Hanoi Hannah Is Leaving Windsor After a 14-Year Run

Commune Group restaurants have steadily sprouted across the south-east over the past 14 years. But before Studio Amaro, before Firebird, before Moonhouse, before Tokyo Tina, there was only one: Hanoi Hannah. The restaurant brought fun, fresh, affordable Vietnamese to Chapel Street, and locals have been onboard ever since. 

Still, behind the scenes, management’s feet were itching.

“We’ve been thinking about moving Hanoi Hannah to a new restaurant for a really long time,” says Commune Group’s managing director, Rob Gringlas. “But the timing over the last four or five years just didn’t feel right.”

Then the group inspected a space at the forthcoming Cecil Place Precinct on Chapel Street, diagonally opposite from Revolver. “It felt really good,” Gringlas says. The strength of the development’s other hospitality tenants, who are yet to be announced, was just the nuoc cham on the vermicelli.

Hanoi Hannah will reopen at the Prahran address before spring is out, taking its much-loved vermicelli bowls, salads, rice paper rolls, pho and other classics along.

“We really want to make sure that those who have been coming to Hanoi Hannah for years get what they’re expecting, you know?” Gringlas says. “There are dishes that have been on that menu from day one.”

But this isn’t just a move – it’s also a step up. Several new dishes are joining the menu, alongside a refreshed cocktail program and new house beer brewed by Stomping Ground. These changes underscore the commitment to sit-down dining, something that waned a little at the original Hanoi Hannah in the aftermath of Covid. The new Prahran location will be open for lunch and dinner seven days, with thought put into coffee, putting it on an even footing with Hanoi Hannah Elsternwick.   

“One of the things we’re excited about is continuing to reinvest into Chapel Street,” Gringlas says. “We’ve always been a local business. And I think this is still a local restaurant. Where Commune has always thrived and will continue to thrive is really getting the community restaurant feel. And that’s what we’re really aiming to do again.”

Hanoi Hannah Prahran will open at 236–242 Chapel Street, Prahran in spring 2026.

hanoihannah.com.au