The Great Western Hotel on Stanley Street is a Rockhampton institution dating to the 1860s. The front bar is wide-verandahed and unpretentious, serving cold beer to a mixed crowd of locals and travellers. Live music nights, particularly on weekends, are a reliable draw.
The beer garden out the back is the place to be on a hot afternoon. The Great Western is the kind of Queensland country pub that has become rare in the age of poker machines and renovations — it retains genuine character and attracts people who want a drink and good company rather than a carefully curated experience.