Kellie and Garry McWilliam in the Sandy Hook Tavern.
Esperance locals Garry and Kellie McWilliam have returned home and re-imagined the Aussie pub as a family friendly combination of café, tavern and restaurant.
They described their new venture as a “one stop shop” open daily from 5am.
“There should be something on the menu for everyone to enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner,” Garry said.
“The idea is to get the broader section of the community to be able to use the one facility rather than being a singular entity, so we’ve concentrated on all scopes of requirements of people who want to go out and wine and dine.”
He described it as “a soft environment, which makes it comfortable for the ladies, comfortable for kids”.
“It’s got a nice little bar area that the guys can sit and have a beer and a business luncheon, a catch up,” Garry said.
“We do a lot of little conferences in the tavern area where they utilize some of our space because it’s quiet.”
For those who don’t drink they offer a range of non-alcoholic drinks.
One very different feature is the kids’ room, with toys and a big screen for cartoons.
Kellie said they were keen to cater for mums with children.
“Some facilities don’t have a lot of space, and prams can cause congestion in some eating environments,” she said.
“So we’ve taken that into consideration with the layout of our tables and creating spaces specifically for mums with prams and multiple mums together.
“And all the grandparents taking out the kids, as well as having full accessibility for people that have walkers or wheelchairs.”
The kitchen offers everything from a café bar, café meals to full à la carte menu, and welcomes single diners as well as very large group bookings.
Kellie emphasised consistent opening hours as a key business tenet.
“Maintaining the same opening and closing times throughout the entire year, being available to the community and also to the tourism sector, and having that consistency is something that people rely on,” she said.
Sandy Hook is located at the bottom of Andrew Street.
