The 35 Best Bars in Melbourne's CBD

Aussie hospo mainstay Maurice Terzini (Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, RE and Jackson on George) teamed up with Joe Jones to open this sleek new bar in Melbourne’s CBD at the end of 2023. The duo took over the underground space at Queens and Collins — where Reine & La Rue recently opened to huge acclaim — and are serving up some pretty damn good cocktails.

Each of Jones’ creations is next-level, but we have been enamoured by his martinis ever since Purple Pit opened. We frequently head straight here for a dirty gin variety when in the CBD. It’s got to be Melbourne’s best. But there is a lot more to Purple Pit than its martinis. Here, an extensive selection of Euro-centric cocktails and aperitivo-style bites are served in a lavish brutalist space where post-punk tunes roar late into the night.

Everyone loves a hero. Some people even hold out for one. And this bar and restaurant is a true Melbourne hero, pumping out Asian-fusion eats, part vibes and cocktails for days. It’s also got a sun-soaked rooftop and hosts regular open-mic karaoke nights.

The latter means it can get a little rowdy on the second floor, where the stage gets swarmed by hen’s parties and the like. But there are five floors of fun at this CBD bar and restaurant, so you’ll likely find a corner that works just right for the vibe you’re seeking.

Melbourne added to its ever-growing collection of basement drinking dens with the arrival of The Mulberry Group’s Dessous. Gracing the Flinders Lane space beneath sibling Hazel in the T&G Building, Dessous is one of the city’s finest hideaway wine bars.

Dessous is a warm and moody assembly of deep greens, plush velvet and dark timber — a comfy, subterranean escape you’ll be in no rush to leave. The food menu consists of a few light bites and sharing plates, while the drinks menu is truly stacked. Get around the mighty big international wine list, or opt for some stellar signature cocktails.

Image: Jana Langhorst

Centre Place, just down the road from Degraves Street, is best known for its small cafes and takeaway lunch spots. But it’s also home to one of the best Melbourne CBD bars, Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a laidback drinking den hidden up a flight of stairs towards the top end of the street and is easy to miss if you’re not paying attention.

It feels like an old-school European bar, decked out with a mishmash of mid-century furniture that could probably do with a little love. But this Melbourne CBD bar isn’t trying to be glam. Its crew greets regulars with genuine care and serves up decent cocktails, beers and wines. If you’re after a chill spot to drink in the city centre, this is it.

For lovers of sound and great cocktails, the most exciting offering of the four-storey mega-venue HER (from the Arbory and Arbory Afloat team) is Music Room. Up at this hidden Melbourne CBD bar, you’ll find yourself sipping mandarin Cosmopolitans, Golden Gay Time milk punch or perhaps something from the bumper lineup of champagne as you kick back to exclusive DJ residencies and HER’s 3000-strong collection of hard-to-find vinyl.

The space itself is lined with American walnut panels, dotted with small holes to give the feel that you’re inside a giant speaker box. You even enter the venue through a sound-locked room that’s pretty easy to miss — these guys take acoustic fidelity very seriously.

Image: Parker Blain

After having called AC/DC Lane home for twenty years, in 2019, legendary rock haunt Cherry Bar was forced to close up shop, but grit and determination saw the iconic venue live on at Little Collins Street.

Having played host to everyone from Lady Gaga to the Arctic Monkeys and King Gizzard, Cherry Bar has long held a special place in the hearts of those in Melbourne who love to rock out and amassed an army of die-hard fans over its lifetime. And even with the move, it is still one of the best bars in the Melbourne CBD.

We sadly bade farewell to Ferdydurke in 2024, one of our favourite bars in Melbourne’s CBD. Since opening in 2012, it stood out among the sleek and highly polished bars of the city, deciding instead to embrace its rougher edges and provide an unpretentious space for both chill hangs and live music-fuelled parties. But even though it’s now gone, the Office of Public Works group (Section 8, The Beast and formerly Ferdydurke) has teamed up with some of the hospo legends who originally helped set up Ferdydurke to create its replacement: Aster.

Thankfully, not too much has changed. The loft’s exposed brickwork and beams remain, as does the roaring fireplace and outdoor terrace. What you will notice though, is that it all feels a little more grown-up, from the contemporary wine list and refined snacks to the team replacing live gigs with DJs.

Byrdi is internationally recognised as being one of the best bars in Melbourne — it even ranked in The World’s 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2021 and 2023. But what makes this small 40-seat Melbourne CBD bar so damn special?

