That place was an institution for over 33 years. I am in disbelief over this news, I really am. If you have ever been there, you will never forget it. Dinner, drinks, karaoke. It was the best.
Posted by Significant_Owl8828
That place was an institution for over 33 years. I am in disbelief over this news, I really am. If you have ever been there, you will never forget it. Dinner, drinks, karaoke. It was the best.
Posted by Significant_Owl8828
30 Comments
I personally don’t frequent restaurants below a 4 star rating.
WAIT, WHAT? BEN’S IS CLOSED???? NOOOOOO
Oh damn, I would have loved to have gone back once more. Fond memories with family and friends there.
https://preview.redd.it/4980un76rhpg1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7317e0e3b2e8795b50674ab73896f5d201c172f
Omg, the number of engagements, hens and birthdays here and the drunk singing. Its a sad day 😞
Noooooooooo 😭😭😭😭😭😭
OMG talk about the loss of a Brisbane Icon. I am so so sad
Nooooooooo!!!
Blame the government they are responsible for all of these shut downs
It is sad Ben’s was very good, But there is hope!! Go check out Ho Choi in Moorooka, It’s Brisbane’s oldest Chinese restaurant. Been operating 60 years now and fed 5 different generations of my family. Ho Choi is my number 1 but Ben’s was a very close 2nd
I’m still irreparably upset about Mr Bills Vietnamese Canteen closing down for a second time. Anyone know if he plans to reopen?
Noooooo 🙁 any other place you can do karaoke and byo?
Bruh we lost 5dogs, I’m literally devastated
Where else do we go for an entree of prawn crackers and listen to some emotional karaoke songs?
Absolutely lit this place up with my rendition of Hooked on a Feeling a few years back, but my god if this place didn’t trigger my tinnitus.
I had my hens night there in 1999
Vale Bens you were the best for Chinese and killin it at karaoke ❤️
NO
damming used to love bashing out some Snoop Dogg and the Asian side of the room just going wtf, but all the whiteys going mental
Only 3.7 star review rating – that’s definitely not competitive these days for Brisbane
Went there for my birthday last year near Christmas was so yummy !!!!
Oh No! Ben’s introduced me to Vietnamese food! Institution…
Happy to help fund Ben if they want a new place at NOT insane rent !!!!
NOOOOOOOO!!!!! My absolute favourite! We were frequent customers when we lived in South Brisbane 😢 It was always so busy.
AI taking all the jobs.
RIP to an absolute institution! Gone are the days of singing along to Take Me Home Country Roads while having dinner
To be fair, that whole complex is in dire need of an upgrade (side note- the food wasn’t very good when I last went a couple of months ago 🙁 )
Noooooo
Damn.
I must have started eating there when it was new, 1994.
Just thought about getting a meal there on Saturday night and this 😞
One of my great life moments occurred at Ben’s. I was there with two friends one evening, restaurant full, the only people below 40 were us and a large table that was hosting an eighteenth in the centre of the room. Every other table is couples in their 40s with their older parents or similar demographics. Out of nowhere Dancing Queen explodes out of the speaker next to us to herald the beginning of the nights Karaoke. The only interest was two boys from the 18th birthday who excitedly got up and shuffled over to the staff. The ABBA instrumental continues to blare needlessly loudly and everyone goes back to their meals. As the song winds down our young heroes take their places, microphones in hand, long flowing hair hinting at what was to come. Out bursts a distorted electric guitar that feels familiar but I don’t instantly place, it’s followed by the unmistakable baseline of Killing In the Name by Rage Against the Machine.
At this point we’re engaged, the crowd shifts uncomfortably, and the boys get to work. I want to say one of them was kind of a growler, the other a more classic singer, but I’d be gobsmacked if they weren’t both vocalists outside drunken karaoke. To say they killed it would needlessly dismissive. Our table is having a blast, their table is almost bouncing with their excitement, and the rest of the restaurant is staring daggers in shocked horror. At this point I’m just enjoying the song and the penny still hasn’t dropped. For anyone unfamiliar with Killing In The Name or urban poet Zack de la Rocha’s other work it has a rather blunt anti-authoritarian message. That was incredible to watch the boomers digest, the song however crescendos with him screaming “FUCK YOU! I WONT DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!”, repeatedly, for like a minute. The boys alternated that back and forth with dramatic flair and unflinching vocal power.
Their table, our table, riotous cheers and laughter. The other 90 tables in the venue? Dead silent and hatred that would have measured on a Geiger counter.
I’ll never know those heroes, but when the time is right, I will forever tell their tale.
Not surprising considering it is within the Woolloongabba PDA boundary and zoned for 30 storeys. So many buildings sitting vacant around here.