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 from the past 12 months, updated monthly. Some could become your new favourite; others may just be good for one memorable night. All are worth a try.
Here’s a tip: come hungry. A lot of these bars have killer menus that deserve to be explored.
Related pages:
Best Bars in Melbourne
Best New Restaurants in Melbourne
Best New Cafes in Melbourne
Choose your own adventure across three bars, 12 bowling lanes, a gaming arcade, a dance floor and a massive beer garden. At this spot (which has room for 600 punters) you clearly come for the activities. But you stay for the 45 beer taps, kegged cocktails, pizzas and pub food.
Squeeze into this tiny, 100-year-old caretaker’s quarters for what may be Victoria’s smallest pub. Behind Tassie oak bar you’ll find Guinness on tap, a short cocktail list and British pub snacks to keep you mint.
Shane Delia’s cocktail bar, right next to his flagship Maha restaurant. Enter for classic cocktails turned on their head by a world-class bartender and a cracking bar menu of beefy borek buns, taramasalata tarts and a saucy lamb sanga.
Chef Chris Terlikar is best known for smoky slabs of Texas-style barbeque. But you’ll find none of that at this charming 140-year-old former pub. Instead? House-made charcuterie, luscious pasta and a roaming cocktail trolley.
In the same way as its sibling Pinchy’s is all about champagne and lobster, this swish bar champions another age-old pairing – with oyster degustations and around 500 Burgundy wines to choose from. Find it hidden in a low-key CBD arcade.
Once a notorious pub with a chequered past, this north-side institution is now a glowing venue for special occasions, date nights and all-round good times. It includes an Eastern Mediterranean diner, a late-night vinyl-only bar and a sprawling beer garden.
Five storeys up, this compact open-air bar offers fruit-forward cocktails and punchy, barbeque-driven Thai food from downstairs sibling BKK. With glass balustrades and dual retractable awnings, it’s the perfect all-weather spot to enjoy city views.
Her’s first floor bar is an immersive, sound-proof space dedicated to vinyl, premium spirits and sparkling wines. Inspired by Japanese and European record bars, it’s where you’ll hear a unique, DJ-curated soundtrack each night, courtesy of the 3000-strong vinyl collection behind the sleek timber bar.
Open midday to midnight, this intimate bar has a surprisingly large beer garden. Walk through to find 1.5 metric tonne smoker slowly tenderising beef brisket, pork shoulder, chicken wings and German-style smoked cheese kransky.
Hop-forward IPAs are the main game at this soaring warehouse brewery, but sours, saisons and dark beers are also on frequent rotation. Pair with a charcuterie box or pizza and you’re all set.
Melbourne-born brewery Kaiju is headquartered in a converted warehouse with capacity for 156 punters. Slide into a retro orange booth and try small-batch exclusives, double IPAs and the brewer’s revered tropical pale ale. You can also expect perfectly crisp Neapolitan-style pizzas.
Evoking a lost piece of Melbourne’s pre-colonial landscape, this tiny bar inside an ornate, heritage-listed space has a striking indoor waterfall that doubles as a back-bar. Come for vibrant cocktails and a seasonal menu of snacks celebrating native ingredients.
Named after a Tom Petty album – and rocking an appropriate soundtrack – Lulie’s Cali-inspired rooftop bar is all sun, stone and succulents. Head upstairs for zesty cocktails from a cactus-shaped dispenser and a riff on the Hungry Jack’s Whopper.
One of Melbourne’s favourite pub groups has added the 1871 neighbourhood watering hole to its stable. And while the bright green facade might be gone, the corner pub still has all of its old-school charm.
Shrouded by a striking copper veil, this award-winning gin distillery is a sight to behold. Find a cellar door, a glowing gin shop, a very green gin garden, multiple events spaces and more at this unmissable Healesville distillery.
An Italian mega-venue sprawling across four storeys of a late-1800s building. Get your golden-hour cocktail fix on the rooftop, then head downstairs to the golden-lit trattoria for pizza made from a family recipe. Or a barrel-aged Negroni in the cocktail bar.
The longstanding pub is now in the hands of Rustica owner Brenton Lang. Have a seafood feast in the greenery-surrounded glasshouse or wrap your hands around a big burger in the charmingly refurbed dining room.
A homey neighbourhood wine bar set in a Victorian-era building. Find filled-to-the-brim bagels and Reubens by day, and fancy bar snacks and wines that punch above their weight by night.
No cocktail shakers, no ice, and everything is served in the same wineglass. With some serious technique, the team wants to broaden our ideas of what a cocktail can be.
Pierre Stock was the sommelier and wine buyer at iconic bistro France-Soir for 10 years. This is his appointment-only wine destination, where you can snack and sip while he matches you with the perfect bottle (or case).
At the intimate Nazar, Turkish chef Ayhan Erkoc reimagines dishes he grew up eating. Breakfast staple sujuk and eggs is unrecognisable (and bite-sized) here, plus find duck pastirma and beetroot-and-labneh kebabs.
A moodily lit diner that hits all the right notes, with a big hit of nostalgia. Slide into a cushy booth for a glossy pepperoni pizza – or a culture-crossing mortadella and pineapple. Then bring a round of Negronis to the pool table.
