All the New Sydney Restaurant, Bar and Cafe Openings We Got Excited About in August 2025

• Silver’s Motel , a whisky bar “for everyone”, makes its amber-hued debut on Enmore Road. PS40’s owner is on cocktail duty, and there’s a 350-plus whisky line-up that took its co-owner a decade to collect.

• Vin-Cenzo’s , the “Bar Copains of Darlinghurst”, arrived in the adored Bar Vincent space, which has had a charming, periwinkle-blue overhaul. The team also share why they had to change so much , despite their promise to “continue as is”.

• First look: the two owners at Frankly Nick’s have been making pizza since they were 17. Local lore says the second-generation joint is the first place to serve dinner in the area for more than three decades – and the slices have a cheese pull you have to see to believe.

• First look: Big Sam Young and Grace Chen honour the Chinese diaspora at Young’s Palace – and one week in, bookings are already tricky to come by. The menu’s dedicated to Chinatowns around the world, with cheery plates of sweet and sour pork, honey king prawns, lemon chicken and some outstanding ginger and soy scallops.

• First look: Enmore Road doesn’t sleep. In the last month or so, the stretch has welcomed four new bars that are keeping up with their heavy-hitting neighbours – and Deadwax is one of the newcomers. The listening bar opens with vinyl request nights and a Japanese-leaning menu. Soon there’ll be karaoke and a 2am close.

• Grandfather’s , from the team behind Pellegrino 2000 and Clam Bar, opened in the CBD. The Chinese restaurant heroes the Guangdong and Sichuan regions, with a daily yum cha and supper service on the way.

• Rasa House is the wine bar that Rose Bay needed. The low-key, big-flavoured waterfront spot has a menu spanning South and Southeast Asia and beyond. Vinyl’s spinning, natural wine’s pouring and cocktails have an Asian accent.

• Everyone’s got a story about the spinning restaurant at the top of Sydney Tower (aka Centrepoint Tower). The icon enters its new era with esteemed chef Mark Best. Head up to Infinity for sea urchin crumpets, prawn and black vinegar dumplings, and oysters that honour this once-loved Surry Hills spot.

• Balmain lost Casa Esquina, its Argentinian grill restaurant this week. But in its place comes Elliott’s , a spot for live music and cheery bistro plates.

• The quieter end of Bondi’s O’Brien Street is now home to the third Kazzi Beach Greek , a breezy spot that’s as comfy doing early-morning brekkie (rich, traditional Greek coffees – made in a briki – start at 7am) as night-time dining (the seafood platter delivers charred prawns, swordfish skewers, crispy whitebait, grilled barramundi and more, along with fries and bread).

• Etheus is yet another piece in Sydney’s Greek ever-expanding Greek scene, opening in the old Promenade spot in Bondi. The interiors are fresh, and there’s a share-ready menu. Just-fired pita bread is for ferrying tzatziki, fava or taramosalata to your gob, before getting into whole king prawns wrapped in kataifi and fried, golden ouzo-soaked saganaki.

• First service: Gran Torino – Neil Perry’s quick, swish pivot from Song Bird – brings a new name, new menu and the same Neil to the multi-storey dining room. “I’m not really capable of going off in another direction,” Perry told Broadsheet , “of doing anything but using the best produce, working with great suppliers, working with a great team and building a big menu.”

• Homer Rogue Taverna is the charmingly unpolished Greek 100-seater that’s been hot out of the gate. The small, family team spent 10 days eating around tavernas, koutoukia and gastrokafenio in Athens, picking up reference points for their Cronulla digs. The results are well worth your time, and include a dish one Broadsheet editor can’t stop thinking about.

Closures

• In late July, Cherry’s Goods opened a CBD kiosk for its viral chunky cookies and out-there matcha creations. Just 13 days later it closed. The team is assessing what needs to be done to get back up and running, demonstrating another side to the influence social media plays in the hospo industry.

• Small’s Deli , the beloved Potts Point sanga shop, has called time. Adored by Sydney and Queen Nigella alike, you’ve got limited time to nab that outstanding Al Green and the nicoise-esque Marsa.

• After a valiant 13-year run, the Bentley team is closing its French dining room Monopole. But the next project for the group is already in the works.

Additional reporting by Lucy Bell Bird, Howard Chen, Jasmine Crittenden, Ben Hansen, Callum McDermott and Bineeta Saha.