Coming Soon: 13 New Venues Opening in Sydney Before the End of 2025

We’re well over halfway through 2025, and it happened quick. Simply excellent restaurants, bars and cafes have joined our ranks already. But there are plenty more promised before the year is out.

Here are 13 soon-to-open venues we’re looking forward to, and two projects that have been pushed to 2026.

Sakura House, CBD

The Waratah duo – bar star Evan Stroeve and industry newcomer Cynthia Litster – are going again. This time in the CBD with a late-night basement izakaya close to Fabbrica, The Gidley and the ever-expanding offering of Martin Place. There’ll be live music, plates from Cho Cho San’s ex-head chef Nick Sherman and a 4am licence.

Cocktails include highballs and four iterations of a Japanese classic: the Lemon Sour. The tapped house pour stars vodka, yuzu, lemon and fizz, alongside an ever-changing seasonal trio. First on Broadsheet ’s to-drink list? The Fizz, where mango mochi cream meets amaretto, citrus and roasted chestnut.

Sakura House is expected to open at 82–84 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, in late 2025.

Ard, Stanmore

Christiana Daaboul is behind Ard, the market pop-up known for plant-based baked goods that lean into her Lebanese heritage. Her cinnamon scrolls, decadent baklava creations and cream-topped pistachio buns are go-tos at The Rocks market, and until recently you could order custom bakes. But now, she’s pouring all her energy into her first proper bakery, readying to open in Stanmore soon.

Ard is expected to open at 2a Stafford Street, Stanmore, in late 2025.

South End, Newtown

A new trio is moving into a small space on King Street, opening a dining room that’ll be “tomato Europe in summer, potato Europe in winter”. Ex-Fred’s head chef Hussein Sarhan, ex-Ester sous Alex Tong and hospitality veteran Paul Guiney are behind South End, which arrives next week.

Bookings are open in the small, light-filled corner spot, so get ready for an opening menu that spans potato rosti topped with Tete de Moine cheese and chestnut honey, a tomatoey pesto and potato jumble, herby new-season asparagus and golden roast chicken doused in nettle butter.

“The Botany View Hotel opposite – David Thompson cooked Thai there,” Sarhan told Broadsheet. “And when we were doing the research on the building, this place has been a food and beverage venue for well over half a century, since the early ’60s. It’s been Thai, Italian, Indigenous cooking, everything in between. So it feels right for us, you know?”

South End is set to open at 644 King Street, Newtown, on Thursday October 23, 2025.

Flaminia, Circular Quay

Hot-Listed restaurant Pilu at Freshwater is an Italian dining gem on the Northern Beaches. Now, after more than 20 years of plating dishes inspired by chef-owner Giovanni Pilu’s Sardinian heritage, it’s opening a second venue, Flaminia in Circular Quay.

The relaxed restaurant, located on the second floor of the Pullman Quay Grand, is named after the ship that brought the Pilu family from Italy to Australia in 1959. The menu will draw on specialities from Italian port cities like Venice, Catania, Genoa and Portofino. There’ll also be a crudo bar where you can get freshly shucked oysters among other seafood plates.

Flaminia is expected to open at 61 Macquarie Street, Sydney, in summer 2025.

Aambra, Rose Bay

A Levantine restaurant is readying to open in a 120-year-old church in Rose Bay. Aambra reinvigorates a special space that’s sat dormant for a decade, with room for around 150 – across indoor and outdoor dining rooms – and a large menu led by ex-Nour chef Gianluca Lonati that champions flavours from Iraq, Lebanon, Cyprus and beyond.

The original 10-metre-high cathedral ceiling lends a special quality, as do the rainbow panels of stained glass on the windows. The kitchen will feature an open-flame grill, with bar seats the best spot for a view, and outside, a deck wraps around with room for 50. Creating that kitchen is no mean feat when dealing with a heritage building dating back to 1905.

Aambra is expected to open at 518a Old South Head Road, Rose Bay, in mid-November 2025.

Rick Stein Coogee

The British chef known for his classic approach to seafood – and two Aussie holiday diners at Bannisters in Port Stephens and Mollymook – will make his Sydney debut this year, nice and close to the beach.

Rick and his wife and business partner Sarah Stein will take over the oceanfront 224-seater on the ground floor of the incoming Intercontinental Sydney Coogee Beach. The menu will follow Rick’s long-held personal mantra: “Nothing is more exhilarating than fresh fish simply cooked”. That means Nelson Bay mahi mahi, Port Stephens pipis and Ulladulla mackerel. Singapore chilli crab will use blue swimmers from Nelson Bay. Of course, there’ll be fish and chips with mushy peas.

Rick Stein at Coogee Beach is expected to open within the Intercontinental Sydney Coogee Beach, 224 Arden Street, in November 2025.

Watermans, CBD

The Bentley boys, Nick Hildebrandt and Brent Savage, didn’t give up on the 2000 postcode when they closed Monopole in September. Rather, they shifted their focus closer to the harbour, where they’re opening Watermans in time for summer.

The eastern Mediterranean 120-seater has an open kitchen with a large custom woodfired grill and oven. It’s to be led by former Barzaari chef Darryl Martin, who made a name for himself cooking Cypriot, Lebanese, Greek and Turkish food at the since-closed Marrickville diner.

By the water, expect “vegetable-forward” dishes including hummus with green zhoug, and labneh with cucumber and lemon jam, plus bigger dishes like John Dory with chermoula, and pomegranate-glazed lamb with pickled radishes and black lime.