The outstanding cocktails. They’re unlike just about any other in the city. The expert bartenders use the site’s own lab to create new and exciting ingredients while constantly trying out new and innovative flavour combos. If you can nab a seat within its gorgeous confines, be sure to try a few different creations. We find picking just one to be an impossible feat.

Kirk’s Wine Bar is almost unfortunately placed. Everyday city-goers and tourists waltz down Hardware Lane, hassled by waiters trying to lure people into their restaurants. But on the corner is Kirk’s, where no one stands outside with a menu board — which is precisely why you should walk in.

Glancing at the peeling paint exterior takes you back in time a little. Upon entering, you’re almost transcended to a Florentine wine bar. The space is sprinkled with small, round tables, really only big enough to seat two. Nab some truly great wines and pair them with some cheeky charcuterie board before hitting up a Melbourne CBD restaurant for dinner.

Ray Reyes via Visit Victoria

Fable takes the concept of sky-high sips to a whole new level — at a lofty 14 storeys high, it’s one of Melbourne’s tallest rooftop bars. The plush, Mediterranean-inspired space rocks an elegant fitout, along with wild panoramic views through wraparound windows and a retractable roof.

You’ll also find a menu of innovative cocktails. It’s a considered lineup with a penchant for storytelling and history, filled with many clever reworkings of the classics. A true delight.

Image: Nicole Cleary

Once a horse stable, the lofty Melbourne CBD bar located above Longrain is downright impressive. A central bar cuts the sprawling room neatly in two — a 30-seat dining area by the open kitchen and a sun-drenched lounge situation in front, with banquette seating and huge folding windows overlooking Little Bourke Street.

The kitchen offering is a celebration of simplicity — unfussy, but cleverly executed and more affordable than you might expect. The Thai eats are just as good as those served downstairs. And cocktails are next-level Thai-inspired creations that change on the regular.

Image: Cole Bennetts

Located above a bubble tea shop in the Denyers building, Goldilocks Bar is just the right level of hidden. There’s only a small sign on Swanston Street showing you it’s there, but it doesn’t explain how to actually find the rooftop bar. You’ll have to take the lift upstairs, wander around House of Correction and then scale some stairs at the back of the building before you find this small bar with ace city views.

Up here, signature cocktails are the main focus but you can also opt for some local beers and seltzers if you want to make it more of a chill day or night out drinking. Make sure you pair your bevs with the dumplings, bao and deep-fried chicken ribs.

Image: Visit Victoria

The Toff in Town is a two-part venue offering a bit of something for everyone. Located on the second floor of the CBD’s Curtin House, The Toff is a well-known staple in the life of a midweek partier.

Both sides of the venue — the live music bar Stageside and restaurant The Carriage — are open Tuesday to Saturday, from 5pm all the way through to 5am. Stageside has a range of events, including live music, comedy, cabaret and DJs to keep you entertained. The other side is where you’ll find contemporary Thai eats and cocktails served to folks hiding away in small booths made to look like train carriages. It’s a no-brainer for late-night drinks and eats in the CBD.

When the two-storey container bar Whitehart first popped up in a CBD car park in 2017, it wasn’t immediately obvious that it would become one of the best Melbourne bars for dancing. But with resident DJs and regular collaborations with local producers and party makers, Whitehart has welcomed many sweaty revellers enjoying the welcome breeze provided by the bar’s openair format.

In between songs, feast on food from +39 Pizzeria and enjoy the street art and projections around the joint. For a refresh, there’s an ever-changing selection of weird and wonderful local craft beers, killer cocktails and Aussie wines, including a fair few skin-contact varieties.

The centrepiece of Melbourne’s alcohol-stocked skyline, Rooftop Bar retains its position as the city’s most popular — despite the seven flights of stairs needed to scale before you reach it. Open from midday, it is the ideal place to spend a lazy afternoon shaded by an umbrella and fanned by a sky-high breeze.

In the evening, rooftop is the pinnacle of elevated recreation: drinks, dancing, views, burgers, deckchairs and cinema. Its popularity is not without merit. Its reputation, however, can often mean overcrowding. Be sure to get there a little early to avoid disappointment.

Champagne, cognac and caviar. This is what Melburnians can expect from this brilliant Melbourne CBD cocktail bar. The bar is brainchild of the Speakeasy Group, the owners of cocktail classic Eau de Vie, Viking luxe bar Mjølner and whisky-serving Boilermaker House.

