Coming Soon: 10 Melbourne Restaurants To Watch Out for in 2026

2025 proved to be a huge year for Melbourne restaurant openings, with Yiaga, Yang Thai, Daphne, Zareh, the new Geralds Bar and many others. And the new year brings its own exciting openings. 

From Andrew McConnell’s highly anticipated new CBD restaurant to the Carnation Canteen team’s next move and Lune’s new mega venue, here are 10 venues to watch out for this year.

Roma and Sergio’s, CBD

Con Christopoulos is behind some of the city’s best venues including Kafeneion, Angel Music Bar, Siglo and Le Pub. This year, he’ll add two new spots to his impressive stable with the opening of Roma and Sergio’s, both at 120 Collins Street. Roma will be a trattoria inspired by his favourite city in the world, and Sergio’s will be a bar and record store named for legendary Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. Matt Wilkinson (co-founder of Pope Joan) will join Roma as chef and co-owner, and Giovanni Patane (co-founder of Supermaxi) will oversee the floor. And the record store inside Sergio’s will be run by Greg Molinaro of Abbotsford’s Hub 301, who Christopoulos describes as “the grandaddy of dance music in Melbourne”.

Cote Basque, CBD

This year Andrew McConnell will open his first new Melbourne restaurant since Gimlet, with his partner Jo McGann. Cote Basque, a European grill inspired by the Basque coast, is expected to open at 25 Crossley Street this winter. The team worked with Vince Alafaci and Caroline Choker of Acme, the same design firm behind Trader House venues Gimlet and Apollo Inn. 

Bar Carnation, Carlton North

Carnation Canteen chef and owner Audrey Shaw wasn’t planning on opening a bar. That was until Gerald Diffey contacted her and suggested she might like to take over the original Geralds Bar space. Early this year, Shaw will open Bar Carnation in the 386 Rathdowne Street site. The menu will include staples like aperitivo-style snacks, pasta and steak frites while a blackboard list of daily specials will mirror the commitment to seasonality that’s become Carnation Canteen’s calling card. The footprint of the bar will remain largely intact, too. The biggest change with Bar Carnation will occur in the back room, which will become a bottle shop, complete with marble-topped tasting bench and a six-door fridge.

Daybaker, Abbotsford

Charlie Duffy, a Tivoli Road Bakery alum who most recently oversaw pastries at Small Batch, will finally open his own bakery this year. Daybaker, in the former Little Molli Abbotsford site, will focus on laminated pastries – the items Duffy has built his reputation on. But you’ll also find salads, Roman-style pizzas and sandwiches made from house-baked bread. Plus, smaller cakes such as a Meyer lemon cake with whipped buffalo curd. There’ll be an open kitchen, and floor-to-ceiling windows will mean people walking past will be able to see the team making pastries from the street. 

Lune, CBD

Early next year, Lune will open a new Melbourne CBD store. The 418-square-metre “mega Lune”, as founder Kate Reid describes it, will be a retail space and production site at the bottom of the Ritz-Carlton. When people line up on the corner of Spencer and Lonsdale streets – and let’s face it, there will be lines – they’ll be able to look into the raw pastry kitchen and see chefs making dough, laminating pastry and shaping croissants. Inside, the fit-out by In Addition will have all the design details associated with the brand: black mirrored glass; a long concrete bench; stainless-steel tables with stools and banquettes that can seat 50 guests. New touches are the bluestone floor tiles, meant to reference the NGV, and the dropped lighting around the pastry display, inspired by runways.

Garfield, Carlton

Garfield is the first of three venues Jamie Valmorbida will open in the King & Godfree building this year. The pizzeria, next to Pidapipo, will draw influence from Neapolitan pizzerias, Japan’s pizza scene and Aussie nostalgia. Karen Martini (Bar Carolina), who Jamie also worked with on the 2024 Johnny’s Green Room revamp, will serve as culinary director for all three businesses. The names and menus for Valmorbida’s other two venues – an all-day neighbourhood osteria and a basement-level cocktail and music bar – are yet to be announced. 

Tochi Deli, Coburg

Shingo and Rena Tochimoto opened Tochi Deli at Brunswick Market with a simple vision: to offer traditional, affordable Japanese food in an approachable setting. They closed the original location in July and will reopen in Coburg later this year.

Joop Joop, CBD

Boon Choou opened this year and quickly stood out in the CBD’s competitive Thai restaurant scene. The laneway venue is from Chalermpol Tancharoensap, Tanapat Limpaiboonwattana and Poowadon “Sam” Pothiprasert, who have a combined 35 years of experience at Palisa Anderson’s Sydney institution Chat Thai. The trio has brought the breadth of Thailand’s regional cuisines together under one roof – with a few family recipes you can’t find anywhere else.

The team will soon open Joop Joop (Thai for “kiss kiss”), a cocktail bar on Boon Choou’s second floor. There’ll be around 15 small plates on the menu, and each signature drink will have a corresponding dish designed to complement its flavour profile. Signature cocktails will include Sun Kiss – a lightly carbonated drink made with local mango cordial infused with lemon myrtle and makrut lime. Another, Burn Baby Burn, is a mix of whisky and corn-butter-fat-washed rum with toasted corn and caramelised coconut sugar. 

New Mischa Tropp venue, Collingwood

Kolkata Cricket Club chef Mischa Tropp closed his Collingwood restaurant Toddy Shop in December. The chef is readying a new venue in the same space, expected to open in February. The new offering will see Tropp work with, in his words, “a group of young up-and-coming industry legends and the next generation of Indian hospitality talent”.

Additional reporting by Michael Harden.