The familiar corner building on Liverpool Street in Darlinghurst, which has been the home of the popular Bills cafe for nearly three decades, has been sold for $4.2 million to a private buyer during an auction.
Spread out across 234 square metres, the white building with pretty terrace windows also holds the office of the Bills team, as well as seven boarding houses on the second level.
Bill Granger, the restaurateur and bestselling cookbook author, was said to be present during the auction of the Liverpool Street site held in the last week of May 2021. However, it’s unclear if he was involved or participated in the bidding.
At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Bills temporarily shut down trading for several months and re-opened later in the year. The perennially busy restaurant also re-signed another five-year lease on the landmark site but the landlords have decided to sell the property.
Granger was only 22 years old when he opened Bills in this same Darlinghurst location in 1993, which soon became known for its avocado on toast and ricotta hotcakes paired silky smooth scrambled eggs, as well as its cosy communal seats.
Since then, Granger has expanded his popular restaurant into nearby Surry Hills, as well as Bondi and Double Bay. Now mostly based in the U.K., the restaurateur has outlets in Tokyo, Seoul, and his second home in London.