Kings Cross Venue Barrio Chino Is Shutting Down, Becoming A Burger Joint Instead

February 24, 2016

Late night fave Kings Cross restaurant and bar Barrio Chino will close its doors by the end of the month, as the Sydney nightspot continues to suffer a sharp decrease in foot traffic since the introduction of Sydney’s controversial lockout laws.

“We’ve had a great time here in the past five years, and the last thing we want is to close the doors,” co-owner Nicole Galloway tells Broadsheet. “What’s happening in the Cross now means there’s just no one around … and you really can’t sustain business without foot traffic.”

The venue – which apparently was a fave of Leonardo DiCaprio when he was filming The Great Gatsby in Sydney, natch – will be transformed into a pop-up burger-and-fries joint by early April.

“We’ll shut Barrio Chino at the end of March, then open a pop-up at the site, Barrio Burger and Fries,” co owner Peter Lew told Goodfood. “It will also operate during daytime because that’s where the Cross is headed.”

Lew says that dinner trade has been down 30-40 per cent at the Kings Cross venue, with the lockout laws driving away customers who previously would have stopped by for dinner before heading for a drink at close by venues such as Hugo’s Lounge – which, you guessed it, is now closed.

Barrio Chino will now join the pile of beloved Sydney haunts whose doors have shut since the lockout laws come into affect. Places like this favourite, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one and oh yeah this one.

The news comes just after an estimated 15,000 people took to the streets of Sydney in a mass demonstration against the lockout laws, which also included a mock funeral for all the venues, businesses, and countless jobs that have been lost since the laws came into effect.

Gallery: The Funniest Anti-Lockout Banners From The ‘Keep Sydney Open’ Rally (21.02.16)