Just when you thought Maitland’s food scene couldn’t get any better, the Metropolitan Hotel on High Street reopens with a fresh menu, a revamped look, and a firmly anti-pokies, family-friendly approach.

The long-standing French Art Deco pub was taken over by brothers Nick and Elliot Pogonoski back in September 2023, and reopened after 10 weeks of renovations on November 17, 2023.

“We’d been looking for a while. I’ve been pouring beer for 22 years, and we’ve been talking about it for a while… For 10 or 12 years, maybe longer, we’ve been talking about having a pub together,” Nick said.

“This one came up and we thought that it was a beautiful pub, so let’s give it some love and affection.”

The Pogonoskis’ love and affection has come in the form of significant updates to the look of the pub, with the exterior and front bar receiving an overhaul. New entryway signs and wrap-around signage courtesy of Mountain Culture Beer Co have completely changed the feel of the outside while tying into the venue’s retro colour scheme.

The updated front bar will look unrecognisable to former patrons – the black ceiling is gone and the floor is now carpeted, there’s a new timber bar top and shelving, and a schmick copper feature wall is the star of the show behind the bar. One thing that hasn’t changed? The bar’s seafoam green tiles.

“Some people might say that they’re ugly, but because we were always going to keep the tiles, we worked backwards. From the colour of the walls, the timber, then worked the copper into it. The idea of the copper was that it would look nice and warm, but also still look like a pub.”

“We’re trying to keep as much of the beauty of the pub, and at the same time, make it nice and airy and light and welcoming.”

The saloon bar and restaurant are next up in the Metro’s gradual refurbishment. For now, there’s plenty of seating in the front bar and alfresco on High Street.

The food and drink menus complement the pub’s new look, with a lineup of pub favourites, share plates, salads, and burgers on offer. There’s some additions that are a bit different to the usual pub fare, like lamb gyros and a cob loaf.

On the drinks side of things, expect a few mainstream beers plus five or six rotating craft taps, local and international wine, and local spirits from the likes of Earp Distilling Co and The Farmer’s Wife Distillery.

When we visit the Metro, it’s lunchtime on a Wednesday. Already, the pub is filling up with people. There’s definitely a friendly, local feel about it, which is exactly what Elliot and Nick are hoping to achieve.

“I’m meeting heaps of new people that live in the area, heaps of new faces, then heaps of people coming back – it’s starting to feel like a pub. Like a good old-fashioned corner pub.”