Melbourne's Best Restaurants Where You Can Dine at the Bar
Take a seat up front, whether you're dining solo or finally having that long-delayed catch-up.
Bar dining at Melbourne restaurants and drinking dens is on the up and up. Folks love feeling a part of the action, perching on a stool while chefs cook steaks over the flaming hot grill or bartenders shake up yet another dirty gin martini to go with your sip-and-snack session. At some places these can even be the most sought-after seats in the venue, for both solo diners and small groups of mates.
If eating and drinking at the bar is your preference, be sure to look through this extensive list of our favourite spots to do it. You'll find them everywhere, from wine bars and neighbourhood pubs to omakase fine-diners and late-night underground bars.
Recommended reads:
The Best Restaurants in Melbourne
The Best Bars in Melbourne
The Best Places for Late-Night Eats in Melbourne
The Best New Restaurant and Bar Openings for 2024
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BarBar Margaux
111 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
A CBD basement bar serving up French bistro food and cocktails until 5am.
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RestaurantDi Stasio Citta
45 Spring Street, Melbourne
Part art gallery, part Italian restaurant, this CBD is the second outpost of St Kilda's Cafe Di Stasio.
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RestaurantEtta
60 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
The team has collectively worked at Attica, Cutler & Co, The Roving Marrow and Rosetta.
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BarMorena Melbourne
71 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Alejandro Saravia is totally in his element with Morena Melbourne, masterfully executing his own take on contemporary Latin American fine-dining.
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RestaurantFrance-Soir
11 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Melbourne's quintessential French bistro with over three decades under its belt.
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BarCarlton Wine Room
172-174 Faraday Street, Carlton
Home to a food menu that changes just as frequently as the 100strong wine list.
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RestaurantBKK
270 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
HER's smoky Thai barbecue canteen is heating things up with its flame-cooked skewers, punchy laab variations and tropical cocktails.
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BarAster Cocktail & Wine
31 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne
Aster is Ferdydurke's replacement, swapping out live music for more grown-up date-night vibes.
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BarBistrot Bisou
575 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Luke Mangan is serving up classic French fare in the CBD's Hotel Indigo.
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BarOld Palm Liquor
133B Lygon Street, Brunswick East
A lush wine bar from the Neighbourhood Wine crew.
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BarPellegrini's Espresso Bar
66 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Melbourne's quintessential drop-in Italian dining institution.
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RestaurantL'Hotel Gitan
32 Commercial Road, Prahran
From Paris to Prahran, this gastropub serves up French classics alongside a few contemporary twists.
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RestaurantBansho
960 High Street, Armadale
French and Japanese cuisines cleverly combine at Armadale's outstanding fine diner.
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BarCDMX Brunswick East
315 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
It's best known for its birria tacos, but CDMX is also home to some of the best Mexican food in Melbourne.
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RestaurantAtria
650 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Be sure to take your time when visiting Atria, not just to admire the city skyline, but to fully appreciate all the skill and passion that's gone into the food and drink offerings.
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BarNeighbourhood Wine
1 Reid Street, Fitzroy North
With a history steeped in Melbourne Mafia, this wine bar brings a cosy, speakeasy-style space to Fitzroy North.
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BarThe Everleigh
Upstairs, 150-156 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
Experience the hedonistic pleasures of the 1920s in Fitzroy's hidden cocktail den.
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RestaurantRonin
445 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Like an ancient ronin samurai, Chef Patrick Kwong has no master. He's breaking the rules and doing omakase his own way.
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BarBar Liberty
234 Johnston Street, Fitzroy
This Fitzroy wine bar has quite the sense of adventure.
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RestaurantQuando Quando Cucina & Bar
377 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
It's a relatively new addition to the Melbourne Italian restaurant scene but is already one of its finest.
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BarLeonard's House of Love
3 Wilson Street, South Yarra
Drink tinnies, down burgers, dance and play pool in Leonard's lounge room-like bar.
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RestaurantMamasita
1/11 Collins Street, Melbourne
There’s a fiesta in Melbourne and everyone wants to be invited.
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RestaurantKenzan
Collins Place, 45 Collins Street, Melbourne
Several of Melbourne's best Japanese chefs owe a debt of a gratitude to Kenzan.
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RestaurantEstelle
243-245 High Street, Northcote
Celebrated chef Scott Pickett has combined Estelle Bistro and ESP to create one venue celebrating wining, dining and everything in between.
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RestaurantMr Miyagi
99 Chapel Street, Prahran
Mr Miyagi has stayed loyal to their original commitment to fun — which won them hearts in Windsor and across the river all the way back in 2013.
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RestaurantArlechin
Mornane Place, Melbourne
Grossi Florentino's basement bar is serving snacks and cocktails until 3am every night.
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RestaurantFreyja
477 Collins Street, Melbourne
A sophisticated exploration of 'new Nordic' cuisine boasting Michelin cred, where traditional techniques are cleverly fused with modern Scandi flair.
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BarBodega Underground
55 Lt Bourke Street, Melbourne
This CBD taqueria is completely gluten-free, very vegan and open till 3am every night.
