A large fibreglass cauliflower sits atop a pub on Botany Road in Waterloo, so familiar that many locals barely register it. Beneath it, the Cauliflower Hotel at 123 Botany Road stands as one of Sydney’s oldest and most recognisable pubs — heritage-listed, still thriving, and with origins that trace back to a market gardener, a bumper crop and a well-timed decision about how to invest the proceeds.
For Redfern and Waterloo residents, the Cauli is simply part of the landscape, the way that the best neighbourhood pubs always are. But the story behind how it got its name and its giant vegetable is worth knowing.
How a Cauliflower Built a Pub
George Rolfe opened the Cauliflower Hotel on what is today the south-east corner of Botany Road and Wellington Street in 1838. He was 39 when he opened the pub, and for many years prior had successfully worked as a market gardener in the area. Rolfe, who arrived from England to Sydney as a 16-year-old boy with his family, acquired large tracts of land on the Waterloo Estate and was said to have made enough money to build his pub from the sale of a bumper crop of cauliflower.
The name stuck, and so did the sign. The venue still features its eye-catching cauliflower and crossed rake sign, a direct reminder of those market gardening origins. That sign, along with the big fibreglass cauliflower mounted on the roofline above, makes the Cauli one of the most immediately recognisable pub facades in inner Sydney.
George and his wife Mary ran the two-storey pub together, and after Mary’s death in 1897, George continued as licensee until his own death at the age of 79 in 1900. At that point he had been licensee of the Cauliflower for 38 years, making him the oldest and longest-running hotel host in Sydney at the time of his death. The only other licensee who had run a single pub for longer in Sydney was Emanuel Neich of the Bath Arms Hotel in Burwood, who died in 1893 after 62 years in the trade.
The hotel was one of four public houses trading on Wellington Street, Waterloo at that time, alongside the Australian Arms, the Duke of Wellington and the Rose of Denmark. Of those four, only the Cauli is still standing and still serving.
What the Pub Is Today
The heritage-listed site has sat on Botany Road since 1838, and while its modest exterior has remained largely unchanged across nearly two centuries, the interior is very much a modern pub. The Cauli runs across multiple spaces, from the main bar to a sports bar with 18 screens, TAB and Rabbitohs memorabilia, to the upstairs Forgotten Cask, a rooftop rum cocktail bar with palms, a grass ceiling and a menu that leans into the Caribbean theme with jerk chicken and barramundi tacos.
Regular programming includes trivia nights, live music, a resident DJ and a full calendar of seasonal and sporting events from Melbourne Cup to AFL and NFL finals. The bistro covers pub classics alongside a broader menu that has evolved considerably from the old-man pub era, with craft beers on tap sitting alongside traditional commercial pours and a cocktail list that makes the Forgotten Cask worth a trip in its own right.
Opening hours run Monday to Tuesday 10am to 11pm, Wednesday to Saturday 10am to midnight, and Sunday 10am to 10pm.
Still the Local, After All These Years
The defining strength of the Cauliflower Hotel lies in the way the venue has continued to evolve without losing sight of its purpose. It has modernised where necessary, retained what matters, and remained a place where patrons can watch live sport, attend performances, host functions or visit midweek and feel a sense of familiarity and belonging.
For Redfern and Waterloo residents living through one of the most rapid phases of urban change this part of Sydney has ever seen, new apartment towers, the Metro, and Waterloo Estate redevelopment, the Cauli stands at its corner on Botany Road exactly where it always has. Nearly 200 years from a market gardener’s good fortune. Still open, still worth it.
The Cauliflower Hotel is located at 123 Botany Road, Waterloo. More information on events and bookings is available at their site and through VenueNow.
Published 30-March-2026