Watermans is expected to open at 88 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, in November 2025.

Unnamed Maybe Sammy bar, Circular Quay

Fresh from reopening El Primo Sanchez in the just-vacated Four Pillars space on Crown Street, the Maybe Group is planning a newcomer by the water. An as-yet-unnamed bar – which will nod to the Mexican Riviera – will move into the harbourside Hacienda space.

The Maybe Group’s new bar is expected to open at 61 Macquarie Street, Sydney, in late 2025.

Happy Shop, Haberfield

The Happyfield team is opening another cheery joint just a few doors down – this one a more casual spin-off that heroes NY-style chopped cheese sangas and sugar-dusted beignets (New Orleans-style doughnuts).

The chef wants those doughnuts on tables, stat. “They are like little pillows of sugar and happiness with every bite.” The new spot is geared more towards a takeaway offering with a focus on breakfast and lunch classics. There’ll be counter service, plus courtyard seating. Here’s hoping the McLovin muffins make the jump over.

Happy Shop is expected to open at 68 Dalhousie Street, Haberfield in late 2025.

Folio Bar, Walsh Bay

Exciting things are happening by the harbour, especially in Walsh Bay’s theatre district. The Wharf Restaurant & Bar has just replaced the on-the-water joint at Sydney Theatre Company’s space on Wharf 4/5. And before the year’s out, Folio will revamp the dining room inside Roslyn Packer Theatre.

It’s going to be swish New York-style service, with enough pace that you can safely dine pre-show. Charlie Ainsbury (ex-This Must be the Place) is leading the bar, where you can expect classics, twists and an tight wine list. “I’m inspired by the institution bars of midtown Manhattan,” Ainsbury said in a statement. “Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle, and Sardis, which has been at the top of Broadway for over 100 years – places that have become cultural landmarks where art, music and hospitality intersect.”

Folio Bar is expected to open at Roslyn Packer Theatre, 22 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, in November 2025.

Winona Wine 3.0

Manly’s favourite bottle-o is a northern beaches go-to for its range of lo-fi wines, craft beers and boutique spirits (plus snacks, glassware and more nice things for your home). Winona maxed out that love with the opening of an Avalon outpost in December 2024, and now it’s crossing the bridge. The team is keeping mum on where exactly Winona 3.0 will live, but our money is on the inner west – maybe even Parramatta Road.

Winona’s third store is expected to open in November 2025.

Bistro Bondi

The Lox in a Box team just opened and closed Greenbergs, its “counter and caterer” in the old Burger Park spot in Bondi. The hefty salads have made way for a takeaway-geared outlet for Lox in a Box, replacing the bagel spot’s OG takeaway garage 150 metres away (which closed suddenly last month due to not having the correct DA).

Soon though, the crew will be opening Bistro Bondi next door. The Euro fit-out’s nearly there: expect warm lighting, frilly curtains in the window and booth seating aplenty.

Bistro Bondi is expected to open in late October 2025.

Grill Americano, CBD

In February, Chris Lucas – the restaurateur behind a clutch of Melbourne dining rooms, like Maison Batard, Kisume and Society – announced he was adding to his Sydney stable: Grill Americano, his polished Venetian grill restaurant on Flinders Lane, is hitting our CBD.

In just over a month, we’ll be eating from a menu led by Vincenzo Ursini, in a ground-floor dining room within the historic Qantas House building. Expect friendly, white-jacketed floor staff; silver service; steak and pasta aplenty; and that tiramisu.

Grill Americano will open at 1 Chifley Square, Sydney, on Wednesday November 19, 2025.

Plus, Sydney Airport’s domestic revamp

Terminal three at Sydney Kingsford Smith, the domestic terminal exclusively operated by Qantas, is getting an overhaul as we speak – and quite a few local restaurants and cafes are getting involved.

Fourteen new dining destinations will begin opening in late 2025 – including an Icebergs outpost, Rara Ramen, Stitch Coffee and Loulou Boulangerie.

Pushed to 2026

Sydney fish market

After construction delays, lawsuits and more, we have an opening date: Monday January 19, 2026.

The new market will be more connected to the city, with two nearby light rail stops and a pedestrian path joining the future builds of a public ferry wharf (reported to be hitting the old fish market site, along with an apartment development) and a metro station for Pyrmont.

The pushed 2026 launch date does mean we’ll be buying our Christmas prawns at the original fish markets, just next door. Our oft-romanticised market is the third largest in the world and has been located at Blackwattle Bay since 1966. In 2016, the NSW government announced the markets would move around the corner to a site on Bridge Road. In 2020 the massive build was approved. This year’s 36-hour seafood marathon, from 5am on December 23, will be the old girl’s last – and sure to bring a record turnout.

There are 40 retailers confirmed to hit the three-storey build, operating with double the opening hours we’re used to.

The new Sydney Fish Market will open on Monday January 19, 2026.

A Sydney first from a Melbourne pasta whizz, Double Bay

Andreas Papadakis, the pasta maestro of Melbourne’s lauded Tipo 00, is making the move to the Harbour City. The as-yet unnamed restaurant was expected to open in Double Bay, as part of the Ruby House development on Bay Street, in late 2025. But it’s now slated for next year.

While it won’t be another Tipo, we’re expecting the same refined Italian edge – perhaps the signature squid-ink tagliolini tangled with calamari, flawless gnocchi and service, service, service.