Antigo Cafe & Bar
Editorial
Located next to the Canberra Theatre, Antigo Cafe and Bar is a popular choice with patrons of the arts. Yes, there are several other bars and cafes in close proximity, but none of them capture that "let's talk about the performance over drinks" atmosphere in quite the same way as Antigo.
Owned and operated by the same management team for the last 15 years, Antigo is obviously doing something right. While the interior is bright and cheerful (thanks in large part to Jeff Steinacker's paintings), it's certainly not going to win any design awards. The polished wooden floors, cream walls and furniture do the job, but that's about it. Mind you, none of this seems to bother the regulars, and the place has become a bit of a Canberra institution in recent years. Pre- or post-show, the crowd is a mix of young and eager art goers alongside more seasoned veterans.
Presumably, the atmosphere (and drinks) make up for any shortfalls in the design aspect. There's a good selection of wines by the glass and a scattering of imported beers. Meanwhile, the meals are cheap and cheerful and the staff are friendly enough. Granted, it's not going to impress a first date, but with 15 years experience, Antigo's mix of casual dining and drinks has found a receptive audience in Canberra.
Gregory Lock, July 2009
User Feedback
Phill
July 16, 2007
Very, very slow service (1.5hr wait for mains). Food was adequate, however, waiters coming out regularly to check what we ordered was a little disconcerting. When the speed of the service was questioned at the end of the night management refused to apologise or give a discount. Very disappointing.
Caty
July 16, 2007
We visited Antigo's once for lunch, and had such horrible service and food that we vowed never to return. We decided (foolishly) to give it a try again for a group booking. Bad idea. It took 40 minutes for them to make some truly weird tasting insipid garlic bread (shouldn't there be garlic on that?), then (despite taking our mains orders then) another hour before they came back to re-take our orders, and another 20 minutes to an hour for the mains to come. And the food was only so-so anyway.
canberra_resident
April 10, 2010
It was a terrible dinner, we were told that they were unable to provide us with a drink at the bar as they were too busy. It took about 1.5hrs for the food to come out and the orders were also incorrect! The staff were not very friendly and the service was terrible. I don't reccomend this restaurant to anyone.
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