Damien Kelly grew up in pubs and feels right at home at The Hotel Metropolitan on Grote Street.

He has been a co-owner of The Metro since September 2008 and prior to that he and his brother Jason owned the Prince Albert Hotel in nearby Wright Street for eight years.

But back to the beginning, "baby" Damien grew up at the Belalie Hotel, Jamestown in the late 70s and then moved to various other Hotels and hospitality venues around South Australia.

“As a chef I love working near the Market and enjoying the fresh produce and I think that the Metro food reflects that”, Damien says. “We have a great relationship with so many stallholders who supply us and even those that don't, particularly O'Connell's butchers. Tony and Ben are always looking out for interesting cuts to challenge us."

"We have a great regular clientele during the lunch period, great characters and plenty of banter between customers who work and a wide range of businesses. Seeing those different people mix with each other and us is a great feeling and something that we are very proud."

"I would love to let a few stories out the bag about these people but I wouldn't want to single any one out”.

Damien believes that the position of the Metro is crucial to it being accessible to a wide range of customers.  The staff certainly make an effort to treat every single person the same no matter if they be a banker or a ditch digger.

The Hotel Metropolitan has an extensive live, original local music program that showcases great young talent five nights a week. Opening at 8am and closing as late as 4am means they see so many different demographics that all seem to embrace the inclusive atmosphere at The Metro.