Five To Try: The Best Restaurants on Johnston Street Right Now

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Lygon, Brunswick, Chapel, Smith – Melbourne’s major destination dining streets tend to run north-south. The grid-like layout of the inner suburbs plays its part, but save for a couple of strips (Gertrude Street deserves a shout here), it feels like up and down is for eating and drinking; left and right is for moving between places to do so.

Johnston Street is an exception. It’s known as a destination for live music – thanks to venues like The Tote, Nighthawks, The Bendigo Hotel and the Night Cat. But the west-east street that spans Fitzroy, Collingwood and Abbotsford is also home to some excellent restaurants. It’s not discussed with the same reverence as other dining streets, but maybe it should be. Here are the restaurants (including some Hot Listed spots) making the case for Johnston Street right now.

Jim’s Greek Tavern, Collingwood

Icon status doesn’t come easily, but Jim’s has more than earned it (and its Hot List place) by serving traditional Greek food on Johnston Street for close to 50 years. Since 1980, husband and wife Aphrodite and Leonidas Panagopoulos (along with their family) have kept the restaurant buzzing seven nights a week. It’s an essential part of Melbourne’s culinary history and an important reflection of the city having one of the largest Greek populations outside of the motherland.

And the service is what makes Jim’s special. Melburnians know the drill – no menu, BYO, tell the waitstaff how hungry you are and let the kitchen crew do the rest. They’ll bring out spreads of slow-cooked meats, seafood, saganaki, house-made dips and traditional Greek desserts, such as Aphrodite’s baklava.

Mary’s, Collingwood

The space on the corner of Johnston and Wellington streets served Singaporean comfort food for 25 years as The Old Raffles Place. So it made sense that when it closed, another restaurant took its place with the aim of being accessible and approachable. And that’s what Mary’s has been since it opened in 2025. Although the ethos at Mary Akindele’s restaurant is where the similarities end. Here, you’ll find Nigerian dishes that are both comforting and reflective of Akindele’s experiences and upbringing in the UK.

During the day, you’ll find Western breakfast plates with a Nigerian core. The chilli scramble features ata din din, a bright, spicy sauce made mainly from tomato and red capsicum. And the corn fritters come with ayamase, a closely related sauce starring green capsicum. In the evenings, jollof rice with herb salad or a seafood egusi (a West African soup thickened with ground melon seeds) stars. The menu even has a glossary to explain lesser-known Nigerian terms and ingredients.

Frankie’s Tortas and Tacos, Fitzroy

Frankie’s began life in a former kebab stand in an empty Collingwood lot and was pulling in crowds rain, hail or shine. At the peak of its popularity, it closed, leaving the lunchtime crowd searching for answers. In 2023, diners got closure in the form of an opening. Frankie’s set up a bricks-and-mortar shop on Johnston Street and it’s been banging out terrific tacos ever since.

But the Hot Listed spot’s signature is its selection of stacked tortas (big, Mexican-style sandwiches) covering chicken, pork, fish, eggplant and mushroom bases. Complementing the food is a tight range of Mexican cocktails and plenty of take-home sauces and other merch – you can’t walk far in Fitzroy without seeing someone rocking one of the distinctive black or white Frankie’s tees.

El Columpio, Fitzroy

This small Fitzroy restaurant is the OG older brother to its Hot Listed St Kilda sibling. It embodies owner Ricardo Garcia Flores’s longstanding dream of introducing what he considers to be “true Mexican food” to Melbourne. You can find contemporary takes on tacos down the road at Frankie’s – El Columpio is the place for staunchly traditional Mexican dishes such as pozole (from a decades-old family recipe), tamales and chilaquiles. Tacos and tortas feature here too, but recipes are adapted from Flores’s connections in Mexico City.

The fit-out is no-fuss. Tables line the walls of the skinny space, accented by exposed brick and Mexican artwork. On weekends, you might find a three-piece mariachi act playing by the front window while you sip a Modelo with your meal. And you can usually pick Flores out through the small opening to the kitchen, thanks to his white tejana hat.

Rita’s, Abbotsford

Rita’s rocks. And it has since it opened in 2012. Johnston Street has changed a lot since then yet Rita’s has remained a constant, firing out excellent 13-inch pizzas for well over a decade. The Hot List favourite sits in a sweet spot for diners – it’s great for weeknight takeaway or a weekend dinner before you hit one of many nearby bars: Dr Morse, Gilbees, Bodriggy, Lulie Tavern or Mikey’s.

Plenty of small things are behind Rita’s sustained success, but the biggest contributor is the pizza. Favourites such as the Bingo Bango with Napoli sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, pancetta, caramelised onion and olives have been on the menu since the start. And the mushroom round with garlic, mozzarella, gruyere, oregano and truffle oil hits the spot every time. Pair it with a tight selection of Italian beer, wine and cocktails and you’ve got a recipe for a good time every time, even after 14 years.

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