Dine BNE City

Overview

Consider Dine BNE City the festival that does both: kicking off winter, it gets Brisbanites eating and sipping out of the house, patronising the River City's restaurants and bars; it also serves up wallet-friendly deals that let you wine and dine without busting your budget. Luxe experiences are equally on the menu at this month-long event, but snapping up a special for lunch, dinner or drinks is the main attraction. For 2025, it's back for the entirety of June again, although it officially starts on Friday, May 30 with annual outdoor feast Fireside at St Stephen's Cathedral.

This year's launch event will again combine openair dining — with dishes on offer from Dark Shepherd, Naldham House's The Brasserie and The Fifty Six, plus Doughcraft and Walter's Steakhouse; the drinks come courtesy of Club Felix — with entertainment under the stars. Expect to tuck into prawn saganaki, lamb souvlaki, baked Queensland blue swimmer crab and sweet treats from the crumble station, as soundtracked by DJs and live music.

That's how Dine BNE City is beginning for 2025. Returning for the fifth time after initially starting in 2021 when Brisbane's dining scene was struggling through the early part of the pandemic, the festival's latest lineup spans more special events, plus reasons to make plans for every lunchtime, after-work drinks and dinner across the month. In the first category, the Urban Wine Walk is strolling around the CBD, Tillerman is doing banquet lunches, Gather Bistro is putting on Friday-night parties, and Naldham House has everything from five-course truffle dinners to high tea and bubbles on its itinerary.

If lunch is your favourite meal of the day, the Let's Do Lunch program features specials for $25 and $35. The first price point includes two courses with a drink at Cheeky Poke, a BLT and a beer at Santa Monica, pinza and beer at Doughcraft, a burger and beer at Gather Bistro, and either slow-braised pork belly or golden skin chicken at New Shanghai, among other options. The second expands your picks to gnocchi at overwater restaurant Stilts, a Japanese set menu at Tenya, one of three mains choices at Brisbane Phoenix, the same with French-inspired Vietnamese at Longwang, chicken or beef shawarma at Little Miss Sunshine, and steak and salad at The Walnut, to name just a few deals.

For dinner, prices vary — but you could be sharing paella at Mulga Bill's, also getting communal at Babylon Brisbane, tucking into a Donna Chang mini banquet, enjoying Boom Boom Room's yakitori showcase, digging into Harajuku Gyoza's salaryman banquet and seeing how much you can handle at Navala Churrascaria's all-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ experience. A tasting menu at The Lex, Matt Moran's slow-roast lamb shoulder at Riverbar & Kitchen, $30 lobster brioche with bubbles at Hibiscus Bar & Terrace: add them to your list as well.

Or, make the most of the city's after-work bar scene, including for bao and beverages at Luc Lac, wagyu beef sandos with Moscow mules at The Charles, skewer platters and umeshu at Bar 1603, a French spread with bubbles at Pompette, oysters and champagne at Rothwell's, and spritzes and charcuterie at Blackbird.