Summer Dining Sorted: Five of the Hottest New Sydney Venues of 2025

There never seems to be a quiet year in hospitality. But 2025 has felt particularly big. We’ve had restaurants, bars and cafes of all sorts join the scene this year – which we celebrated at Broadsheet’s inaugural Best of the Year event last month. Grandfathers took home the Hottest of the Year award, proudly presented by Kia, with the evening also recognising standout venues across a variety of categories. So, when the summer fever hits, it can be tricky to pick where to dine.

Don’t fear. Here are five red-hot venues that captured the city’s attention with flavour, style, service and funk.

Grandfathers, CBD

This neon-lit 140-seater was awarded Hottest of the Year. Housed in an L-shaped CBD dining room, it comes from the trio behind Clam Bar, Neptune’s Grotto and Pellegrino 2000 – a team that generates major anticipation whenever something new is announced.

Grandfathers marks a move away from the Eurocentric plates we’ve come to know the crew for. Instead, flavours from the Guangdong and Sichuan regions of China are heroed in a lengthy menu.

Head in for Sydney rock oysters zinged up with Chinese celery, technicolour pickle plates and a yellowfin crudo revved up with a deep-red, peppery oil. Then, steamer baskets of silky dumplings, a mouth-numbing husband and wife salad (that one chef picked as his dish of the year) and delicate chunks of steamed red emperor hiding in a deep bowl of ultra-green, super-fragrant broth. And that’s just a taste – you’ll want to dine with a big group, or over and over again.

While Grandfathers is a bit of a zag, the team’s trademark polished service, exceptional food, eye for detail and attention to fun is in attendance. Expect high vibes till late.

@grandfathersrestaurant

Appizza, Darlinghurst

Sydney summer was, for a good while there, characterised by fun, fizzy drinks on the Cafe Freda’s corner in Darlinghurst. Now, once again, those arching yellow windows are wide open to the buzzy intersection – this time with king-sized slices.

Appizza arrives just in time for the silly season, from AP Bakery and Cicerone’s Stefano de Caro. Whopping 22-inch rounds are sauced up with a secret-recipe passata of local and Sardinian tomatoes, ready as is or with your choice of cheese, pepperoni or dressed leaves.

Yep, salad. And that’s the pick this season, team. The big slices arrive with a slick crown of leaves, zingy with a tangy, liquorice-scented dressing. To drink, there are frozen Spicy Margs, a three-part wine list, beers on tap and swirls of soft serve for dessert.

And just like that, Sydney’s most vibrant corner is back.

@appizza.syd

Homer, Cronulla

The flavour of 2025 was Greek, and some exceptional Sydney newcomers stuck to the theme. While Olympic Meats shines in Marrickville with a smoking grill and triple-fried chippies, and the 2025 People’s Choice Award Olympus dazzles under a bougainvillea, Homer wins with a bit of grit.

Forget white-washed interiors and Mykonos blues. Homer is Athenian: rough cement walls, imperfections embraced, come-as-you-are vibe, and a large walk-up wine fridge running along one wall.

The menu is playful too, leaning into the creative tavernas, koutoukia and gastro kafenio popular in the Greek capital. There are woodfired flatbreads topped with prawn saganaki or spanakopita-style spinach mix, and just-warm dolmades with a bit of char and a topping of zesty avgolemono.

All that and more is waiting in Cronulla. Where – for those who don’t know – there are beaches and bushwalks ready for you to make a whole day of it.

@homer.cronulla

Sakura House, CBD

There are several hospo darlings in the Sydney scene – and The Waratah is run by two of them. Cynthia Litster and Evan Stroeve do the bar-or-restaurant thing in their double-decker spot on a Darlinghurst corner. And with izakaya Sakura House, they’re going for round two – underground.                                                    

The basement CBD joint’s drinks list has all the playfulness and precision we expect from award-winning bartender Stroeve. Four takes on Japan’s ever-popular Lemon Sour join Amaretto Fizzes topped with mango mochi cream and delicate, purple-hued house Martinis with shiso and pickled onion.

Add a few skewered takoyaki snacks, tidy rows of golden gyoza, veggie tempura and a Cho Cho San chef? The pair are back doing the bar-or-restaurant thing they do so well.

@sakurahousesydney

Primary, Marrickville

Some of Sydney’s best people-watching is done on a Potts Point block – at the original Primary, to be exact. And some of Sydney’s best chefs – Trisha Greentree, Isobel Whelan-Little,  Big Sam Young – name it as their top spot for coffee. So, last month, when owner Dan Kim opened an inner west outpost of his micro-roastery and cafe, it was big Sydney news.

In the industrial backstreets of Marrickville, Primary’s resurrected a cavernous warehouse with its single origin beans, Pioik’s excellent pastries and those perfect Short Stop doughnuts.

The minimalist energy remains, as does the precision and dedication to the beans. Take your cuppa away, pull up a bright crate or snag a stool at the pour-over bar – one salted honey cruller and a double-shot flatty for us.

@primarycoffee_

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the Kia EV3, the perfect small electric SUV to take you to tables worth crossing the city for.