The Best Sydney Restaurants and Bars with Outdoor Dining
Soak up that sun.

The Best Sydney Restaurants and Bars with Outdoor Dining
As we leave La Niña in 2022, there's never been a better time to find a Sydney restaurant near you with a sprawling outdoor dining area — just to remind yourself what it feels like to have a meal beside the coastline, on top of a rooftop bar and or on a grassy picnic knoll.
At these sunlit venues, you can take in some fresh air at every possible moment of the day — from big brekkies to late-night drinks. Here you'll find vibrant wine bars, beachside stalwarts and inventive Italian joints, all with a table waiting for you in the sun.
Top image: The Royal Hotel
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Food & Drink
Nour
The contemporary Middle Eastern restaurant has recently been hatted, and is ideal for your next meal in Surry Hills.
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Food & Drink
The Strand Hotel Rooftop
This historic pub and hotel is home to a breezy rooftop cocktail garden with top-notch bar snacks.
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Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea
Over 50 years of Sicilian history emerge at this South Dowling Street trattoria.
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RAFI North Sydney
This multi-space venue has something for everyone, in the heart of North Sydney.
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Fortuna Drink And Eat
Here lies a bright Darlinghurst diner with premium Italian delights, all day long.
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Giuls
This female-led Tuscan-inspired restaurant brings its love for pasta to Surry Hills.
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Cafe Freda's
The Chippendale nightclub has moved to Darlinghurst and swapped late nights and neon lights for natural wines and pastel hues.
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Cabana Bar
This alfresco oasis in the heart of the city features Sydney CBD's largest outdoor terrace.
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Bar Italia
This Little Italy stalwart has a limitless menu, $1 corkage and all the housemade gelato you could wish for.
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Whalebridge
The Sydney Collective's harbourside French restaurant serves up top-notch seafood with stunning harbour views.
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Topikos
Head to The Point Group's expansive Greek restaurant for souvlaki and a baklava old fashioned by the beach.
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Jack Gray
This south Sydney cafe trades the coffee cups for wine glasses and sandwiches for tacos, turning into a wine bar two nights a week.
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Food & Drink
Ricos Tacos
This popular taco truck's permanent home in Chippendale boasts a rotating menu of tacos and tortas.
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Botswana Butchery Sydney
This mainstay of New Zealand's hospitality scene has opened a 940-capacity restaurant with an openair rooftop in Martin Place.
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Shell House
Discover a cocktail bar in a clocktower, a ground-floor bistro and a sky-high drinking hole in this historic former hotel.
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Avi's Kantini
The Bank's new Middle Eastern-inspired eatery features a $45 Feed Me menu.
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Re
This South Eveleigh bar is housed in a heritage site that spent 100 years as a locomotive workshop.
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Elm Rooftop Bar
This rooftop cocktail bar above The Taphouse is serving a variety of hard seltzers, plus orange wine by the glass.
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Mrs Palmer Sandwich
This hole-in-the-wall sells sandos created by Sydney's top chefs by day, and transforms into a margarita bar after dark.
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Cafe Bondi
Find cafe classics, vegan treats and breakfast cocktails within walking distance of the beach at this new eastern suburbs spot.
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Cronulla RSL Club
Enjoy views over South Cronulla Beach from the terrace with a cocktail in hand.
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Opera Kitchen
The harbourside restaurant has a new bakery, pasta bar and Japanese kitchen dishing up ramen and katsu sandos every day.
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Food & Drink
Vini Divini
This inner city bar's wine wall contains over 1000 bottles from ten different countries.
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Cony's
This weekend-only bar serves up South American-inspired eats and tropical cocktails aplenty.
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Esteban
The Tequila Mockingbird team's two-storey Mexican restaurant is home to Australia's biggest collection of premium tequila and mezcal.
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Biang Biang
Another outpost for the popular eatery bringing Shaanxi chewy pulled noodles to Sydney.
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Hester's
This CBD cafe is here for your morning croissants, lunchtime bubbles and caffeine afternoon pick-me-ups.
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North Bondi Fish
North Bondi Italian's old home takes on a casual vibe and a fresh, coast-inspired menu.
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La Palma
Head to the leafy courtyard, order a daiquiri and devour a plate of jerk chicken.
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Bathers' Pavilion
Balmoral's historic beachside spot has scored a makeover and a terrace champagne bar.
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Four Frogs Creperie Circular Quay
Tuck into sweet crepes and savoury galettes with experimental fillings at this French-owned harbourside creperie.
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Beerhaus Barangaroo
A huge German beer hall with salty pretzels, schnitzels and schnapps.
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Marrickville Bowling & Recreation Club
An inner west institution for live music and lawn bowls.
