Overview
Next time that you're keen to peer out over Brisbane from a great height, Queen's Wharf has a new view waiting for your gazing eyes 100 metres above the city, all thanks to its Sky Deck. Keen to grab a bite and a drink while you peer over the horizon? You'll find that there, too. Eager to escape your own four walls for a luxe staycation? Perched on the CBD's north bank, the just-opened patch of the River City has that taken care of as well at its five-star hotel.
Perhaps you're eager to tuck into southeast Asian dishes at Luke Nguyen's reimagined Fat Noodle, or to get a taste of Japanese fine-dining at the first outpost beyond Sydney for Sokyo? All of the above awaits also — plus much, much more — at the Queensland capital's just-launched $3.6-billion precinct between Alice, George, Queen and William streets. After years-in-the-making, the day that the city has been waiting for is here. As at Thursday, August 29, 2024, this riverside stretch has been transformed — and it has finally started opening its doors.
If it felt like this moment mightn't come over the past decade, that's understandable. There were plans to launch in 2022 and in April 2024 that clearly didn't come to fruition. While the 12-hectare precinct is now officially open, Queen's Wharf is getting up and running in stages. Accordingly, while Brissie just gained a hefty list of additions, there's still more on the way over the coming months.
Starting at the top, literally, the Sky Deck is among the first Queen's Wharf spots to welcome in patrons. The towering deck filled with restaurants and bars is launching one of its sky-high venues on opening day, with the drinks-focused Cicada Blu pouring beverages backdropped by a spectacular vista. The rest of Brisbane's rooftop bars now have some stiff competition from the openair cocktail joint, which is operating day and night, features a particular focus on sips with botanical infusions and does tunes by sunset. It also sports a lighting installation that takes its cues from cloud formations and summer storms.
For something familiar, Fat Noodle has moved from the now-closed Treasury Casino to Queen's Wharf, setting up shop in a light-filled space. And for a dining experience that was previously solely the domain of the Harbour City, Sokyo has launched under Executive Chef Alex Yu, who worked at Sydney's version for eight years from 2014 and became renowned for his fish platters featuring floral arrangements — earning the nickname "sashimi florist" for his efforts.
Cocktail bar Cherry, a Brisbane version of The Star's Sydney and Gold Coast haunts, is also part of Queen's Wharf's initial wave of openings. So is the brand-new Sports Bar, with its focus right there in its name, and 100 square metres of LED screens with stadium-style sound to back it up. The new LiveWire, which has been reborn as a live music-focused venue, is also up and running — as the dining hall-inspired Food Quarter.
For slumbering, The Star Grand Hotel will now check you in. Sat by the riverfront, the 340-room addition to Brisbane's accommodation options includes 60 suites and four penthouse suites if you're feeling particularly flush with cash.
Also part of The Star, and also open now: the Event Centre, now home to the largest hotel ballroom in Brisbane; and the Leisure Deck, aka 12,000 square metres of openair public space.
To get to Queen's Wharf from South Bank, the ribbon has been cut on the new Neville Bonner Bridge as well. It's one of three new bridges that Brisbane is gaining this year, with Breakfast Creek's new Yowoggera green bridge getting pedestrians and cyclists crossing its expanse at the beginning of 2024, and Kangaroo Point's long-awaited new green bridge set to launch before the year is out.
As years of announcements have made plain, there's plenty more that'll fill Queen's Wharf — and soon. Sky Deck's steak and seafood restaurant Aloria is due to open in the coming months, as is its casual eatery Babblers, giving visitors three options if more than the view beckons at the lofty perch.
At The Terrace, a dining precinct within The Star, the buffet of restaurants and bars opening between September–November 2024 include Italian eatery Cucina Regina, the relocated Black Hide Steak and Seafood, the Indochine-inspired Lúc Lắc, French champagne bar and restaurant Pompette, the lamb-heavy Dark Shepherd and Latin American spot Azteca.
From there, albeit without a specific timeframe, the tower with the 4.5-star Dorsett and Australia's only Rosewood hotel is also on its way, as is Brissie's first riverside bikeway cafe and a swathe of retailers in a huge new shopping precinct. More dining, such as an ice creamery, Asian cuisine and other spots themed around parts of the world, will come, too. And, so will the revitalised heritage buildings, which will feature food, beverage and retail options.
Queen's Wharf Brisbane starts opening between Alice, George, Queen and William streets in the Brisbane CBD from Thursday, August 29, 2024. Head to the precinct's website for further details.