Make Concrete Playground yours with My Playground. Save and share your favourite picks and make plans to go out with friends. Registration is fast and free.
Make Concrete Playground yours with My Playground. Save and share your favourite picks and make plans to go out with friends. Registration is fast and free.
Make Concrete Playground yours with My Playground. Save and share your favourite picks and make plans to go out with friends. Registration is fast and free.
Make Concrete Playground yours with My Playground. Save and share your favourite picks and make plans to go out with friends. Registration is fast and free.
You can sip a cocktail and watch the ferries putter past in Barangaroo, hop on a train and be feasting on dumplings fifteen minutes later in Chinatown, then head to a Redfern bar for a late-night performance.
We’ve partnered with American Express to bring you the very best of local businesses in the inner city. All of these divine hotspots welcome you — and your American Express Card — so you can shop small with ease.
A good pair of shoes, your Opal card and the Sydney Trains timetable are all you need to get around the inner city. Central Station is the bustling transport hub of Sydney — from here, you’ll be able to find your way anywhere you want to get to either by train (to Redfern and around the city circle), light rail or on foot.
Say what you will about Sydney’s nightlife, but it does boast a thriving small bar scene. These haunts, including the CBD’s PS40 and Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern, and The Bearded Tit in Redfern, are experts at stirring, shaking and serving up inventive cocktails, and live entertainment, for the post-work crowds.
The CBD’s Pitt Street is where you’ll find high-end boutiques and big-name brands, while Barangaroo Avenue plays host to specialty food stores and eateries. Meanwhile, Redfern’s high street offers a more suburban experience with an eclectic mix of buzzing bars and neighbourhood essentials.
In a city that’s seen a few facelifts (hello Light Rail and Barangaroo), it’s comforting to know that good local businesses can withstand constant change. Nowhere maintains this sense of history and local pride better than the Victorian-era mall, the Strand Arcade, housing longstanding milliner Strand Hatters, cobbler Andrew Macdonald Shoemaker, and the artisan hub Courtesy of the Artist. Head inside for a history lesson in quality customer service and craftsmanship.
This city outpost of a Surry Hills favourite stocks thoughtfully designed fashion and homewares.
One of Australia's longest running comic retailers, this pop culture haven receives new stock from the US every week.
An inner-city collective of artistic minds and passionate jewellery designers, championing Aussie materials, workers and talent.
Walk out of this CBD barbershop feeling fresh and fine, with new skin and hair care products to keep it going.
Where to go if you want to drop money on a hat that will last you for 20 years.
A Sydney institution supplying bold ceramics, cushions, textiles and vintage design pieces.
Continuing the Abercrombie's legacy of deep-fried Golden Gaytimes and Chippendale chill-outs.
This Zetland butchery specialises in premium cuts and handmade products.
A Pyrmont cafe with Single O coffee and food by an ex-Fat Duck chef.
A classic local fruit and veg market and Asian grocer in Redfern.
A Brooklyn-inspired eatery serving simple but delicious cafe meals and really good coffee.
An underground restaurant serving Vietnamese noodle soups and fancy cocktails.
Specialty coffee from Indonesia — and the cafe eats to go with it — in the city.
Refined Mexican fare in a stunning restaurant on Clarence Street.
An NYC-style bagelry and deli serving up pastrami on rye, Mecca coffee and bagels with plenty of schmear inside Gateway Sydney.
This hidden gem specialises in pouring quality craft beers directly into growlers.
The rooftop cafe is now serving an all-vegetarian menu by Cornersmith — and everything is under $20.
This new CBD spot combines all-day eating, an ex-Mecca chef and serious support for those in need.
The Melbourne hamburger haven's first Sydney store has 20 different burgs and triple-scoop shakes.
A bustling CBD cafe that's serving up the chain's signature blends and a big all-day menu.
This takeaway window on York Street serves great coffee, loaded crumpets and bacon and egg rolls.
A CBD gem, great for anything from al fresco afternoons to late-night dance sessions.
This buzzing CBD cafe boasts healthy salads, quality coffee and kombucha on tap.
The beloved Americana food truck has found a permanent home in Chippendale.
A concept store originating from China celebrating independent fashion.
In a city not short on a bowl of ramen, this soupy joint stands out from the crowd.
Get smoky with a Korean BBQ experience. Knock back some marinated beef ribs and tasty bulgogi with a cold Korean beer.
