We get it — it’s hard to keep up with the volume of restaurant openings in Australia, and decide where to eat next. Between neighbourhood spots you can’t wait to get to and impressive new developments in far-flung places you’re desperate to visit, the list of new restaurants we want to visit never gets shorter.
Thanks to Australia’s top-tier chefs, sommeliers, bartenders, front-of-house staff and producers, our restaurant scene provides endless wonder. Whether you want to try somewhere new, or are visiting a new city and want to know where to eat first, we keep track of the restaurant openings you should know about. For some cities, we have dedicated guides to their best new restaurants.
- See the best new restaurants in Sydney
- See the best new restaurants in Melbourne
- See the best new restaurants in Brisbane
- See the best new restaurants in Adelaide
- See the best new restaurants in Perth
For everywhere else, read on to choose your next memorable meal in beautiful small-town destinations, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
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Best new restaurants in regional Australia
Sara Dining, Berry
Former Icebergs Dining Room and Bar culinary director Alex Prichard (and his wife, Angie) has unveiled Sara Dining on the NSW South Coast. It’s part of Peter and Nadia Yannopoulos’s Linnaeus Collection, a unique accommodation concept offering luxury private residences, farms and suites across Berry with the service and amenities you’d expect from a high-end hotel.
With the goal of growing 80 per cent of the fruit, vegetables and herbs used in the restaurant in the two on-site gardens, Prichard wants the destination restaurant to feel closely connected to its setting. “We want Sara Dining to feel like an extension of the farm,” he says, “a place where people can come for a long lunch, wander the gardens, and leave with a real sense of where their meal came from.”
Prepared in an open kitchen in the converted garage and workshop, and on an outdoor parrilla grill, the menu stars NSW seafood, meat and dairy alongside the farm’s own produce. Dishes might look like vodka-battered brassica leaf with Margra lamb merguez and salsa verde aioli; wood-fired, butterflied Shoalhaven flathead with café de Paris butter; nettle tortellini with sheep and goats curd, peas and koji; retired dairy cow rib-eye; and a pavlova dressed with fruits from the farm.
With Evan Stroeve (The Waratah) as venue manager and beverage director, the drinks list focuses on small-production Australian wines next to selected internationals, and cocktails with Stroeve’s signature technical flourishes like a house Martini with a distillate of mountain marigold and citrus leaves. Sara Dining is open for lunch and dinner Thursday–Monday, and bookings are available online.
Meteora, Ballandean
The most significant opening in Queensland’s emerging Granite Belt wine region in years, Meteora is a vineyard, cellar door and restaurant. Executive chef Simon Treller’s menu builds on produce from Stanthorpe and surrounds and nods to its owners’ (the Catsoulis family) Greek heritage, with local Ballandean Bald Rock beef carpaccio; saganaki with toasted sesame and local honey; pappardelle with slow-braised local lamb shoulder and crumbled feta and chocolate and olive oil ganache with pistachios on the opening menu.
Wines by chief winemaker Andy Williams span estate-grown, single-vineyard (Mediterranean-leaning) varieties including fiano, vermentino, montepulciano and aglianico, and tastings can be booked at the cellar door.
The sizable development includes a vast undercover area, private dining rooms, open-air benches on a terrace overlooking the vines and a wine cave that was excavated into the landscape, which will facilitate an extended ageing program. Luxury vineyard accommodation will launch later in the year, positioning Meteora as the perfect base for a Granite Belt weekend around three hours from Brisbane. Restaurant reservations, wine tastings, tours, helicopter transfers and more can be booked online.
Three Blue Ducks, Burradoo
Transforming an 1820s farmhouse into a 45-seat restaurant, Three Blue Ducks at Burradoo Park Farm is the group’s most elevated offering to date: a set-menu-only format, deeper connection to on-site production and commitment to sourcing from neighbouring regions.
Group executive chef Troy Crisante (Quay) and head chef Rhys Connell (Sepia, Society, Cutler & Co) deliver a five-course Field Menu at $175pp (lunch only), or a seven-course Harvest Menu for $210pp (lunch or dinner), developed in alignment with Three Blue Ducks founders Darren Robertson and Andy Allen’s pursuit of sustainable, ethical and low-waste dining.
