The Best Beer Gardens in Melbourne
Beer gardens are meeting places – somewhere you can pull up stumps after a long day at work, sip on a freshly-poured pint, and proceed to vent to about your job and love life to a few good friends, in the shade of some lush foliage (even if it’s artificial greenery).
Beer gardens are more than just synonymous with Melbourne’s drinking culture, they’re one of its best features. In this guide you’ll find plenty of classic ones to choose from, but we’re not limiting ourselves to a strict definition for this one. As far as we’re concerned, if it’s open-air and serves drinks; it’s fair game.
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The Great Northern Hotel
If any pub can demonstrate the craft beer revolution, this 1883-classic makes a strong case. But aside from the quality selection pouring on tap, there’s plenty to love about this old man pub made cool again – not least of all the huge, dog-friendly beer garden.
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Waterside Hotel
There’s champagne and fancy hot dogs at the Waterside, but mostly it’s still just a local pub.
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Geralds Bar
This storied neighbourhood bar brims with nostalgia. Vintage books, yesteryear’s wine bottles and a glimmering disco ball decorate the space.
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The Standard
A gold-standard, inner-north staple where just about everyone knows your name. For the best seats in the house, it’s hard to choose between the festoon-lit benches out back and the hot real restate along the front bar.
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The Retreat Hotel Brunswick
Indie, comedy and even mariarchi shows have this live-music stalwart, where there’s something worth seeing almost every night. If guitars don’t amp you up, there’s a beer garden with plenty of dark nooks to do as the pub’s name suggests.
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Corner Hotel
You’re not a live music fan in Melbourne unless you’ve been to the Corner. The room – and its infamous solitary column – is rightfully an icon. But did you know it also has a killer rooftop and beer garden upstairs?
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Arbory Bar & Eatery
It’s hard to imagine the riverside without Arbory. Everyone’s been to this incredibly long al fresco bar and diner at some point, and if they haven’t, they’re destined to eventually. It’s open late, and there’s plenty of food and booze here to satisfy no matter when you visit.
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The Keys
Choose your own adventure across three bars, 12 bowling lanes, a gaming arcade, a dance floor and a massive beer garden. At this spot (which has room for 600 punters) you clearly come for the activities. But you stay for the 45 beer taps, kegged cocktails, pizzas and pub food.
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The Local Taphouse
If you love beer, a visit to The Local Taphouse is non-negotiable. It’s influenced by European taverns in the 1930s, and has one of the most curated beer lists in the country. Pair those drinks with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere – both inside and on the rooftop beer garden – and you have a craft beer destination worth travelling for.
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Prince Alfred Hotel Richmond
There’s always action in the Prince’s grand front bar, but it’s the breezy, shaded beer garden that really commands the crowds. It’s a south-side magnet, so get down early if you plan to eat your burger or a steak at a table.
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Leonard’s House of Love
This ’70s-inspired log cabin nails the casual-bar-meets-professional-house-party brief. Whether you’re dancing till 3am or hoeing into some the city’s finest fried chook in the al fresco area, Leonard’s guarantees a good time, every time.
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Welcome to Brunswick
4 Pines beer is brewed specially for this open-air garden-bar. You’ll also find food trucks with an ever-rotating selection of burgers, bao, and woodfired pizza. And it’s dog friendly, too.
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Howler
A former woolshed that’s been transformed into an intimate bar, arts hub and live music venue. The leafy beer garden has one of Melbourne’s most banging sound systems – not to mention a regular rotation of DJs who know how to use it.
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Stomping Ground Morris Moor
As far as warehouse conversions go, the sequel to Stomping Ground’s Collingwood brewpub is a doozy. It’s a vast indoor-outdoor space with a sun deck, festoon lighting, table tennis tables and a giant screen for live sport.
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Builders Arms Hotel
Under the stewardship of star chef Andrew McConnell, this classic old boozer feels as vital as ever. And the leafy, compact courtyard has lost none of its lived-in charm. Pull up on a balmy day for beers, snacky plates or its beloved fish pie.