Chippendale's multifaceted bar can satisfy your morning caffeine fix and your late-night margarita craving.
Some of Sydney's best Japanese fare is being served out of this hole-in-the-wall behind a police station.
Kensington Street's Sicilian restaurant serving traditional dishes with contemporary flourishes.
A bright, reliable CBD cafe doing fried chicken burgers, coffee and house-made sodas.
A Thor-inspired carvery doing modern Nordic food and exceptional cocktails.
A New York-style steakhouse with acclaimed chef Stanley Wong behind the wheel.
Arcadia Liquors' European bistro is the perfect neighbourhood bistro
Sydney's In-N-Out-inspired burgers have found a permanent home inside a CBD pub.
Prep your chilli tolerance for a visit to David Thompson's Thai fine dining restaurant.
Nathan Sasi's restaurant focuses on Spanish food and house-made smallgoods.
Darling Harbour has a new French coastal-inspired bar and eatery...and it isn't your usual tourist spot.
The Sydney sushi masters' third offering brings their acclaimed offering to Barangaroo.
The Sydney stalwart has opened in Gateway at Circular Quay.
Their city outpost goes beyond the basics with burgers, a DJ and a menu devoted to Nutella.
Combining a French military aesthetic with an end of war party vibe, and stocked with over 900 spirits — expect banging cocktails.
The bakery's Alexandria outpost set within an industrial warehouse.
This classy Redfern gin bar is gunning to become your local haunt (if it's not already).
The Surry Hills favourite brings its pistachio, mascarpone and, of course, cremino harbourside.
A sprawling old pub (established in 1838, in fact) which plays host to a rotating roster of bands.
A delightful piece of old Jerusalem gracing Waterloo with a mix of Aussie favourites and Middle Eastern flavours.
The name of the game at Basket Brothers is next level comfort food.
Some of Sydney's best tequila and mezcal cocktails await at the Barrio Chino team's basement bar.
A sophisticated homage to New Orleans and its signature drink, the sazerac.
Dishing up tasty north-west Chinese classics and some of the gooiest dumplings around town.
Head chef Darbyan Singh transforms Peshawari-style Indian street food into must-try, high-end dining.
Are you a hopeless ramen-tic? Find comforting bowls of bone broth at this popular ramen chain.
Turn left at the crocheted penises and enter Redfern's brazen art bar.
Kingswood Coffee not only has your coffee needs covered but also offers a little nod to Sydney's past.
Art, wine and cheese, it’s the golden trifecta. It’s not in the title, but they do cooking classes, too.
Piccolo Me is pulling out some pretty quirky stops to help attract a crowd.
Fresh produce, creative all-day brekkies and outstanding local coffee in the heart of Sydney's CBD.
More Swillhouse graduates make for a booze-slingin' good time.
There's more to Milk Bar than just the milk. Though the milk is pretty spectacular.
Whereas the Newtown store is driven by cakes, here it’s more about lunch, bread and the woodfired oven.
Whether it's a part of the original brand or not, this venue is topnotch.
Not one but two large roof terraces - just in time for summer.
Across from the Seymour Centre and hidden just out of view from the hustle of Cleveland Street is a real quacker of a pub.
The moment you step up to the bar, you're made to feel like a real regular at this relaxed yet refined slice of old Cuba.
All-day Israeli dining, where you can have falafel for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
York Lane is the CBD's much needed coffee shop turned small bar. Caffeine addicts and after-work boozers rejoice.
A café at the Redfern end of Bourke Street that's it's the answer to our prayers.
Tucked away behind Mojo Records on York Street lies this inner city drinking cave.
A Sydney mainstay doing favourites well — and at very, very reasonable prices.
It’s quaint, home to good company, good food and tasty mulled wine - the perfect choice for chilly winter nights.
Coffee Tea & Me has that unique combination of charming decor, really good food, and delightfully low prices.
Assembly is a spanking new option on the city's map of small bars with the atmosphere of an adult's treehouse.
This vibrant beer garden has provided an inner city oasis for over one hundred years.
Fernside, cheekily distancing itself from the neighbouring Surry Hills, isn’t revolutionising the café concept but what they do, they do damn well.
All your beach parties and frolicking in the ocean counts for nothing if you haven't visited this place.
Sydney’s oldest continually licensed hotel and home of Australia's oldest pub brewery.
The classiest food court our city has to offer. Harbourside views make this perfect for pre/post show wining and dining.
