The Kilkivan Hotel-Motel, a two storey timber pub painted terracotta pink with a wrap around verandah

Kilkivan, Queensland

The pink pub in the middle of town.

Cold beer, a proper feed seven days, a big shady garden the dog is welcome in, and a bed upstairs if the drive can wait until morning. Pull up on Bligh Street.

Call 0447 872 028Rooms for the night
On Google
4.4from 360 reviews
Kitchen
Seven days
Standing here since
1923
Cold beer on tapMeals seven daysBeer gardenDogs welcomeMotel roomsBottle shopPool and dartsGaming roomLaundromatATM and EFTPOSTakeawayLive music
Cold beer on tapMeals seven daysBeer gardenDogs welcomeMotel roomsBottle shopPool and dartsGaming roomLaundromatATM and EFTPOSTakeawayLive music

A hundred and a bit years on

A publican's dream, in a town that already knew them.

There has been a pub on this corner since the gold rush days. The one standing now went up in 1923, rebuilt on the same ground after fire took the old Federal Hotel the year before. It has been serving the town ever since, under a long line of names on the licence.

The latest is John Panetta. He and his wife Karen took the keys on the 14th of June 2022, after years running the Glen Echo dirt bike and camping park down the road. They sold the park to do it. Their daughters Maddi and Leah are in it with them, and their son Jackson runs Kilkivan Small Engines across the street.

“It had always been a dream of mine to own a country pub. Now the kids are a bit older, the timing was right for us to give this a go, and we knew how great the Kilkivan community was so it made it a really easy decision for us.”John Panetta, speaking to Queensland Country Life

They did not do it by halves either. The family moved out of a property forty kilometres away and into the top floor, so the people running the pub are the people living above it.

A roast dinner plated up at the Kilkivan Hotel, roast meat with gravy, sweet potato and garden vegetables

The kitchen runs seven days

Big plates, gravy in a jug, and vegetables that were not an afterthought.

Bar and kitchen

Beer that is actually cold, and a board that changes.

XXXX Gold and Bitter, VB and Hahn on tap, a full back bar, and a bottle shop on the corner if you would rather take it with you. The kitchen does counter meals in the bar and proper sit-down meals in the dining room, and there is takeaway if you are pushing on down the highway.

Up on the board

A roast of the day, a curry of the day, a fish of the day and a pie of the day, chalked up fresh behind the bar. Ask what is on, it moves.

Pub classics

Steaks and schnitzels, fish and chips, burgers and rissoles. Regulars rate the seafood platter and the beef cheeks.

The Mates Plate

A sharing plate for the table, meant for a few of you and a few rounds. It is the one the group orders.

Takeaway

Express takeaway for anyone on the road. Call ahead on the way into town and it will be waiting.

Bottle shop

The Bottler on the corner of the building, for the drive home or the camp across the road.

The dining room

A separate country dining room off the bar, blue walls and lace curtains, for when you want the quiet end.

The public bar at the Kilkivan Hotel, timber bar top, taps and the back bar with the footy on

“Food was excellent, big plates great taste and good value for money.”

Gerry Buitendag, on Google

Ring through a table or a takeaway
The beer garden at the Kilkivan Hotel, shade sails and bunting over timber tables

Out the back

Old iron, log posts and room to sit all afternoon.

Shade sails and string lights, two pool tables, darts, a video jukebox and the footy on. Saddles and old spanners on the walls, because somebody put them there and nobody has ever had a reason to take them down.

Dogs are welcome

The garden is open air and pet friendly, so the dog comes in and sits under the table with everyone else.

Live music

John brought bands back into the beer garden when the family took over, and has kept acts coming through since.

Pool, darts and the jukebox

Two tables, a dartboard, and a video jukebox that will take requests all night if you let it.

A twin room at the Kilkivan Hotel-Motel, cane bedheads and a bedside table

Staying the night

Stop here rather than push on in the dark.

There are motel rooms, rooms upstairs in the old hotel, and self-contained units. The family has been working through the upstairs rooms since they took over and has been adding to the units. Ring and tell us how many of you there are and what you need, and we will sort out which room suits.

  • Motel roomsGround level, park at the door.
  • Rooms upstairsIn the 1923 building itself, off the wrap around verandah.
  • Self-contained unitsFor longer stays or a bit more space.
  • Laundromat on siteHandy if you have been on the road a while.
Ask about a room

Passing through

Half an hour out of Gympie, and worth the stop.

Kilkivan sits on the Wide Bay Highway in old gold and copper country. There is a free camp directly across the road from the pub, so plenty of people pull the van up, wander over for a feed and a cold one, and use the laundromat while they are at it.

Caravans, bikes, work utes and anyone who has been driving too long. There is room out front and nobody minds where you park.

Caravans and four wheel drives parked at the free camp opposite the Kilkivan Hotel

What people say

Three hundred and sixty reviews, in a town this size.

4.4 average on Google

“Quirky pub in a very small town. One of the best small town pubs I've been to. Very interesting pictures and atmosphere, nice outdoor area. Food was excellent, big plates great taste and good value for money. Staff were very friendly.”

Gerry Buitendag/June 2026

“Fantastic! Food was delicious, service was great and friendly environment to enjoy our meals. Our family had a great experience all around. The ladies behind the counter couldn't have been more kind or welcoming, we can't wait to return.”

Leslie O'Dwyer/December 2025

“Great old pub! Very clean, friendly staff & seafood platter delicious! Food served quickly & cold beers to quench the thirst. Stayed in the free camp opposite! Kilkivan Pub a must”

Jan Newcomb/February 2026

“Does not have accessible bathroom but otherwise quite wheelchair accessible - including pool tables. Awesome atmosphere and food - will definitely be back.”

Amber Furlong/July 2026

The town's pub

Brands burnt into the bar, money back into the town.

One of John's ideas was to get the local graziers to bring their branding irons down and burn their marks into a slab of timber for the wall, forty dollars a brand, with the money going to the newly formed Kilkivan State School cattle team. Around fifty brands were committed before the day even started. There was already an older slab on the wall from more than twenty years back, so the new one carries on from it.

The pub keeps raising money through the year for Kilkivan and District Community Care, who named the hotel and its staff in their 2025 report for doing it again.

Around the place

Have a look before you get here.

The front of the Kilkivan Hotel-Motel on Bligh Street in the morning sun
The beer garden by day, pool table under the awning and a saddle on the rail
The dining room, blue walls and lace curtains, tables set for a meal
A corner of the garden, old spanners hung on corrugated iron above a gingham table

Find us

Middle of Bligh Street. You cannot miss it.

Phone
0447 872 028
Best for a table, a takeaway or a room.
Email
party@kilkivanhotel.com
Functions, group bookings and anything that needs planning.
Open
Bar, kitchen and rooms, seven days a week.
Give us a ring for today's hours, and for later hours if you have a group coming.
Call the pubEmail us

On the Wide Bay Highway between Gympie and Goomeri, about thirty minutes from Gympie. The free camp is directly opposite.

Call 0447 872 028Map