Functions & Events · Howard Smith Wharves
A Waterfront Venue Worth Gathering For
Stanley is a two-storey heritage Cantonese restaurant on the Brisbane River, with five distinct event spaces, Story Bridge views and share-style banquets built for a room. From an intimate boardroom lunch to a 310-guest celebration, we host it in full.
Why Stanley
The Setting Does the Talking
A great event needs a setting that impresses the moment guests walk in. Stanley gives you that at the door: heritage interiors of parquetry, rich fabric and lantern light, wrapped around uninterrupted views of the Brisbane River and Story Bridge.
Set in the 1931 Howard Smith building, Stanley pairs that setting with genuine Cantonese cooking from Head Chef Louis Tikaram, served share-style so the table stays social. It is one venue that flexes from a private boardroom lunch to a full-floor gala, with a dedicated events team looking after every detail.
- Direct Story Bridge and river views from the front deck
- Share-style banquets that keep a room talking, not seated in silence
- One events team from first enquiry to last guest
Great food, friends, fishermen & farmers.
The Spaces
Five Ways to Host
Each space stands on its own or combines with the next. Exclusive-use areas are subject to a minimum catering spend, which our team will confirm with your enquiry.
Front Deck
Runs parallel with the Brisbane River for panoramic Story Bridge views, with retractable awnings and flexible seating for events of any style.
Entire Side Deck
Combines the upper and lower levels with a private bar, a retractable roof and Story Bridge views. A semi-private option that still feels like your own.
Downstairs Dining Room
Ambient and semi-secluded, with luxurious furnishings and watercolour murals. Suited to seated banquets, corporate dinners and milestone celebrations.
Stan's Lounge
An upstairs cocktail lounge for exclusive hire, available for a lunch or early-evening sitting, seven days. Intimate, elevated and entirely yours.
Exclusive Full Venue Hire
Take over every downstairs area of the heritage waterfront venue for a gala, launch or wedding, with Stan's Lounge running independently upstairs. The largest, most complete way to host at Stanley.
What's Included
Everything a Room Needs
Real Cantonese cooking, a proper cellar and a team that runs the day so you do not have to.
Share-Style Banquets
Four banquet menus served to share, from the $65pp Lunch Banquet through Chef Louis' Signature at $128pp to the $250pp Indulgence, all built around premium Queensland seafood.
Two Working Kitchens
Dedicated BBQ and dim sum kitchens mean the menu keeps its quality at volume, from a plated dinner to a flowing cocktail event.
A 400-Bottle Cellar
A curated wine list and full beverage packages, matched to your menu by a team that knows the cellar top to bottom.
Retractable Awnings & Bars
Retractable awnings and roofing across the decks, plus private bars in select spaces, so the weather never runs your event.
A Dedicated Events Team
One point of contact from first enquiry through to the night itself, coordinating menu, floor plan, timings and styling.
A Landmark Location
Howard Smith Wharves on the CBD riverfront: walkable, memorable and impossible for a competitor to match on setting.
Occasions
For the Occasions That Matter
Corporate Events
Client dinners, product launches, end-of-year parties and board lunches, hosted with the polish your name calls for.
Private Celebrations
Milestone birthdays, engagements and anniversaries around a share table, with the river as your backdrop.
Group Dining
Groups from a handful to sixteen can book banquets online, with larger tables arranged through our events team.
The Venue
Heritage, Reimagined on the River
Stanley takes its name from Hong Kong's Stanley Bay and its home from the heritage-listed 1931 Howard Smith building, once the offices of Howard Smith Ltd and the water police.
Head Chef Louis Tikaram returned to Australia after five years leading EP & LP in West Hollywood, bringing Cantonese technique shaped by his Fijian-Chinese heritage and kitchens around the world. Owner Jonathan Barthelmess, also behind Apollo and Greca, built Stanley as Brisbane's answer to the great waterfront dining rooms. Interiors by Fellow Interiors layer parquetry, rich fabrics and lantern light across two levels.
It is a setting with a story, which is exactly what makes it a venue guests remember.
Good to Know
Functions FAQ
From intimate groups through to 220 seated or 310 for a standing cocktail event across the full venue. Individual spaces range from 60 seated on the side deck to 90 seated and 140 cocktail on the front deck. Tell us your numbers and we will match you to the right space.
Share-style banquet menus run from $65 per person for the Lunch Banquet, up to $128 for Chef Louis' Signature and $250 for the Indulgence banquet. Exclusive-use spaces are subject to a minimum catering spend rather than a room-hire fee, which varies by space, day and time. Our events team will confirm the exact figure for your date when you enquire.
Yes. The downstairs dining room and side deck are well suited to client dinners, launches and end-of-year functions, while full venue hire handles larger conferences and galas. Private bars, retractable roofing and a dedicated events contact make it straightforward to run a professional event.
Groups of up to sixteen can book a banquet online without exclusive hire. For larger group dining, or to hold a space exclusively, send an enquiry and our team will arrange the menu and seating with you.
A member of the Stanley events team will be in touch to talk through your date, guest numbers and the spaces that fit, then send menus and confirm the minimum spend. You can also request the full functions and events kit from the enquiry page.
Enquire
Let's Plan Your Event
Tell us the occasion, your guest numbers and your preferred date. The Stanley events team will come back with the right space, menus and everything you need to lock it in.