Melbourne CBD: Bar Americano and Pentolina announce closures

The owner of an iconic Melbourne bar said the city was losing the “heart of what made it so great” as he confirmed he was one of two CBD institutions shutting their doors this year.

Bar Americano, a hole-in-the-wall cocktail bar on Presgrave Place, confirmed on social media on Tuesday that it had been unable to renew its lease with the building’s new owner.

The news came as Pentolina, a pasta restaurant on Little Collins St, also announced via Instagram that it was closing this Christmas.

“Times are changing and Melbourne needs to get its sh*t together, we’re losing the heart of what made it so great,” Bar Americano wrote on Instagram.

“My heart aches for small businesses like this that cannot win against landlords and developers.”

Bar Americano, run by Matt Bax, has operated in the same location for the past decade.

Other media outlets have reported that the building in which Bar Americano operates was bought in April by a company owned by George Sykiotis, once a partner in George Calombaris’s restaurants.

“I survived 11 years in Pelgrave but I didn’t survive a new landlord,” Bar Americano wrote on Instagram.

Bar Americano and Pentolina will follow the likes of other well-known Melbourne restaurants and bars to have closed since the onset of the pandemic, such as Bar Saracens and Madame Brussels.

On Tuesday, Pentolina wrote on Instagram: “It breaks our hearts to inform you that we’ll be closing the doors to our little Collins Street pasta haven at Christmas.

“Needless to say we’re devastated, and we’re exploring alternative options for keeping the Pentolina spirit alive in another location.”

They wrote they had been unable to come to an agreement to renew their lease with their new landlords.

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