This year casual openings far outpaced restaurants and bars. We looked for big flavours in casual settings and boy have these 11 openings delivered.

Two standout trends this year include banh mi, with new venues serving their take on the Vietnamese roll to join spots like Le Vietnam as some of Perth’s best. And pastries also proved popular, from savoury takes like pies and empanadas to sweet treats like cinnamon scrolls and lusciously laminated danishes. 

Here, in alphabetical order, are Perth’s best new cafes and casual eateries of 2025. 

Angelwood Pies, Leederville

Pies? Standard. Fine dining, Michelin-quality pies? Slightly rarer. This grab-and-go pie shop is helmed by Patrick Wallis and Richard Overbye. Overbye’s CV includes time at Oslo’s three-Michelin-starred Maemo, Melbourne fine diner Amaru, and Perth’s Restaurant Amuse and Wildflower. Naturally, the pies have been selling out. If you get in early enough, you’ll find a dozen variations of Australia’s iconic snack, plus sausage rolls and nostalgic sweets. Traditionalists will always find classic mince and chunky steak on the menu, alongside a dozen fillings that change – like Keralan curry or kimchi jjigae – for those feeling a little more adventurous. The nostalgia continues with house-made takes on corner store sweets such as passionfruit musk sticks, vanilla slices and melting moments.

Banh Mi & Chè, Carlisle

Kelly Vo ran a dessert store in her hometown of Nha Trang in Vietnam. When she moved to Perth, the “auntie network” sprang into action and she quickly began selling her desserts online. Earlier this year she opened Banh Mi & Chè in Carlisle, where she sells more or less just two things: banh mi and chè. Chè is often described as a “dessert soup” with taro, flan, jelly and coconut milk. There’s also xoi man, a sticky Vietnamese rice that reminds Vo of her school days, and banh trang tron, a salad made with rice paper.

Be Free, East Perth

After quietly becoming one of Subiaco’s cult coffee and brunch hotspots, organic cafe Be Free moved to greener and grander pastures at Perth City Farm. In its new location, surrounded by community garden beds and fruit trees, the cafe’s produce-driven ethos feels more relevant than ever. Dishes at Be Free are shaped by what’s growing nearby or sourced from the Saturday farmer’s market.

The cafe offers an all-day breakfast and lunch menu. Highlights include umami-forward miso mushrooms as well as the wild-caught smoked salmon crumpets. There are also grab-and-go pastries, salads and focaccia sandwiches.

Bert’s, City Beach

In the old Odyssea space, Bert’s sits in an enviable beachside location. The new day-to-night diner is run by The General Public Food Co; with Bert’s, the goal was to create somewhere people would be able to call their “local”. The fit-out follows suit with a laid-back coastal look given a contemporary edge thanks to Woods Bagot. The menu, from executive chef Matthew Rogers and head chef Patrick Curran, keeps things similarly casual. It starts with breakfast classics – including acai, a breakfast burger, pancakes, and eggs Benedict – then rolls into items including oysters, prawn and lobster rolls, gochujang prawns, snapper, parmies and burgers. With the exception of three dishes, the whole menu is gluten-free. The drinks list is extensive with a focus on Australian-made wine, beer and spirits.

Corner 33, South Perth

Corner 33 is hard to miss – and that's not just because of the butter yellow and cherry red facade with its splashy mural – the menu is equally undeniable. It’s co-owned by three friends – chef Khai Hoan Vu (ex-Nobu and Komeyui), barista D’Angelo Nguyen and William Nguyen – and brings new energy to South Perth with Asian-inspired diner food. It’s made waves serving buttermilk pancakes with soy maple syrup, avo toast with a yuzu miso glaze, and eggs Benedict with 12-hour braised beef short rib and miso hollandaise. Later in the day there’s panko-crusted fish burgers, shepherd’s pie made with Japanese beef curry, and chicken katsu sandos.

