Melbourne’s Best New Restaurants of 2026 (So Far)

It’s already been a huge year for new restaurants, with one of the biggest openings – Andrew McConnell’s Cote Basque – yet to come. Over the past few months, historic pubs have found new life, Florentino (one of the city’s oldest dining institutions) has entered a bold new era, and top talent have brought exciting pop-ups to the scene, including Pebble from Cam Tay-Yap and Little Rose from Rosheen Kaul and Joe Jones. In the sea of newness, these 11 restaurants cut through. Among them,

you’ll find Audrey Shaw’s Carnation Canteen follow up, a Tokyo-inspired pizza joint on Lygon Street and a Lebanese restaurant hiding inside a Fairfield pub. Bar Carnation Audrey Shaw had a near impossible task. Transform the lauded Geralds Bar space into a venue that felt like her own, but honoured what came before. The Carnation Canteen chef, former architect and long-time Geralds regular nailed it. She left traces of the old blackboards and hung a painting by Gian Manik where an arresting Michael Cain portrait once

sat. Anytime I look around the room, there are dates that seem to be going well, friends locked into conversations with no phones in sight. Good times feels like Bar Carnation’s defining quality. The plates aren’t huge, but they’re hearty, and the whole place conspires to keep you at the table longer than you planned. – James Williams, creative solutions manager Bar Sofia, Glen Iris Finding parking near the once sleepy strip of Bourke Road opposite Bar Sofia has become a nightmare. In the past

year, it’s turned into a hub of great neighbourhood restaurants including Grazia and Riserva. Italian spots have reinvigorated the area, but Bar Sofia, from the Marameo team, has brought the city’s recent Greek wave to the suburb. A meal there must include an order of house-made halloumi from former Audrey’s chef Nick Deligiannis as well as a serve of flatbread pulled straight from the woodfired oven. That same oven is put to good use in dishes including butterflied king prawns with tarama and thyme butter

and lamb that’s left in the oven overnight to braise. Owner Michael Badr often works the floor, addressing regulars by name and providing a dose of old-school hospitality that will make you feel comfortably at home. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food & drink editor Chabela, Thornbury As I’ve written in previous years, every bit of diversity added to Melbourne’s limited Mexican scene feels like a minor blessing. In 2019 we got tortas. Circa 2021, it was birria tacos. Then in 2024, pozole, one of the

world’s great soups. And this year, courtesy of two former Mexico City residents, huaraches – house-made with blue corn, no less! (Good tortilla corn is basically absent in Australia.) The remainder of the menu at the modest Chabela is refreshingly short and includes prawn tostadas, chocoflan and tacos piled with skirt steak, slow-cooked pork, nopales (cactus) and more. We’ll leave it to the next new restaurant to add gorditas, mixiotes, molletes and everything else on our wishlist to the Melbourne mix. – Nick Connellan, Australia

editor Dutch Rules Distilling, Mitcham I grew up right next to the stretch of Whitehorse Road in Mitcham where Dutch Rules Distilling operates. There’s plenty going on – mostly family-run restaurants, takeaway spots and small independent stores – but the area has never had anything like Dutch Rules. You can find dozens of elevated restaurant menu in suburban Melbourne these days. Mitcham, though near and dear to me, is still catching up. The excellent Sri Lankan-leaning dishes from rising star chef Viveik Vinoharan will help

accelerate the journey – Italian, Japanese and French influences on them make the road windy and unpredictable, but an absolute blast. And I haven’t even mentioned the gin. – Scott Renton, Hot List editor Garfield, Carlton It takes guts to open a new pizzeria on Lygon Street, Carlton. Jamie Valmorbida clearly has them. Garfield, in the iconic King & Godfree building, pairs a high-energy Dion Hall-designed room with a menu that playfully breaks the rules. Culinary director Karen Martini, head pizzaiolo Sangsub Ha and executive

chef Mark Glenn lean heavily into Tokyo’s boundary-pushing pizza culture, using a 72-hour fermented dough and a “Tokyo stretch” method to create a crust that is lighter, airier, and more structurally charred than anything you’ve likely had before. The toppings oscillate between the namesake Garfield (a rich lasagna-inspired pie with pork-and-beef meatballs) and the Tokyo Bianco (raw tuna, shiso and finger lime). It’s fast, casual, strictly walk-in only and exactly the shot of youthful energy Carlton’s historic heart needed. – Steph Vigilante, head of social