Dishes presenting produce grown on the 600-acre regenerative Burradoo farm (as well as ingredients sourced from across the Highlands, South Coast, Hunter Valley and hinterland) might include puntarelle with royal red prawn and chilli; smoked raw beef with parsley and kombu; a salad of cover crop grains, legumes and herbs; and white lamb with sheep’s yoghurt and shiso. A standout dessert pairs local Robertson potato with crème fraîche, caramel and liquorice.
The modern countryside dining room integrates a warm palette with raw wood and stone; there’s a chef’s table facing the kitchen, a dry-ageing cabinet on show and a dedicated bar and lounge space. NSW wine producers, including Southern Highlands locals, lead group beverage manager Mem Hemmings’s drinks list, next to by cocktails utilising seasonal ingredients.
The restaurant is joined at the agritourism destination by The Bakehouse and casual providore and eatery The Farmhouse, joining Three Blue Ducks operations in Byron Bay, Rosebery, Nimbo, Bellingen, Brunswick and Melbourne. The restaurant is open for dinner Thursday–Sunday, and lunch Friday–Sunday.
Crudo Wine and Provisions, Lakes Entrance
The much-loved floating restaurant in East Gippsland, Sodafish, has recently secured another reason to visit the waterfront hotspot: Crudo Wine and Provisions is the team’s Mediterranean-inspired providore beneath the celebrated restaurant, offering artisan goods and wines to stock your pantry (or your picnic baskets) with. Pick up cheeses, anchovies and grazing platters, alongside freshly baked sourdough pizza slices with toppings like mortadella, stracciatella and pistachio, before getting back on the Gippsland Lakes. The deli also offers retail wines from upstairs, plus a selection of labels from Spain, Italy and France.
Florent Bistro, Rockhampton
Central Queensland has welcomed the first restaurant from Roel Van Camp, who has most recently been an in-demand private chef in the region. At the 35-seat Florent Bistro (named for his grandfather), Van Camp seeks to evoke a cosy bistro in Brussels in Queensland’s beef capital, with a charming brick-walled and checkerboard-floored space embellished with brass accents and antiques sourced from flea markets by his family in Europe. The menu stars premium seafood, small producers and heritage-breed proteins in classic European bistro formats with subtle Asian influences; Belgian chocolate desserts nod to the chef’s origins, while the wine list is led by Australian producers.
Florent serves dinner Tuesday–Saturday, and Saturday lunches — and bookings are in high demand.
Zin Food & Wine House, Mudgee
Award-winning regional restaurant The Zin House at Lowe Wines has relaunched as Zin Food & Wine, with owner Kim Currie steering towards a relaxed, grazing-style offering designed to complement the property’s wines. “My approach to cooking and dining has changed since I started The Zin House,” says Currie. “I want to make great food that is inclusive and accessible, not just for special occasions. It’s fun, communal and non-pretentious.” The new approach sees seasonal dishes using Central West and on-site garden-to-table produce paired with a tasting flight of wines for $95 per person, and can be supplemented with house-made pasta or local cheeses. Glasses and bottles of Lowe Wines can also be paired, or purchased to take away.
Lucette, Bowral
On Bowral’s high street, the owners of Franquette Crêperie have opened Lucette: a bistro serving from petit-déjeuner to dinner providing another reason to visit the Southern Highlands. “Lucette is about bringing the joie de vivre of French bistro dining to Bowral,” says owner Julien Besnard. “It’s French at heart, designed for the neighbourhood.” Paris-born chef Guillaume Dubois (Monopole) is doing three-cheese soufflés with onion jam, pear and walnuts; moules marinière with frites; and beef Bourguignon for two, with a drinks list starring French wine, apéritifs and classic cocktails. Gallic energy extends to the look and feel, with soft textures and buttery shades running across the dining room and outdoor terrace.