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Welcome to Thornbury
This mammoth beer garden and food-truck park hosts a rotating cast of food trucks from around Melbourne. Throw in dozens of beer taps and 699 of your closest friends, and you’ve got a recipe for one of the best beer gardens in the city.
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Hardimans Hotel
This art deco boozer was originally built to resemble a ship, which explains its striking, wedge-like facade. Snag a spot in the beer garden for a brewery-inspired menu of woodfired pizzas, steaks, burgers and more. It has plenty of uncovered sections to soak up the sun in, and standing heaters for those cooler weekend afternoons.
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Mount Erica Hotel
This classic corner hotel was revamped by the Marquis of Lorne team, with a considered menu and exceptional wine list. The interior has a little Wes Anderson energy, with brooding timber panels and a roaring period fireplace. But the leafy outdoor area is the best spot for a pint in the sun.
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Whitehart
No other city in the country would slap a shipping container, some massive steel girders and a collection of ferns together and call it a beer garden. But Melbourne would, and there’s a solid rotation of drinks to go with the breezy, open-air vibe.
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The Bridge Hotel Werribee
The 1926-built Bridge Hotel has heritage charm in spades – plus three crackling open fireplaces, a spacious outdoor area and a nostalgic fisherman’s basket for some all-out Australiana.
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West Footscray Wines
This west-side wine bar and bottle shop, run by locals, is compact but comprehensive. Grab a bottle to go, or beeline to the colourful courtyard for freshly shucked oysters, local beers and approachable wines.
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The Post Office Hotel
At this art deco pub, you’re just as likely to catch scruffy rockers playing in the front bar as you are a bijou wedding in the gorgeous dining hall. Seek out its expansive beer garden which can rival any in Melbourne, complete with a working barbeque.
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Full Moon Fever
Named after a Tom Petty album – and rocking an appropriate soundtrack – Lulie Tavern’s Cali-inspired rooftop beer garden is all sun, stone and succulents. Head upstairs for zesty cocktails from a cactus-shaped dispenser and a riff on the Hungry Jack’s Whopper.
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Urban Ground
A massive, family- and dog-friendly spot in an old car-wrecking site in Mordialloc. The buzzing, all-in-one space caters to most with a food-truck park, health-food cafe and distillery. With a mix of high and low tables set under a big transparent roof and outside, it hums throughout the seasons.
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Holmes Hall
A neighbourhood watering hole with a pub-like atmosphere. Nab a spot in the beer garden to sip one-off collab beers, or sneak off and play Jurassic Park-themed pinball.
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Penny Young
At this bottle-o and attached beer hall, there are plenty of draught beers to drink on site, and more than 350 to take home (or drink here with a corkage fee). The indoor-meets-outdoor space is all about natural light, and has a retractable roof for Melbourne’s drizzly days.
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Hotel Lombardo
This Italian diner hits all the right notes, with a big hit of nostalgia. On any given night, it’s packed with diners of many stripes – huddled in intimate booths or sprawled out in the beer garden, which is dressed up with snaking greenery and, after dark, twinkling fairy lights.
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Brewdog Pentridge
The Scottish craft-beer brand found a home in Coburg’s historic Pentridge Prison. Head to the beer garden – set in a former prison yard – or the taproom in a grand old bluestone building. Find Australian-exclusive brews, sticky-glazed chicken wings and a full plant-based menu.
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Moon Dog World
Theme parks can be for adults, too. Moon Dog’s Preston HQ is decked out with a giant beer garden, pool, hidden tiki disco bar, and an indoor waterfall – and it has capacity for 725 patrons. There’s truly nothing else like it in Australia.
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Molly Rose
Inside an old furniture warehouse, this stylish and compact brewery produces some of the most complex beers in Melbourne, from farmhouse styles that mimic the flavour characteristics of wine, to coffee ales brewed in collaboration with Proud Mary. It also packs in a schmick restaurant (and beer garden) serving an inventive Southeast Asian-influenced menu.
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Windsor Castle Hotel
This quirky lime castle is an improbable oasis away from bustling Chapel Street, and it has a huge courtyard. During the warmer months it’s thronged with locals, all drinking iced beverages and frosty beers.
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