media Julietta, South Yarra Did Melbourne really need another place for handmade pasta? Probably not. But we doubt anyone in the vicinity of this romantic new restaurant is complaining. Especially if they’re newly coupled. Julietta owner Joss Jenner-Leuthart, who also runs Mamasita, has made sure everything is just right for date night. The ruffled leather banquettes are comfortable yet sexy, tables are lit with flickering candles, and vintage glass vases and corduroy bar stools draw the eyes. The menu’s cacio e pepe fazzoletti (“handkerchiefs”) and

spanner crab and saffron radiatori (“radiators”) mightn’t be the best way to share your own Lady and the Tramp moment, but we’ll take them over plain ol’ spaghetti and meatballs any day of the week. – Nick Connellan, Australia editor Little House, Collingwood It takes a lot of work to seem effortless. Which is how you know the team at Little House, on Smith Street, Collingwood, is doing a lot. But what comes through in the execution is a relaxed wine bar that feels simultaneously

fresh and as though it’s been on the street for years. The menu from head chef Federico “Freddy” Carnevale (formerly head chef at Attria in Richmond and sous-chef at Bistrot Bisou), is elevated, but not overly complicated. Roasted scallops sit in glossy hen jus; the house Wagyu burger comes on a potato bun with a cheese custard and a slice of rice vinegar-pickled ox heart tomato; and brick chicken cooked with sticky eucalyptus honey comes with impossibly crispy skin. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food &

drink editor Roma, CBD The latest project from Con Christopoulos – the man behind Kafeneion, Angel Music Bar, The European, French Saloon and more – is a love letter that yearns for the Eternal City. Christopoulos pulled out all the stops for this one. He partnered with chef Matt Wilkinson (of Pope Joan fame), front-of-house gun Giovanni Patane (who ran Supermaxi for 12 years) and drinks guru Warwick Harty, who’s worked at Christopoulos venues on and off for 30 years. He also green-lit a wine

list of bottles specifically imported from the undersung Lazio region and installed custom retractable windows. Dining here, you begin to ask yourself: who else in Melbourne would proudly serve trippa (tripe) alla romana? Who else would import a first-of-its-kind gelato mixer from Italy? Who else would feature a custom-built terrace grille lifted from a brief scene in Sergio Leone: The Italian Who Invented America? Who else but Con Christopoulos. – Scott Renton, Hot List editor Sama at Grandview Hotel, Fairfield While many recently revamped pubs

focus on the expected classics, Fairfield’s Grandview Hotel has added something new, opening Sama at the end of last year. The Lebanese restaurant was conceptualised by a trio of Rumi alums – chef David Gonnella, Eddy Hasbany, who ran the floor at Rumi for more than a decade, and Wakim el Moussa, who still works as a manager theree. Meze of house pickles, labneh and hummus with your choice of toppings are an excellent prelude to a plate of chicken shish paired with toum and

buttered enoki, or a lamb shish laid over bread and covered in spicy tomato sauce. Pubs are the ultimate equalisers, and enjoying a family-style meal at Sama captures that democratic community-minded spirit perfectly. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food & drink editor Surf Hotel, Torquay There’s no right or wrong way to dine at Torquay’s new Surf Hotel. The restaurant, run by sustainability champion Jo Barrett, is part of the newly refurbished ’80s motel in the charming Surf Coast town. It marks the top chef’s return

to restaurants after closing Little Picket, the venue in the Lorne Bowls Club focused on seasonal cooking and local produce, in 2024. Book a table in the laid-back dining room and enjoy a long Sunday lunch of wild venison schnitzel, chicken and prawn larb and baked chocolate ganache. Or grab a seat on the front deck overlooking the ocean and watch the sunset while you kick back with a Coconut Margarita, a delightfully nostalgic fish finger sandwich and a chilli-oil-doused wild boar dim sim from

Barrett’s Wildpie. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food & drink editor Tyga, Carnegie Carnegie’s Koornang Road has a heap of great casual restaurants. Something a little more considered was always going to do well here. Owner Tommy Tong and culinary director Esca Khoo recognised that – and they nailed it with Tyga. The fit-out juggles mid-century furniture and vinyl decks with modern finishes, including a skylight, which drenches everyone underneath it in a soft, angelic light I can never take my eyes off. Woodfired mains echo

the classic-meets-contemporary fit-out. Proteins such as chicken and beef brisket are familiar, while the sauces they’re served in are a little experimental and a lot of fun. Great for a date, a laid-back lunch or a special occasion. – Scott Renton, Hot List editor

Melbourne restaurants 2026, Cote Basque, Carnation Canteen, Bar Sofia, Chabela, Dutch Rules Distilling, Garfield pizzeria, Julietta, Little House, Roma restaurant, Sama Grandview Hotel, Surf Hotel, Tyga Carnegie