Top 100: Best restaurants in Australia in 2026

Following our 46th annual Restaurant Awards, we can reveal the 2026 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide: the most trusted national dining guide, based on reviews from our team of expert food writers and state editors across Australia.

This year, we overhauled our methodology to ensure the Restaurant Guide encompasses the widest variety of restaurants — as far as location, price and cuisine — as possible. Reviews are written independently, and reviewers visit unannounced and pay their bill in full to ensure their insights can be trusted.

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From fresh restaurant openings interpreting Indian cuisine their way in Melbourne to hot spots in small hinterland towns and unique gems all the way down in Tasmania, here are the very best restaurants in Australia to add to your dining hitlist in 2026.

Best restaurants in New South Wales

Restaurant of the Year: Bistro Livi, Murwillumbah

A’Mare, Sydney
Allta, Sydney
Ante, Sydney
Bathers’ Pavilion, Sydney
Cafe Paci, Sydney
Corner 75, Sydney
Eleven Barrack, Sydney
Ester, Sydney
EXP. Restaurant, Hunter Valley
Grandfather’s, Sydney
Margaret, Sydney
Mr. Wong, Sydney
Olympus Dining, Sydney
Pipit, Pottsville
Porcine, Sydney
Saint Peter, Sydney
Sean’s, Sydney
South End, Sydney
Three Blue Ducks Burradoo, Burradoo
Vin-Cenzo’s, Sydney
Watermans, Sydney

Best restaurants in Victoria

Restaurant of the Year: Zareh, Melbourne

Amaru, Melbourne
Anchovy, Melbourne
Barragunda Dining, Cape Schanck
Bistra, Melbourne
Brae, Birregurra
Carnation Canteen, Melbourne
Chauncy, Heathcote
Di Stasio Carlton, Melbourne
Embla, Melbourne
Etta, Melbourne
Flower Drum, Melbourne
Gimlet, Melbourne
Greasy Zoe’s, Hurstbridge
Harriot, Melbourne
Kafeneion, Melbourne
Lagoon Dining, Melbourne
Lake House, Daylesford
Marmelo, Melbourne
Minamishima, Melbourne
Navi, Melbourne
O.My, Beaconsfield
Provenance, Beechworth
Roma, Melbourne
Saadi, Melbourne
Society, Melbourne
Tedesca Osteria, Red Hill
Yiaga, Melbourne

Best restaurants in Queensland

Restaurant of the Year: The Woodshed, Kin Kin

Agnes, Brisbane
August, Brisbane
Blume, Boonah
Clarence, Brisbane
Essa, Brisbane
Exhibition, Brisbane
Joy, Brisbane
Jungle Fowl, Port Douglas
Mapleton Public House, Mapleton
Norté, Gold Coast
Pilloni, Brisbane
Restaurant Labart, Burleigh Heads
Supernormal, Brisbane
+81 Sushi Kappo, Brisbane

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All the winners of the 2026 Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards

Best restaurants in South Australia

Restaurant of the Year: Esmay, Hackney

Hentley Farm Restaurant, Seppeltsfield
Kiin, Adelaide
LVN Restaurant, Woodside
Maxwell Restaurant, McLaren Vale
Omada Bar & Grill, Adelaide
Parwana Afghan Kitchen, Adelaide
Pearl, Aldinga
Restaurant Aptos, Stirling
Restaurant Botanic, Adelaide
Staġuni, Barossa
The Little Rickshaw, Aldinga
Thelma, Piccadilly

Best restaurants in Western Australia

Restaurant of the Year: De’sendent, Margaret River

Casa, Perth
Farra, Perth
Gibney, Perth
Glenarty Road, Karridale
Le Rebelle, Perth
Lulu La Delizia, Perth
Oscar’s in the Valley, Swan Valley
Pearla, Perth
Tigerfish, Perth
Yarri Restaurant + Bar, Dunsborough

Best restaurants in Tasmania

Restaurant of the Year: Scholé, Hobart

Aløft Restaurant, Hobart
Fico, Hobart
Ogee, Hobart
Oirthir, Bream Creek
Omotenashi, Hobart
Stillwater, Launceston
The Agrarian Kitchen Restaurant, New Norfolk

Best restaurants in the Australian Capital Territory

Bar Rochford, Canberra
Mínima, Yarralumla
Such and Such, Canberra

How the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide works

From fine-diners to bistros, trattorias, omakase counters, regional gems and many more, every restaurant featured in the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide should be considered the best of its kind. To earn a place, a restaurant must excel from welcome to farewell, with service, design, originality, consistency and atmosphere all carefully considered. But the most crucial area of excellence is always the food.

The Guide is divided by states, with an individual Restaurant of the Year winner leading each. All remaining entries are listed alphabetically. All restaurants reviewed were visited anonymously by the Gourmet Traveller reviewing team, and paid for in full.

In 2026 we consulted our state editors (Alexandra Carlton, Alix Davis, Elliot Baker, Katie Spain, Max Veenhuyzen and Michael Harden), the Gourmet Traveller editorial team including David Meagher, Ceri David and Georgia Condon, and trusted friends of Gourmet Traveller.

David Meagher

David Meagher is the editor of Gourmet Traveller. He was previously the managing editor of The Local Project, a design publishing company. He was the editor-in-chief of The Australian’s monthly luxury lifestyle magazine, WISH, for 15 years and before that was a senior staff writer and deputy editor on The Australian Financial Review Magazine. He has written for numerous publications including Belle, Vogue Australia, Vogue Living, The Sydney Morning Herald, Harper’s Bazaar and Qantas: The Australian Way. David is also the author of four non-fiction books including the 2023 bestselling memoir, Secrets and Lies, published by Penguin Random House Australia.

The Gourmet Traveller Team

Gourmet Traveller is Australia’s trusted authority on food, travel and luxury lifestyle, bringing the latest news and trends to life through quality journalism, enticing recipes and evocative photography. For more than 55 years, it has been inspiring and informing Australians with the best in cooking, dining, travelling and shopping. Our critics bring the expertise of years of critical eating, drinking and writing to the table. Plus, as the country’s leading title in the luxury sector, Gourmet Traveller works closely with Australia’s leaders in the travel and hospitality industries to give our readers exclusive access. The Gourmet Traveller legacy is one of trust, prestige and relevance.