View source for Hole in the Wall, Sliema

[[File:Holeinthewall.jpg|thumb|A pic of the Hole in the wall, Sliema, from the outside]]
The '''Hole in the Wall''' is a restaurant and bar located in [[Sliema]], [[Malta]].<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07/><ref name=lovinmalta2016-12-06/><ref name=myguidemalta/> 

According to ''[[The Times of Malta]]'' it is the oldest bar in Sliema.<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07/>  ''[[Loving Malta]]'' merely calls it one of the oldest.  According to the bar's web-site it was originally a stables, and was turned into a bar in 1922.<ref name=HoleInTheWall/>  The website notes ''"At the time, it was literally a hole in the wall, with no seating & selling take-away wine from huge vats."''

Originally the owners sold wine from vats, to offduty airmen and soldiers, who referred to the then unnamed venue as ''"the hole in the wall"''.<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07/>

From 1959 to 2005 the bar was owned and operated by Anthony Bartolo and his sons.<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07/>  The Bartolos were from a family that specialized in food and catering, and the family owned several restaurants, including one next door.  According to ''The Times of Malta'', subsequent owners made bad management decisions, and the venue was in decline.

Ian Schranz described the bar, when he bought it, as a sports bar, where male patrons arrived in a group, to watch sporting events on TV, got loudly drunk, and hooted and hollered at women passing on the street.<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07/><ref name=maltatoday2019-06-11/>  Schranz described some of the steps he and his brother and co-owner took to attract a different clientele, starting with no longer tuning in to sporting events.

Schranz, an indie rock musician, says they bought the bar on a dare, and had to spend their first six months learning how bars operate.<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07/><ref name=maltatoday2019-06-11/>

When ''The Times of Malta'' reported that the government of Malta had shut down all pubs and restaurants as a precaution arising from the spread of the [[Covid 19 virus]] it noted that The Hole in the Wall had already shut down, due to the downturn in business due to the virus.<ref name=TimesOfMalta2020-03-22/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs= 
<ref name=myguidemalta>
{{cite web  
| url         = https://www.myguidemalta.com/nightlife/hole-in-the-wall-bar
| title       = Hole in the Wall Bar
| work        = [[My Guide Malta]]
| author      = 
| date        = 
| trans-title = 
| archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20210125165054/https://www.myguidemalta.com/nightlife/hole-in-the-wall-bar
| archivedate = 2021-01-25
| accessdate  = 2021-01-25
| url-status  = live      
| quote       = The Hole in the Wall pub has been around for over 90 years. It was originally used as stables owned by Miss Antoinette Ganado who sold it as a pub to its very first owner, Manuel Scicluna. At the time, it was literally a hole in the wall with no seating space selling take-away wine from huge vats. 
}}
</ref>

<ref name=maltatoday2019-06-11>
{{cite news     
| url         = https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/lifestyle/question_and_answer/95558/ian_schranz_i_cry_all_the_time_probably_watching_moana_or_frozen#.YA8CJPHYrrd
| title       = Ian Schranz: ‘I cry all the time. Probably watching Moana or Frozen’
| work        = [[Malta Today]]
| author      = Maria Pace
| date        = 2019-06-11
| page        = 
| location    = 
| isbn        = 
| language    = 
| trans-title = 
| archiveurl  = 
| archivedate = 
| accessdate  = 2021-01-25
| url-status  = live      
| quote       = Fatherhood, music, and owning the iconic Hole In The Wall pub in Sliema – Beangrowers drummer and Bark Bark Disco singer-songwriter Ian Schranz tells all in the Q&A
}}
</ref>

<ref name=TimesOfMalta2018-02-07>
{{cite news     
| url         = https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/another-drink-in-the-wall-sliemas-oldest-bar.670017?fbclid=IwAR2fC5ytLu7AbD26d4DGM4lzfENYIyeDW8GW0cZtU6es_w_sHynkEWWPKy0
| title       = Another Drink in the Wall : Sliema's Oldest Bar
| work        = [[Times_of_Malta]]
| author      = 
| date        = 2021-01-04
| archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20210110021022/https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/another-drink-in-the-wall-sliemas-oldest-bar.670017
| archivedate = 2021-01-10
| accessdate  = 2021-01-25
| url-status  = live
| quote       = Despite its blink-and-you-miss-it exterior, the Hole In The Wall – the oldest pub and bar in Sliema – is now a revelatory Diagon Alley inside.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=lovinmalta2016-12-06>
{{cite news     
| url         = https://lovinmalta.com/food/one-of-the-oldest-pubs-in-sliema-is-now-its-newest/
| title       = One Of Sliema’s Oldest Pubs Is Now Its Newest!
| work        = [[Loving Malta]]
| author      = David Grech Urpani
| date        = 2016-12-06
| page        = 
| location    = 
| isbn        = 
| language    = 
| trans-title = 
| archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20210125164417/https://lovinmalta.com/food/one-of-the-oldest-pubs-in-sliema-is-now-its-newest/
| archivedate = 2021-01-25
| accessdate  = 2021-01-25
| url-status  = live      
| quote       = 
}}
</ref>

<ref name=HoleInTheWall>
{{cite web    
| url         = https://holeinthewall.com.mt/
| title       = Hole In The Wall, 1922: the story of the oldest bar in Sliema
| work        = 
| author      = 
| date        = 
| page        = 
| location    = 
| isbn        = 
| language    = 
| trans-title = 
| archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20201128000004/https://holeinthewall.com.mt/
| archivedate = 2020-11-28
| accessdate  = 2021-01-25
| url-status  = live
| quote       = 
}}
</ref>

<ref name=TimesOfMalta2020-03-22>
{{cite news     
| url         = https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/events-cancelled-whats-on-actually-not-much-right-now.780029
| title       = How coronavirus cancellations have hit the entertainment industry
| work        = [[Times_of_Malta]]
| author      = Laura Swale
| date        = 2020-03-22
| archiveurl  = 
| archivedate = 
| accessdate  = 2021-01-25
| url-status  = live
| quote       = This week, the government announced that all bars, restaurants and clubs would close. Even before this latest development, Sliema’s live music venue Hole in the Wall had already announced a temporary closure in light of the nature of its business “which brings people together and exposes our staff to hundreds of people on a daily basis”, and Hugo’s had already taken the decision to close its pubs, restaurants and bars in Paceville.
}}
</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [https://www.lonelyplanet.com/malta/sliema-around/nightlife/hole-in-the-wall/a/poi-dri/1594820/1340962 Lonely Planet]
* [https://lovinmalta.com/food/7-awesome-new-bars-to-check-out-in-malta-in-2017/?fbclid=IwAR0Q1z_uCD_1l7iXzpdZdHyT_JDOyUZkwCl7zHAzwo2Y93DxG-QkvfuPZxw Lovin Malta]

[[Category:Bars]]