The hard part of a birthday is rarely the venue. It is that the group wants four different things: someone wants a long lunch, someone wants a bar crawl, someone is bringing children, and someone has decided this is the year they do something with adrenaline in it.
So the list below is sorted that way rather than by suburb. Pick the bracket that matches your group and the venue mostly picks itself.
For a long lunch or dinner
Long Chim
Long Chim sits under the State Buildings and does Thai street food loudly and well. It suits a birthday because the menu is built for sharing, which takes the pressure off ordering for a table of twelve. Book early — it is not a walk-in proposition on a Friday.
Bread in Common
Bread in Common in Fremantle is a converted warehouse with long communal tables and a bakery at its centre. It is one of the better rooms in Perth for a group that wants to hear each other, and the shared plates keep arriving without anyone having to manage it.
Rockpool Bar and Grill
Rockpool at Crown is the version of this where the birthday is the occasion rather than the excuse. Steak, a proper wine list, and private dining rooms if the group is large enough to want its own space.
Wildflower
Wildflower sits on the rooftop of the State Buildings and cooks to the six Noongar seasons, so what arrives depends on when you come. It is the most considered meal on this list and priced accordingly — worth it for a birthday that matters.
For a bar crawl
Four of these are close enough together to walk, which is the whole point.
Niche Bar
Niche is a small bar that has kept its regulars for a reason. Good starting point precisely because it is not loud yet.
Market Grounds
Market Grounds is the big open one in the city — courtyard, plenty of room, easy to absorb a group that has grown by three people since you booked.
Alabama Song
Alabama Song on William Street is a late-night country bar with well over a hundred whiskeys and bourbons behind it. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm, and it gets going late.
The Bird
The Bird is a few doors along and does live music in a room small enough that you are effectively at the front. A good last stop, because nobody leaves early.
For a group with kids
May Street Larder
May Street Larder in East Fremantle handles the awkward birthday — the one with grandparents, toddlers and a couple of adults who want a decent coffee. Relaxed room, food that suits everyone, no need to negotiate.
Clancy's Fish Bar, City Beach
Clancy's puts you across the road from the sand with fish and chips and a beer garden. Children can be children. The location does most of the work.
On The Point, Point Fraser
On The Point sits on the river at Point Fraser with parkland beside it, which means the group can spread out and the kids are not confined to a table. Sunset here is the reason to book the later sitting.
Lawn bowls at Mount Lawley
Mount Lawley Bowling Club will set a group up on a rink with almost no explanation required, which is the appeal. It is the rare activity that works for a twelve-year-old and a seventy-year-old in the same afternoon. Book the green in advance; it is more popular than it looks.
For something with adrenaline in it
Indoor skydiving
iFLY Perth in Rivervale drops you into a vertical wind tunnel, which is as close to free fall as you get without a plane. It runs seven days, takes all ages and abilities, and group and birthday packages are a standard part of what they do.
Jetpack and flyboard
Jet Pack Perth, which this guide used to recommend, has closed. Jetpack Adventures runs the equivalent experience out of Rockingham — jetpack, flyboard and hoverboard sessions on the water, with training included, so nobody needs to have done it before.
Getting everyone there
A birthday with a bar crawl in it has one predictable failure: the transport. Either someone volunteers to drive and spends the night on soda water, or the group splits across four rideshares and reassembles slowly at each stop.
We run minibuses and coaches from 13 seats upwards with a driver, so the group stays together and everybody gets to drink. For a crawl we will wait between stops rather than doing drop-and-go, and for a Swan Valley or Fremantle run we will build the route around your bookings.
Tell us the stops and the numbers, or talk to our team if you are still working out the plan.