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Dopa Don and Milk Bar
A Japanese take on the classic Aussie milk bar by the Devon team.
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The Lord Gladstone
Continuing the Abercrombie's legacy of deep-fried Golden Gaytimes and Chippendale chill-outs.
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Hello Auntie Darling Square
The inner west Vietnamese favourite has opened a CBD outpost.
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The Glebe Hotel
This historic pub has been given a new name and dog-friendly courtyard.
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The Old Fitzroy Hotel
This Woolloomooloo pub has award-winning chef Anna Ugarte-Carral in the kitchen and natty wines behind the bar.
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Babylon Rooftop & Garden Bar
A luxe kingdom of meze, cocktails, slow-cooked meats and 300 wines atop Westfield Sydney.
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Bar Ombre
This rooftop bar boasts a dedicated spritz menu, a daily happy hour and views of the Harbour Bridge.
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Corretto Dee Why
An all-day diner located a stone's throw from the beach in northern Sydney.
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Mosman Rowers
This century-old lower north shore rowing club has reopened as a cafe and bar.
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The Oxford Tavern
This Petersham pub has reopened with a leafy beer garden and focus on craft beer.
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The Old Clare Rooftop Bar
This hotel pool bar is open to the public for cocktails and snacks.
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Totti's
An Italian eatery helmed by Pinbone's Mike Eggert and Rockpool's Khan Danis and located inside the Royal Bondi.
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Sake Restaurant and Bar Manly
A breezy indoor-outdoor Japanese diner with views out over Manly Cove.
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Salt Meats Cheese Cronulla
The Italian chain has opened its first outpost in The Shire.
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Park House Food & Liquor
The old Mona Vale Hotel has been transformed into a sleek new restaurant, cocktail lounge and burger bar.
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Bills Surry Hills
When this Crown Street breakfast institution moved next door, it scored an updated menu and look.
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The Vic On The Park
This old Marrickville gem has been given the full Merivale treatment and it's totally working it.
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Maybe Frank Randwick
Serving pizza and award-winning cocktails up the hill from the beach.
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Barangaroo House
The jewel in Barangaroo's ever-growing crown, Barangaroo House is made up of three levels — we reviewed them all.
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Chula
Offering regional Mexican dishes in wicker chairs and a packed menu of tequila and mezcal cocktails.
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et.al
Share a meal with friends, family, lovers et al at this Lankelly Place bar and cafe.
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Matteo
A 150-seat eatery from Orazio D'Elia with a pizza oven, an Italian cocktail list and an outdoor aperitivo deck.
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Cuckoo Callay on Crown
A second outpost for the team behind one of Newtown's busiest (and best) brunch spots.
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Rocker
A new all-day Bondi coffee spot, restaurant and bar from Three Blue Ducks co-founder Darren Robertson.
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No. 1 William
Look over Hyde Park and Sydney Harbour from the Australian Museum's terrace restaurant.
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Devon Barangaroo
The Devon crew is plating up its decadent breakfast items and katsu sandos in Barangaroo.
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East Village Hotel
The three-tiered Darlinghurst pub gets a new life with an upstairs sports bar and rooftop terrace.
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Zushi Barangaroo
The Sydney sushi masters' third offering brings their acclaimed offering to Barangaroo.
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Three Blue Ducks Rosebery
This big, bright outpost of a Bronte fave brings farm-to-table ethos and darn good coffee to Rosebery’s up-and-coming food precinct.
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Continental Deli Bar Bistro
Where drinking cocktails gets that much better because they're served in cans.
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Dead Ringer
The Bulletin Place team reinvent Bacardi Breezers, Redskins and so many nostalgic favourites.
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Catalina
Casual diners now have a place at waterfront Catalina, with the bar having undergone an invisible transformation.
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Casoni
Fresh pasta plus Aperol spritzes and negronis on tap equal Casoni's formula for a good night.
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Coogee Pavilion Rooftop
Life's a beach at the imaginative Coogee Pavilion's beachfront rooftop bar.
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Opera Bar
A must-do with out-of-towners or when you're seeing a gig at the Opera House.
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The Royal Hotel
Rise to the top of this Five Ways pub for incredible views over the city.
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The Winery
Drinking classy means having a 'champagne bell' alert the waitstaff when your glass gets empty.
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Chester White Cured Diner
Dig into moreish cured meats, cheese-wheel cacio e pepe and braised beef cheeks at this charming converted cottage.
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The Glenmore
This pub in The Rocks has a rooftop with one of the best views over the harbour.
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The Courthouse Hotel
The unpretentious, grungy gem of Newtown with one of the finest outdoor courtyards in Sydney.