Like its Sydney counterpart, the venue is inspired by Dashiell Hammett’s novel The Thin Man and its fictional crime-solving team Nick and Nora Charles. If you’re not familiar with the book, expect a roaring 30s vibe befitting a most glamorous party. The sprawling venue boasts five distinct spaces (a main bar, salon, champagne parlour and a VIP lounge), three balconies, green marble, gold and dark wood finishes and a whopping 400 bottles of champagne on display.

The sky-high fine-diner Vue De Monde reopened following an extensive renovation in November 2023, levelling up its luxury offerings in the Rialto Tower. Bar Lui, its sister venue located next door, also got an impressive makeover, helping it become one of the very best bars in Melbourne CBD.

Executive Chef Hugh Allen has developed a larger menu of snacks here, featuring Sydney rock oysters, Blackmore wagyu ribs and caviar service for the extra bougie folks out there. And Lui Bar’s manager Elisabetta Lupi has also curated a new cocktail list focusing on sustainability and native ingredients. Expect refined food and drinks and unbeatable views up at this Melbourne CBD bar.

If you’re after a cool hidden bar to sip the evening away, head down Malthouse Lane next to a hotel car park, slip through the large wooden door and enter a new world. Here, you’ll find a 1920s-themed speakeasy bar that’s home to all manners of luxury goodies.

Signature cocktails are a must when visiting, while we never visit without getting one of its big charcuterie boards and a few dozen oysters. Into your whisky? You’re well and truly in luck. Head to the whisky room hidden behind a bookcase to sample whisky flights paired with regularly changing eats. Despite all the theatrics, quality is never overlooked here. It manages to be both fun and refined.

Most Melbourne rooftop bars aim to conquer the summer, rolling back the awnings to serve spritzes and pét-nats in the blistering sunshine. Sadly, these bars tend to empty out once winter trickles in and the days get shorter. But Santana, the rooftop bar from Abjar Kasho (Bouvardia), really comes into its own once the sun goes down. Yes, it will be booming on hot days, but the Latin-influenced bar seems best suited to Melbourne’s cooler and darker months.

At night, the Santana neon signs illuminate the whole bar in hazy red light, while plumes of smoke from fine cigars float out into the cityscape. There’s a sultry mood here that we are all for.

Renowned for its outstanding martinis, late-night snacks and popularity with both insomniacs and Melbourne’s hospitality crowd, it’s a great location to bag a bartender after a long shift.

Rich, luxurious and flush with cushioned surfaces and secretive enclaves, it almost begs for a sneaky pash on a dim corner lounge. Even better, escape with your date to the hidden, fairy-light-lit den that links the venue to Bar Ampere next door.

Lonely for you only might be a sad sentiment for those leaving alone at the end of the night, but, for the most part, the highly photographed neon sign at GoGo is as iconic as the bunny upstairs. Giving the bar its deep red glow, the sign is imperative not just to its recognisability, but also to the moodiness of the den-like venue.

It seems to enjoy its status as the dark horse — sitting underneath the bright and bustling Chin Chin, it’s become an unassuming mainstay within the Chris Lucas empire. If you want to avoid the perpetual post-5pm queue snaking out of the main entry, duck around to Higsons Lane and descend into the darkness directly for delicious food, a more chill atmosphere and heaps of great drinks.

Pearl Diver Cocktails & Oysters is a sparkling Melbourne CBD bar from The Speakeasy Group’s (Eau de Vie, Nick & Nora’s, Mjolner) Alex Boon and Pez Collier.

The focus here is memorable, produce-driven cocktails and oysters sourced from the country’s best-growing regions. Libations show respect for individual ingredients and a penchant for creativity, while an oft-changing wine list has been carefully chosen to represent only that which is ‘fun’ and ‘delicious’.

Image: Jana Langhorst

If you hit up a Melbourne restaurant and find ten wines offered by the glass, you’re doing alright. If you get 20, you’re in for a real treat. But Circl Wine House in Melbourne’s CBD is doing what few hospo venues can by offering a whopping 150 drops by the glass and 1500 by the bottle. This is hugely important to the owners, who created this Melbourne wine bar to help foster a new culture around vino — one built around accessibility, inclusivity and discovery.

Wine is most certainly the star of the show at Circl, but food is far from neglected. Executive Chef Elias Salomonsson (ex-Scott Pickett Group and Vue Group) has created a Euro-centric menu of small and large dishes that are strongly influenced by his Scandinavian background.