Pony Up friends, it’s time for more fun in the city

Posted on 23 September, 2026

The space formerly home to Bada Bing Dining Club has been transformed into a 200-capacity ground-floor extension of Fun Time Pony, complete with DJs, a photobooth and plenty of late-night chaos.

Pony Up, the brand-new ground-floor extension of Fun Time Pony in the Sydney Building, will bring smash burgers, share plates, boozy milkshakes and cold beers to the heart of the city.

Think of it as the same Fun Time Pony energy – just one floor up. While the underground venue has become known for its late-night gigs, DJs, comedy and pizza, Pony Up is designed as the place to meet before the show, refuel afterwards, or settle in with a group between whatever else the night has planned.

The new venue will have its own distinct personality, with graffiti, posters on the walls, a photo wall, booths, high tables and a small stage big enough for great acts. There will also be a photobooth, because if a night out in the city happens and there isn’t a slightly chaotic strip of photos to prove it, did it really happen?

On the menu, expect Fun Time Pony’s signature smash burgers alongside Oklahoma burgers, jalapeño poppers, mozzarella sticks, sticky wings and frickles, and deep-fried pickles served with ranch. Old-school desserts include banana splits and deep-fried ice cream. It makes for an easy, high-energy line-up perfect for groups, gig-goers and anyone looking for a casual city feed with a bit of attitude.

Capacity-wise, Pony Up will hold 200 people on its own, expanding to 500 when combined with Fun Time Pony downstairs – giving the Alinga Street precinct an even bigger footprint for food, drinks, music and late-night fun.

It marks another evolution for the site, which opened as Bada Bing Dining Club in 2023 as part of Rabble Group’s wider refresh of the Alinga Street precinct. Rabble Group is the independent hospitality group behind Assembly, Corella, and Al’s Deli.

Now, the former Italian dining room is making way for something a little louder, looser and more Pony-coded.

So giddy up, Canberra – the new Pony is arriving in town on 26 September and the opening is going to be hectic!