbour and across the Domain. Enjoy open-air sunset cocktails with friends in the spacious courtyard before the city skyline lights up the night, or find a spot inside at the front of the bar for some old world charm. A mix of plush cocktail chairs, banquette seating and small bar tables are arranged around a baby grand piano, and if you're lucky there might be a player tickling the ivories on the weekend.

Entry to the bar is cloaked in mystique, with guests entering via giant 1930s timber arch doors where visitors are then ushered through hidden areas of the library before being delivered into the venue by lift four floors up.

The simple bar menu aims to highlight NSW as much as possible and that’s evident through cocktails like the Library Martini using Rosebery’s Archie Rose gin, the Hunter Valley’s Margan Vermouth and even the garnish coming from Alto Olives of the Southern Tablelands. The Library has also teamed up with Staves Brewery in Glebe for a Library Bar signature rale ale, one of the many beers from an offering that pledges to be 100% NSW brews.

Want more hidden boozy spots? Check out our guide to the best hidden bars in Sydney

Details

Address
1
State Library
Shakespeare Place
Sydney
Sydney
2000
Opening hours:
Wed-Sat 4-10pm
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