Black Cat Bar

If your own lounge room is too small to host friends, then Black Cat makes for a great substitute. A Fitzroy institution, it's like a grungier version of that cafe the cast of Friends used to hang out in. People swing past, couches are sprawled on, the minute details of people's lives are dissected and coffee is drunk by the litre. That's the daytime vibe anyway.

As the sun goes down and the locals stumble out of bed, things get progressively more raucous at Black Cat. Coffee is replaced by beers and spirits, DJs show up and your comfortable living room becomes a house party. Just like any house party, the drinks selection tends to stick with the basics - no one's got time to make you the perfect Martini while there are people with lampshades on their head running down the hallway. Similarly, the staff at Black Cat have got a good percentage of the Fitzroy arts/student/hipster contingent to deal with. Basics spirits and beers it is.

If all that living room house party action gets too much for you, there's also the very popular beer garden outside which faces onto Brunswick Street. Hours of entertainment there.