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RestaurantCentral Club Hotel
240 - 248 Victoria Street, North Melbourne
Find the recently renovated pub right across the road from the Queen Vic Market.
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RestaurantFancy Hank's
79 Bourke Street, Melbourne
A two-storey barbecue joint complete with its own rooftop bar.
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RestaurantNavi
83b Gamon Street, Yarraville
An innovative 25-seat fine diner from an acclaimed chef, nestled in the heart of Yarraville.
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RestaurantIma Asa Yoru
1 Duckett Street, Brunswick
A Brunswick cafe serving up Japanese breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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RestaurantSunda
18 Punch Lane, Melbourne
Where Southeast Asian flavours meet native Australian ingredients.
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BarBar Romantica
54 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
A Lygon Street institution has been transformed into a sleek late-night Italian bar and eatery.
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RestaurantKisumé
175 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Chris Lucas's three storeys of Japanese grandeur in the heart of Melbourne.
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RestaurantMatilda
159 Domain Road, South Yarra
Restaurateur Scott Pickett's new sprawling restaurant is an ode to Australia.
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RestaurantHorn Please
167 Saint Georges Road, Fitzroy North
Rule-breaking Indian fare in North Fitzroy.
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RestaurantLeonardo's Pizza Palace
29 Grattan Street, Carlton
Carlton's palatial home of Italo-American pizza and pasta from the team behind Leonard's House of Love.
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BarPepe's Italian & Liquor
275 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
You'll find cheesy bowls of gnocchi, meatball pizza and giant sundaes at this 1930s New York-Inspired Italo-American joint on Exhibition Street.
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BarLilac Wine
31 Stephenson Street, Cremorne
The Mulberry Group has transformed a lofty Cremorne warehouse into a cosy wine bar slinging wood-fired eats and interesting vino.
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RestaurantHazel
164 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
From the minds behind Liminal and Common Ground Project comes this after-work go-to for cocktails and clever contemporary bites.
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RestaurantNeptune
212 High Street, Windsor
The Windsor restaurant has gone back to its roots, serving up stacks of seafood and Mediterranean eats.
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RestaurantFirebird
223 High Street, Prahran
Prahran's flame-driven Vietnamese restaurant from the Hanoi Hannah team offers smoke aplenty, across both the food menu and cocktail list.
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RestaurantChancery Lane
430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Roll in for caviar, dry-aged duck burgers and a decadent lemon and rum baba.
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RestaurantAru Restaurant
268 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
This considered offering heroes cooking techniques from eras past and a surprising fusion of flavours.
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RestaurantGrill Americano
112 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Chris Lucas' dapper steakhouse celebrates Northern Italian flavours and old-school hospitality with a generous side of modern elegance.
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RestaurantNomad Melbourne
187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Sydney's much-loved Mediterranean restaurant Nomad has landed on Flinders Lane with its first Melbourne outpost, celebrating local produce and wine.
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BarEnoteca Boccaccio
1046 Burke Road, Balwyn
Aussie and Italian produce are on full display here — be it in the glass-walled cheese room, wine fridges, or the European eats coming out of the open kitchen.
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BarThe Gertrude Hotel
148 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
The Fitzroy corner site has been reborn once again — this time as a Med-inspired bar and bistro.
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RestaurantVictoria by Farmer's Daughters
2 Swanston Street, Melbourne
A love letter to the people and produce of Victoria's diverse regions, featuring a 3000-bottle wine library and a rotating 'region in residence' menu.
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RestaurantStokehouse Pasta & Bar
30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda
A breezy all-day spot for Mediterranean eats and beachside spritzes, in an iconic St Kilda site.
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BarThe Orrong Hotel
709 High Street, Armadale
Go glam or keep it simple. The choice is all yours at this classic gastropub.
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RestaurantTartine
105 Swan Street, Richmond
An earnestly and effortlessly Parisian-style restaurant.
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RestaurantVictor Churchill
953 High Street, Armadale
This glam butcher will do more than 'meat' your expectations.
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RestaurantLagoon Dining
263 Lygon Street, Carlton
You'll find popcorn chicken and umeshu spritzes at this sleek Lygon Street spot.
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RestaurantAkaiito Restaurant
349-351 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Home to excellent a la carte Japanese eats, omakase experiences and a private dining room with immersive visual projections.
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RestaurantCasa Chino
212-214 Albion Street, Brunswick
Hospo veterans Vincent Lombino and Jared Thibault have brought Chifa cuisine to Melbourne.
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RestaurantToken
151 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Get around great sashimi and temaki from the raw bar and flame-kissed Japanese eats from the yakitori grill.
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RestaurantYakimono
80 Collins Street, Melbourne
This colourful Chris Lucas venture features a futuristic aesthetic and a menu filled with Japanese street food that's cooked over flames.
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RestaurantBang Bang Hampton
315 Hampton Street, Hampton
This outpost is cooking up a fusion of Southeast Asian, Japanese, Korean and Indian eats.
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RestaurantMensho Tokyo Ramen Melbourne
166 Russell Street, Melbourne
Thankfully, you'll no longer need to wait two hours in the cold when lining up for some of Melbourne's best ramen.
Top image: Neighbourhood Wine.