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

• First look: Blackheath’s Blaq scores two Michelin-approved chefs. Comedor’s star chef Alejandro Huerta and pastry chef Galia Valadez have taken over the Kyah’s hotel dining room. Make the trip for a loose riff on Peking duck and a Guadalajara-style lamb barbacoa.

• The Pavonis’ first true bar, Vineria Luisa, opens behind Sydney’s best facade. Head in for G&Ts served in whopping goblets and Alessandro’s most adventurous food menu so far.

• The blackboard rules at Cicci, Balmain’s new Italian wine bar. There are 30 drops by the glass and a daily menu by a chef who’s spent time in the Icebergs, Pilu and Ormeggio kitchens.

• Tiktok sensation Cherry’s Goods brings her viral cookies to a CBD kiosk. Follow the queue through The Galeries and you’ll find exceptionally gooey cookies and an ultra-frothy pistachio matcha.

• First look: 24 York, Rockpool’s new CBD dining room, is all about one thing – steak frites.

• The frites frenzy continues with Loulou Bistro, which opened in Martin Place this week. The all-day beauty serves caramelised brioche in the morning and French bistro classics like steak frites-stuffed baguettes at night.

• First look: Olotl, Newtown’s adored weekend-only taqueria, finds a permanent home. That means more space for some of our best tortillas, a generations-old mole recipe and ultra-limited tamales.

• First look: Stanmore went nearly three decades without a local butcher, then Meaty’s moved in.

• First look: Bakso Barokah blesses Surry Hills with colossal Indonesian meatballs. At the new warung, the soup forecast is spicy with a 100 per cent chance of meatballs.

• Queuing is serious business at Sundays, the scroll micro-bakery. Broadsheet ’s Lucy Bell Bird waited more than an hour for a spongy, sticky cinnamon scroll – and she’d do it again.

• First look: Surry Hills favourite MLK Deli takes its Risky Brisket sangas to Kogarah Bay.

• First look: at Rovollo, an ex-Clam Bar chef’s pici carbonara is literally made with fire.

Closures

• O Tama Carey is to close her Darlinghurst restaurant Lankan Filling Station after “seven long, wild and glorious years”. But there’s still time to dine.

• One of Sydney’s best ramen joints is closing, but there’s a new address for its chicken shiro shoyu bowls and standout prawn toast. It’s not goodbye, just see you later.

• Manly’s Queen Chow will close on Tuesday August 5, making way for the Artemus Group (Felons Brewing, Felons Seafood) to redevelop the wharf. “[We extend] heartfelt thanks to the local community for its unwavering support,” Merivale said in a statement. “The group is actively working with affected team members to explore new opportunities within its broader hospitality portfolio.”

Additional reporting by Lucy Bell Bird, Howard Chen, Jasmine Crittenden, Ben Hansen and Pilar Mitchell.