The Rag & Famish Hotel is a historic pub located in North Sydney, a smaller central business district on Sydney’s Lower North Shore. The hotel originally opened in 1860 and is the oldest and arguably most famous pub on the lower north shore.  

Upon opening, the pub was originally known as the Sailor’s Return until it was purchased by Charles Bullivant in 1866. Under his ownership, the former English soldier, turned publican, would change the name of pub the Rag & Famish Hotel.

In 1890, bushfires in the then rural North Sydney area destroyed much of the original hotel structure until it was rebuilt and reopened in 1892 as the North Shore Hotel. The pub became the North Star Hotel in the 1920s when purchased by brewer Tooth & Co. before reverting to its original name in the 1970s under new ownership.

As much of the area surrounding the hotel would change drastically over the next 160 years, the Rag & Famish Hotel has managed to stay true to its roots. The interior of the pub is classic old school Sydney full of timeless turn of the century colonial appointments that honour the venues long history.