The drinks menu includes seven speciality drops including Vietnamese coffee with salted vanilla cold foam, a yuzu matcha tonic and a Melbourne-favourite Mont Blanc with cold brew, orange cold foam, zest and nutmeg. Matcha drinks include a coconut iced matcha with a matcha cold foam cloud; the matcha is imported from Nishio in Japan

Lovers Deli & Canteen, White Gum Valley

When Lovers Deli & Canteen opened in December, we declared it a contender for the home of Perth’s best chicken schnitty. Topped with brown butter, capers and a lemon-and-herb sauce, and served with a separate bowl of greens, the schnitzel sounds relatively straightforward – but elevated simplicity is the core focus at the nostalgia-driven cafe. All-day breakfast items include crepes with sour cherries and yoghurt cream; “green eggs and scram” coloured with a vibrant parsley sauce; and a blood pudding and egg muffin which is a retro riff on the McDonald’s breakfast staple. The diner, deli and lunch bar hybrid is the passion project of Mia Gammon and Jake Carter, who also own Good Things Cafe. The corner space oozes old-school charm with timber veneer panelling, chrome counters, glossy green features and plush banquette seats.

North 54, Leederville

Bac Pham (ex-Rockpool and Petition) challenges expectations of your standard banh mi at North 54. Crusty buns are packed with hibachi-grilled gai yang (Thai-marinated chicken); fermented red bean marinated roast pork; or gooey eggs, tamarind mayo and crisp shallots. (This son-in-law egg banh mi was named dish of the year by Dahl Daddy’s Corey Rozario.) Unlike your standard banh mi joints, the compact menu accommodates most dietary restrictions. Gluten-free diners can enjoy banh mi fillings as a rice or noodle bowl, and vegan diners are catered for with an eggplant, mushroom and miso tofu offering. 

Drinks include Vietnamese-style drip coffees served dine-in or takeaway, as well as coconut water with a pandan cloud, plus a photogenic matcha cloud with clean, defined layers.

Pinos, Subiaco

Pinos, Perth’s first dedicated empanada bakery, brings a taste of South America to a Subiaco shopfront. There’s a tight list of 12 fillings, including barbeque pork with provolone and jalapeno; peri peri lamb; chicken curry; and a traditional empanada with hand-cut beef, smoked chilli, olive and boiled egg. Beyond hand-crimped empanadas, expect cold-pressed juices, barista-made coffee and alfajores. There’s also an “apple pie” empanada, a superior alternative to the Macca’s hand pie.

Side Piece Deli, Swanbourne

Pastries in the AM, sandwiches at lunch – that’s what The Pantry Group (Daisies Cottesloe and The Other Side) director Sam Kaye wanted to create with Side Piece. To do that he’s tapped Eliza McCambridge-Dax to create playful pastries like smoky, sweet bacon, maple and walnut scrolls; brioche with pandan custard and coconut crumble; potato danishes; and ham and cheese croissants layered with mustard bechamel. Head chef Jason Goodorally steps in for sandwiches, including a Keralan fried chicken sandwich elevated with kasundi aioli and pickled onion; a spiced onion bhaji sandwich with fresh kachumber (a tangy South Asian salad); and a fish katsu sando with fukujinzuke pickles and tamarind tonkatsu sauce that’s tucked into pillowy shokupan.

Smidge Bakery, Leederville

When their shopfront in Lyric Lane abruptly closed last September, Smidge Bakery co-owners Gen Walters and Liz Younger got to work searching for the perfect new home. After a long hunt, they found one. Smidge moved into its new Leederville digs in September. Things quickly heated up for the team which, as their sign proclaims, is serving “Perth’s best cinny scrolls”. In their first week, the pair sold a record 15 trays of scrolls in a day – that’s since ramped up to an average of 20 trays a day. It’s hardly a surprise. Scrolls have had a moment this year with dedicated bakeries across the country finding viral success. Alongside the scrolls, Smidge serves sangas and a range of little treats like choc caramel brownies and salted Caramilk cookies.

The Cool Room, Fremantle

The Cool Room has always been a neighbourhood spot with soul but now, in the hands of chef Drew Dawson and his partner, baker Charlotte Beeton, the East Freo cafe has stepped up. Dawson has built a short, curated menu that delights without overwhelming. The cornerstone of the new Cool Room menu is a topnotch bread. A toast course offers three varieties, including a Guinness and treacle soda bread Dawson bakes in-house, alongside slices from Hunter Bread. It’s served with whipped butter, house-made jams and marmalades. For something heartier, there’s a bacon bap slathered with prune and apple ketchup. Beeton, meanwhile, fills the counter with baked treats – think mandarin and polenta cake or brown butter rye and chocolate cookies. Together they’re shaping a space that is as much about community as it is about food.

Additional reporting by Jessica Rigg, Sarah Schmitt, Chelsea Seale, Madeline Wallman & Ange Yang.