Right across from Prahran Market, the facade isn’t exactly attention-grabbing. But what’s inside certainly is. The stomping fried-chicken sanga and rotating pasta line-up make this communal wine bar a local’s favourite.
An inclusive, accessible home for the music scene in the west. Grab a reasonably priced jug, see a gig, then plonk yourself down in the colourful beer garden.
A familial corner spot in a rejuvenated 1874-built pub. Expect hearty Sunday roasts, shareable pies and sausage rolls, and plenty of west-side pride.
A 70-seater neighbourhood wine bar in a former antiques-restoration shop. Bathe in the chandelier’s buttery glow in the front room, or head out back to get toasty by the fire. There’s a 180-strong wine wall, plus hummus swimming in chilli oil and charcuterie hampers to go.
A charming, light-filled wine bar from two Melbourne hospitality veterans. Expect French-leaning fare driven by razor-sharp technique. Plus an excellent wine list spanning Australia, France, Italy and Germany.
Sip smoky eucalyptus-infused Margs and gummy-bear-garnished Cosmos by a former co-founder of Maybe Sammy, Australia’s best-ranked bar. Then feast on elevated pub classics by celebrated Melbourne chef Ian Curley.
Hit up this community-focused watering hole for Aussie wines, Melbourne beers, and produce sourced from Victorian farms and businesses within the bar’s five-kilometre radius.
This sake bar wants to make the Japanese fermented rice drink more accessible. Soak up sparkling, fruit-driven and more savoury sakes over ice, on a tasting flight or in a sharp cocktail. You’ll also find fried-fish sandos and gingery dumplings.
Is it a cocktail bar? A wine bar? A bistro? It’s all of that, depending on your mood and the occasion. Visit for standout Martinis with creative house twists, plus devilled eggs, veal schnitties and the possibility of making good friends.
Ascend to this colourful sky-high Mexican bar and diner, which stands out with its bright umbrellas and geometric floors. It’s serving tacos stacked with pork, flathead or tender cactus, as well as quesabirrias, tuna tostadas, Mexican beers and non-alcoholic horchata.
The sibling to South Melbourne’s Half Acre is big and ritzy. Come for woodfired steaks and porchetta, big salads, a roving cake trolley and cocktails shaken six at a time in an elaborate hand-cranked machine with a connection to Singapore’s most iconic hotel.
This iconic pub has three distinct venues across multiple levels of a 1915 building. Get your aperitivo hour fix at the Studio 54-inspired bar upstairs, with lo-fi wines and snack plates. Then head downstairs to the moody, flame-focused restaurant for charcoaled seafood and steaks. Or straight to the gastropub for oysters, chargrilled burgers and a 200-strong wine list.
Hit this airy warehouse for natural wine and limoncello slushies on tap, pop-up kitchen takeovers, late-night DJ sessions and rotating artist residencies – all courtesy of Nic Coulter, co-owner of the adjacent Neptune Food & Wine.
The Saint Hotel’s schmick upstairs listening bar features world-first audiophile speakers, a high-end Swiss-made DJ mixer and a creative cocktail menu. Dancing is optional, but with a 3am license, pretty much inevitable.
Settle into the minimalist dining room, or take a seat on the rooftop, at this lively Latin-inspired eatery. Go for smoky bite-sized arepas, slow-cooked chargrilled seafood and three kinds of tostadas. Plus, more than 50 types of tequila and mezcal.
From the food to the decor, everything at this day-to-night cafe is simple and community-minded. By day, find pastries from Ovens Street bakery, comforting breakfasts, and rotating soups and salads. By night, expect DJs and good drinks.
Come for oak, mulberry and pomegranate gins distilled in the former warehouse space. Try riffs on classic cocktails, including an updated Southside and a pomegranate and sumac-infused spin on the Cosmopolitan.
Come to the old Stevedore’s Association building-turned-distillery for gins like the accidentally barrel-aged Mighty Apollo, Negronis infused with smoke, and an assortment of house-made spirits including brandy, whisky and limoncello.
Enjoy Aussie wines and local spirits alongside hand-rolled pasta, chicken parmigiana and steaks from the grill right at this classic pub opposite the Queen Vic Market. Spend the night in one of the “micro hotel rooms” or drinking in the basement whisky bar.
In a timber-panelled room that feels of another time, get ready for four types of Martini, a daily menu of shellfish on ice, and a stand-out crème caramel dessert.
This dark and moody spot celebrates a bygone era of late-night drinking and dining. Come for an inventive cocktail menu inspired by Beethoven’s fifth symphony, rare spirits and wild boar croquettes.
The Sydney staple’s first Melbourne outpost is pouring wild ales, natural wines and sour Negronis. Come to the hybrid bottle shop and bar for beer-infused cocktails, Belgian lambics and a snack-driven menu.
The dark, moody bar highlights American wines alongside greats from Australia and France. Stop by for a glass and bar snacks, and experience part of the historical CBD space.
This tranquil bolt-hole amid the bustle of Chinatown is built on the motto “drink less, drink better”. It’s pouring small-batch whiskies and a tight list of cocktails. Why not stay for just one – or two?
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