After-Work Drink Spots to Meet Your Friends and Wind Down the Day
Wine bars, rooftop haunts and afternoon pours across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne worth heading to straight from the office — work clothes and all.
Last emails sent, laptop shut, but the group chat's already collapsing into "idk, wherever's easiest." We can do better. There's a 140-year-old office block in Brisbane CBD that's freshly painted in 1,110 different hues. There's a room in Newtown where the drinks list is sake — 65 of them — and the soundtrack is vinyl, not whatever the algorithm has selected. There's a 50-year-old café in Kings Cross pouring vermouth straight from the tap, under a painting where the original owner swapped her husband's face onto a Spanish count. And in Fitzroy North, five friends who used to work the floor at Embla and Bar Liberty are pouring natural wine in a courtyard that holds onto the last of the sun.
So whether you find these spots within walking distance of the office, or if they call for a short Uber on the company card, we promise these spots meet all the requirements for a knock-off. Presented by Honda ZR-V, this guide is your cue to take ownership of the group chat debate — whether that's an old colleague for a catch-up, or the whole team for the weekly debrief.
After-Work Drink Spots to Meet Your Friends and Wind Down the Day
Breakfasts That Make an Early Alarm Feel Completely Reasonable
Cheap Eats That Over-Deliver On Their Modest Price Tag
In partnership with
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RestaurantBar Copains
67 Albion Street, Surry Hills
This small Surry Hills wine bar in Sydney trades big groups for lingering one-on-one over shared plates and natural wine.
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BarBar Hernandez
60 Kings Cross Road, Potts Point
In Sydney’s Kings Cross, vermouth and sherry pour straight from the tap for an easy, low-key wind-down.
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BarDear Sainte Éloise
5/29 Orwell Street, Potts Point
On a Potts Point laneway in Sydney, this copper-lined wine bar is made for watching the room over a glass with a friend.
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BarLetra House
344 Kent Street, Sydney
Sydney’s underground answer to Spain’s tapas bars stays open late enough to cover you if after-work drinks run into dinner.
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BarKahii Kissaten
364 Kent Street, Sydney
This Sydney cafe quietly becomes a French wine and cocktail bar by evening, an easy shift from coffee catch-up to after-work drink.
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BarBar Miette
443 Queen Street, Brisbane City
This riverside terrace and wine bar in Brisbane city pours martinis from 11.30am for the during- and after-work crowd.
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BarNaldham House Brasserie & Terrace
33 Felix Street, Brisbane City
This heritage Brisbane brasserie, with its 28-page drinks list and pianist on the grand, turns an after-work drink into an occasion.
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BarRothwell's Bar & Grill
235 Edward Street, Brisbane City
Tucked into a 136-year-old Brisbane building, Rothwell’s compact Foyer Bar is built for a quick, polished martini before heading home.
This guide was produced in partnership with Honda ZR-V. To learn more about the ultimate car for urban discovery, click here.