Cibaria Noosa
Alessandro Pavoni (a’Mare, Ormeggio, Postino Osteria) has expanded outside of Sydney for the first time, with his popular beachfront concept Cibaria open at the just-launched Elysium Noosa set right on Hastings Street in time for summer holiday dining. Head chef Lucas Bach, who has worked at several venues in Alessandro and wife Anna Pavoni’s Maestro Hospitality group, oversees the Sunshine Coast kitchen, with menu highlights including scallop crudo with lemon oil, finger lime, chervil and ocean trout roe; buffalo mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes, basil and peach; risotto with Queensland spanner crab and local tomatoes; and a bisticcheria selection including a 400-gram Rangers Valley Black Angus sirloin, grilled over flame on the bone. At the all-day Bar Capri, the menu of small plates and casual snacks includes fritto misto, a poached rock lobster roll with burnt butter bisque and the signature Capri Spritz blending locally distilled Seabourne Gin, limoncello, grapefruit and Prosecco.
Papalote, Newcastle
Familiar Newcastle faces Eduardo Molina (The Flotilla), Michael Portley and Stephanie Wells (Humbug) have combined clout to open Mexican restaurant and agave bar Papalote at the former site of The Edwards. Executive chef Portley is serving an “homage to the traditions and flavours of Mexico” on a menu broken into categories of cold and raw dishes, antojitos (tacos, tostadas and tamales), and al carbón proteins from a custom grill and brick pit oven. He’s sourcing Mexican vegetables from Newcastle Greens, and there are plans for an in-house masa program, processing locally grown heirloom corn for tortillas.
Standouts on the menu include pink snapper aguachile with mezcal and sapo melon; king prawn tostadas with pequin pepper and avocado; and cochinita pibil, marinated in achiote and sour orange, from the brick oven. With agave spirits front and centre on the bar menu (and more than 80 in stock), cocktails embrace tequila, mezcal, sotol and raicilla from top Mexican estates, while the wine list focuses on Latin American and Spanish varieties. The Newcastle West venue’s former industrial aesthetic has been replaced by earthy tones and tiling, curved timber booths and murals by Newcastle artist Ruby Laxton, but the palm trees, atrium garden and sunny front terrace – a prime spot for afternoon Palomas – remain in place.
Catseye Pool Club, Hamilton Island
Run by husband-and-wife duo Josh and Julie Niland of Sydney’s acclaimed Saint Peter, Catseye Pool Club is Hamilton Island’s hottest new restaurant. While Josh is known for his seafood mastery, the menu leans equally into red meat and poultry. Dishes are designed to share, arriving in set combinations rather than traditional à la carte. Think wood-fired pizza bread served with charcuterie, fresh buttermilk ricotta, pickles, olives, grilled peppers and tomato vinaigrette. Naturally, the Nilands have tapped into the local seafood scene, sourcing oysters, crabs and fish from nearby Bowen. Don’t miss the line-caught coral trout, served with finger lime butter sauce, Vadouvan-roasted cauliflower, and warrigal greens. Drinks are just as considered with Sam Cocks, bar director at Saint Peter, designing a Queensland ingredient-focused cocktail menu.
Éthos at Alsahwa Estate, Sunshine Coast
A sprawling 30-acre regenerative farm in Palmwoods is now home to Alsahwa Estate. A field-to-fork ethos drives the Mediterranean-leaning restaurant, Éthos, where local chef Sophie Phipps harvests produce straight from the onsite pesticide-free kitchen gardens, as well as sourcing ingredients from local farmers. Leaning into agritourism to showcase the surrounding grounds, Alsahwa Estate is as much about exploring the farm as it is eating at the restaurant. On the menu you’ll find a daily baked focaccia; oysters topped with prosecco, lemon and dill sorbet; burrata and tomatoes with honey compressed persimmon, balsamic pearls and basil gelato; and eye fillet tartare seasoned with hand-ground mustard, salsa verde, egg yolk and crostini. For mains you can order chicken Maryland accompanied by a savoury pumpkin and saffron cheesecake with capsicum marmalade; a hefty Angus tomahawk with mustard and jus; and a side of tempura mushrooms with caramelised chilli.
