2026 Award
Wins & Nominations

Silhouette of the Australian continent with the text 'AHA VIC' inside
Bright neon sign reads '2026 State Awards for excellence Winner' with a black background and a small logo of Australia with 'AHA VIC' at the top.

Award Nominations:

Chef of the Year - Nick Anthony

Best Casual Dining - Regional

Best Speciality Bar | AWARD WINNER

We're thrilled to share that The Social Bendigo is an award winner and a nominee in three categories at the Australian Hotels Association State Awards for Excellence, taking home the award for Best Specialty Bar in Victoria!

Award Info
A group of five people standing together on a stage with a neon sign background, celebrating an award win at an event. One man holds a framed certificate. The group is dressed in formal attire and smiling.

Our History

Our Building.

The Social Bendigo is housed in a piece of Bendigo's history. Our building at 100 Pall Mall first opened in the early 1900s as Pall Mall Motors, a garage and dealership that served the city as the automobile age arrived in regional Victoria.

Black and white photo of the Pall Mall Motors building with advertisements for Willys and Armstrong Siddeley Cars, and Willys and Denno Trucks, featuring sales, service, and parts.
Exterior view of a restaurant called 'The Social' at night, with a large illuminated sign on a rustic brick wall, string lights overhead, and patio seating with tables and chairs.

A New Chapter.

After Pall Mall Motors, the building served as the Bendigo Advertiser printing room for several decades, then lying vacant for over 20 years. It was renovated in 2017 to become the Four Ponies Bar & Restaurant. In 2019, the venue changed ownership and was renovated again to become the Malt Shovel Taphouse in 2020, before being renamed in 2021 to its current name, The Social Bar & Eating House. Andrew Lethlean, the current owner, was behind the startup of Four Ponies and returned in 2019 to inspire and redevelop the venue into what it is today.

An old, weathered building with peeling paint and boarded-up windows. The building has a protruding vertical sign with the number '102' at the top. The facade appears neglected and abandoned.
unfinished interior of a building under construction with exposed wooden beams, ductwork, scaffolding, and construction materials on the floor.
A busy restaurant interior with diners sitting at tables, a server attending to them, and warm lighting, with a lit sign on the wall reading 'The Social'.
A bar with multiple shelves filled with various liquor bottles behind the counter. There are bar staff working, and the setting appears to be in a restaurant or a bar with a modern industrial design.