Lost a lot of money in pokies but service is great!

Excellent venue ,but meal are to small for the price, we ask for a salad and got lettuce 2 bit tomato, it would have been nice to have a nice big piece of quiche .

Enjoyed a family meal here with our 2 older kids. Pizza was yummy and senior meals were great sized and prices. Everyone happy would recommend. Good priced. ??'?

Manager, maybe Louise? could be Melbourne's No.1 hospitality worker. Friendly, helpful, kind and brings a smile to faces. The heartbeat of what appears to be an exceptionally well-run establishment.

Fantastic staff. Asked on a Friday for a small reserved area for a group of us (12) to spend the Sunday there in the TAB/bar area, to have a punt with food and drinks. Management made sure all was in order and tables were reserved with seating as requested, TVs were set for us to watch the sport and racing. A bar tab was able to be run for us and nothing was too much trouble. All of us had a great afternoon and will definitely be back again.

As someone who doesn't drink alcohol,being told you have had to many drinks and can't come in by some dirty arab rent a cop is a disgrace. I was going to use your toilet but thought it was fair to piss on your wall after a brief chat with the camel hearder at the door.

Honestly one of the greatest places to have a piss up ever. Great atmosphere, great bar, great pokies, security guard #62 gotta be the greatest security guard to ever live. Will be returning for the next piss up

What an amazing place, the security guard, number 62 is the absolute best person. He's a legend and is friendly and makes the place feel comfy and safe. 100% returning for another piss up with the goat

Place was great. Got to watch the state of origin. Security were friendly and very diplomatically handled a situation where an individual needed to be removed from the premises. Reasonably priced drinks.

Hard to rate this place, just feels bland.

As others have said, feels like it's mostly dedicated to pokies with a small sports bar area.

I stopped in for a chicken schnitzel and a beer. Schnitzel was actually alright (4/5), but wow $16.50 for a pint!

Overall, ok for a quick feed and a beer but all the pokies, races on tv and just general blandness draw it down to 3/5 - would recommend checking out other places in the area instead.

Bland pokie bar with very rude staff who don't possess the slightest hint of politeness and how to treat paying customers with respect.
Also seems to have a discriminatory hiring policy with regard to the ethnic composition of its staff which wouldn't be unrelated to how they treat their customers.
Only redeeming quality of the place is the drinks are reasonably priced.

Lovely place, great atmosphere and amazing and friendly staff.. they said we came to the right place and they were absolutely correct 😀 my partner and I visited and the staff made us feel welcome right from the start.. when I visit Melbourne again I will return 🙂

A great experience at the Welcome Stranger yet again. All the staff are excellent but Crystal is the top!!!The chef is an excellent cook with a marvelous personality and smile.

I don't love it, but I don't hate it either.

Half of the entire establishment is made up of pokie machines. (which contribute to the atomisation of society, the decline of social capital, and the loss of billions of dollars)

It is quite sad that pubs have to rely on these to stay in business, but enough about this can of worms and onto the things you need to know about.

The service is mixed, sometimes you get pleasant service, other times the service is quite cagey and terse.(this can easily be interpreted by the layperson as being rude) probably because of the clientele that frequent the place.

surely this would wear down even the hardiest of barmen/barmaids, i don't blame them.

The food in terms of taste was average, not good, not bad. Portion wise it was satisfactory, if you are someone who likes big portions in lieu of taste, this is the place for you...

It is located withing walking distance to parliament house, the treasury building, chinatown, and the princes theatre.

Love this place. Friendly staff it's open late and I've had a few wins there which makes a place more favourable too!

It's a no fuss place for a beer in the city. Sure it's got the pokies, but ignore them and go for somewhere unpretentious to sit with a drink for a while.

Lives by it's name, as strangers in the city this place was perfect, good priced drinks, good smoking areas, open late and has the sports on and the staff are great ??'?

Great place in the city to get a geat meal at a affordable price

Classic spot in Melbournes CBD for a beer. Good smoking area out the front so you can yell at people walking past if you've had a few

Pretty good place with a very reasonable price. Close to Hobart and some good restaurants around the area.

I did a trip back to Australia and found myself at Welcome Stranger many times over the last 6 weeks. The staff are fantastic! Very friendly and really take care of their customers. I was travelling solo so it was nice to be able to have a chat with them. Thank you and see you again!

Pokies venue, decent layout and two smoking areas. Barstaff were friendly and polite. Drinks were well overpriced. Not a place I would attend for food or beverage but consider for a nightcap.

Good to be back, great place with professional staff ðŸ'ðŸ'

Finally a gaming room & bar that allows tequila slammers! Most gaming rooms opt out of serving hard liquor but not this place ! Thank God for small miracles! Be prepared tho if you don't have current valid photo iD the man at the door will refuse you entry. So come prepared!

Over priced ham and cheese toasties $18 for 2. But was friendly staff but machines were mean. But got a few free bottles of coke. Good customer service

Staff helpful and courteous, meals a good size, recommend chicken parma. Plenty of machines to choose from, unfortunately like many venues, majority are now Lightning or Dragon cash. Great smoking area.

A nice place to spend a night out having casual drinks with good company. Great priced drinks and decent food. (Find me a nicer spot where I can get a Chivas under $10 all night long)

Staff, especially Ming, made for a welcoming and friendly vibe that you don't normally find in gaming venues. The staff were friendly and chatty and the place hd a positive atmosphere.

Definitely looking to return and even take up a membership to get discounted drinks and food.

Not sure what timings are anymore. If you're not looking to gamble, this is the last afterparty place for when everything else is shut. Ambience isn't the best but they serve drinks when nobody else will.

Staff are always friendly. Great place to relax

The staff were awesome - friendly and helpful. The meal was great except for the salad that consisted of lettuce and 3 pieces of tomato not a salad at all. The facility is aimed at gaming though not somewhere to meet up for a meal!