The Best New Bars in Melbourne

Updated 1 week ago

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While there’s always room for a drink at one of Melbourne’s best bars, it’s fun to try somewhere new, too. This is our edit of Melbourne’s best new bars, updated monthly. Some could become your new favourite; others may just be good for one memorable night. All are worth a try.

  • The husband-wife duo behind one of Melbourne’s most-loved Italian restaurants run this walk-in bar. It nods to Piedmont with vitello tonnato, duck-and-porcini ragu and Italian wines.

  • This backstreet bar focuses on wild-fermented drinks like saisons, lambics, organic lagers, sakes, mezcals and rums. Get them alongside punchy Thai dishes like house-fermented sausage, fried-banana-blossom salad and charcoal-grilled skewers.

  • The intimate spot has Americano cocktails prepared tableside and opulent olive oil Martinis. Plus, snacky flatbread stuffed with mortadella and spicy sausage spiedino, and 1960s Italian films projected on the walls.

  • Enter via the front door for this low-key bar, attached to 20-seat Indian fine diner Enter Via Laundry. Helly Raichura and her team are serving more-ish snacks from past menus and “nostalgic Indian cocktails”.

  • A welcoming spot for whiskey dates, cocktails with friends or just sitting at the bar. Make mates over a beer and bowl of pickle fries, while you learn your ryes from your bourbons.

  • The Arms is an ode to good old Aussie footy pubs. Mains are approachable, slightly elevated, pub classics. But the snacks and desserts nod to dishes popular throughout the venue’s life, like a riff on apricot chicken and sticky date pudding.

  • Like many bars, the idea for Lenny’s formed over a drinks with friends. Buy a bottle to drink in or takeaway. You can order pizza from neighbouring Homeslice and enjoy it in the courtyard, on the footpath or inside.

  • This west-side bar champions art and music, in the former home of Baby Snakes. The vibey spot – run by three friends – has DJs on rotation, fun cocktails and a party-ready dancefloor.

  • Park up by a sunny window and order fluffy shokupan topped with peach, ricotta and tomatoes, or pork cutlet dripping in a creative bacon glaze. Plus, honey cake that makes good use of the upstairs beehive.

  • Settle in at the car-park-turned-rooftop-bar for Greek-inspired cocktails or unwind in a booth downstairs. Wines are mostly Greek and Aussie, and share plates include saganaki croquettes and taramasalata with caviar.

  • Order up at Walrus, a low-key spot inspired by America’s west coast diner scene. It boasts a menu of pancake stacks with whipped butter, crisp US-style bacon, pecan pie by the slice and more in a lo-fi, *Twin Peaks*-style fit-out.

  • Entrecote’s 60-seat sibling is adorned with Persian rugs and chandeliers. Order luxe (but playful) French-Australian bites like beef bourguignon party pies, “petit franks” and a standout chicken sandwich.

  • Put a supplied sticker over your phone’s camera and you’re allowed into France-Soir’s romantic wine bar, where top-tier French cuvées, caviar and comté take the spotlight.

  • The rooftop bar is another accomplishment from the brains behind Askal and Kariton Sorbetes. Find experimental cocktails highlighting Filipino flavours, plus snacky dishes like feijoa jam on a toasted Chinese doughnut.

  • In a heritage building on Tattersalls Lane, this moody bar is all about late-nights, good times and killer cocktails. Come on weekends for DJs and a decent chance of a boogie.

  • Once a magnet for hard rock and metal fans, this revamped live-music pub now has something for everyone. Come for craft beers by The Mill brewery and a Mexican menu by Dingo Ate My Taco.

  • Spain’s late-night dining culture is alive at this moody basement bar by two top Sydney restaurateurs. Come for Iberian snacks and a banging tomato and anchovy oil Martini.

  • This local hero marries the Aussie milk bar with the American dive bar. Get salami and pickles, best paired with the local beers and refillable wine bottles.