Royal Hotel Toowoomba
After regrettably having to depart Tunna and his Royal Hotel Meandarra, we headed three hours east to our next destination on the Tour, the Royal Hotel Toowoomba.
After being in small country towns with populations barely in the hundreds for the past couple days, it was certainly a bit different to pull into Toowoomba. It was my first time to Toowoomba and it is definitely a proper (and very nice) city. There were a lot of old brick buildings and a giant park running through the middle of town.
After finding our accommodation, we headed in to find the Royal Hotel Toowoomba. We got there right about 5pm on a Friday arvo and it was predictably packed. It might have actually been the most crowded Royal we’ve been to on the Tour so far. Unfortunately that also meant that we didn’t get a ton of photos of this particular Royal. It does get a little bit awkward walking around and taking photos with tables full of beer drinkers staring at you.
We were luckily able to snag the only empty table we could see. Unfortunately it was 5m from where a local footy club was running what appeared to be an hour long, maximum volume meat raffle. So chat was limited to the gaps between the number calls.
On the plus side, however, was the fact that after we were there for about 15 minutes, bar staff came around with bowls of free chips and gravy. Free chips and gravy after a long day in the car? It doesn’t get much better than that.
As luck would have it, two of Bert’s friends happened to be in Toowoomba for a wedding the same weekend we were there. So not long after we arrived, Terry and Taylor met us at the Royal. Terry and Taylor were understandably thrilled to make an appearance on the Tour. But I think having a kid-free night to themselves might have even trumped that Royal thrill.
We hung out for a few beers. But it was only getting busier and the meat raffle showed no signs of slowing down. It was a nice enough pub, and there was far more to it than we were able to explore or take photos of. But the sheer number of people there made it tough to hang out for too long and gave us doubts about getting dinner any time before 9.
So instead we headed on to a couple of Toowoomba’s breweries (if you’re curious, Bone Idol Brewing was loud and average, Mouse Proof Brewing was loud and excellent).
Royal Stats
- Town/Suburb: Toowoomba, QLD
- Population: 142,163
- Date Visited: Friday, April 4, 2025
- Visited By: Cory, John and Bert
- Beer Sponsorship on Sign: None
- Beer Consumed at Pub: XXXX Bitter
- Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $8.10
- Unique Award: Loudest Meat Raffle
- Tour Progress: 63.7% (86/135)