During his 16 years of serving some of the citys most colourful characters, The Gravy Spots David Bending has seen it all.

While the infamous combination of chips, cheese and gravy has always been the primary attraction to the Lydiard Street venue in the wee hours of the morning, it was the addition of an interactive element in 2006 which really helped to develop the eaterys cult status.

For almost 10 years the photos which lined The Gravy Spot walls provided plenty of laughs and as customers, often in various states of undress, clamored for a spot in front of the camera.

Mr Bending said while the creation of the photo wall was initially a clever way of keeping hungry, impatient patrons entertained, it quickly turned into one of the venues most identifiable features.

While your waiting in the queue and waiting to be served it gave you something to look at, and there was always plenty of interest photos on the wall, Mr Bending said.

In July 2015 Mr Bending made the unexpected decision to open the late night haunt as a sandwich bar during the day, conducting a major refurbishment of the narrow shopfront in the process and in turn removing the photos.

While these iconic pictures have sat dormant for more than a year now, The Courier has gained access to the collection which documents the colour of a decade of Ballarat nightlife.