Best new restaurants in Canberra
Lunetta
Miles Jakl’s iconic mid-century dodecagon on Red Hill has been granted a new life with not one, but two new restaurants taking up residence in its space-age looking halls. Seating 82 people, Lunetta is an elevated restaurant on the building’s first floor (with panoramic views of the surrounding city) while 86-seater Lunetta Trattoria, takes over the ground floor as a slightly more relaxed neighbourhood-style bar. Both venues offer a Euro-style menu: think jewel-like tuna on fried polenta to grilled calamari with cavolo nero and pistachio.
With interiors by ACME (responsible for Sydney’s Margaret and Una Mas and Melbourne’s Supernormal and Gimlet), both venues take their cues from Jakl’s futurist form, known locally as “the spaceship”.
Compa and &Sando
In the CBD, Matt Moran is behind a double-hitter venue Compa and &Sando. Complementary but differing concepts see Compa (a slick Italian steakhouse) matched by its casual neighbour &Sando (dishing out deli-style sandwiches). The Moran Family Farm is key to both menus with lamb, beef and pork sourced from the 405-acre farm in the Central Tablelands on show, both on the plate and in between bread. Head chef Nick Mathieson (formerly of Sydney’s Bistecca) has worked with Moran on the menus. At Compa a custom Montague grill fires up steaks on and off the bone, each served with red wine jus, peppercorn, anchovy butter or salsa verde; and tableside mustards. Other items on the menu to pique the interest of Canberrans and visitors alike include a mac and cheese with a cacio e pepe treatment; whole trout sourced from the nearby Snowy River; and salumi made from Moran farm pork. Next door at &Sando you’ll find a hefty steak sambo; baguettes stuffed with ham, egg salad, cheddar and rocket; and ciabatta slices packed with chicken schnitzel, slaw and provolone.
Best new restaurants in the Gold Coast
Norté and Sueño
The team behind beloved beachfront venue Rick Shores has debuted a new restaurant and bar dubbed Norté and Sueño in Nobby Beach – just north of Burleigh. Chef James Brady visited and stayed in Mexico City’s hip Roma Norte for a month, visiting restaurants and markets as research for Norté’s menu. Brady also flew to Buenos Aires to learn the art of cooking over a parilla, from butchery to barbecuing. This combination of experiences informs much of the menu: think short rib seasoned in the style of Mexico City’s favourite taco, al pastor, joined by aji amarillo and pineapple; and flank steak grilled and served with a native ingredient-spiked chimichurri and caramelised onion.
There’s also a fresh seafood focus, with scallops served with mango, bee pollen, chilli and zesty grapefruit; coral trout with asparagus, kohlrabi and nashi pear; and there’s even a savoury take on a churro, topped with Mooloolaba spanner crab, cucumber, apple and jalapeño. In-demand architecture and interiors firm J.Ar Office took care of interiors (they also did the team’s Brisbane venue, Central, and Gerard’s Bistro), taking cues from the bold modernist architecture of Mexico City in the ’60s and ’70s, which translates into a room punctuated by black slate, brown limestone and woven textiles. Upstairs, Sueño has more of a sun-kissed bar vibe with plenty of wines by the glass and lots of mezcal and tequila-led cocktails. These are joined by a snacky menu of ceviches, skewers and tortillas.
Lars Bar and Grill
In the same precinct, Lars Bar and Grill has opened. Meticulously dry-aged steaks, a creative array of hyper-local seafood and one chef-owner with a two-decades-long resume across some of Brisbane’s best and brightest restaurants are just some of the drawcards. Start small with hand-picked crab and crisp rosti or raw kingfish with blood orange, and make your way up to pan-fried whole Knobby snapper; or pork tomahawk swimming in silky jus gras. The full page of steaks, sauces and sides should be seriously considered.
Best new restaurants in the Northern Territory
Flora’s Temper Mexicantina
In the Top End, Darwin’s Nightcliff is heating up even more than usual thanks to Flora’s Temper Mexicantina. Owner Nicholas Peters has worked in hospitality around the world – most relevantly as co-owner of Mamasita in Melbourne, as well as working across London and Mallorca – before heading to Darwin. To suit the tropical climate, expect fun, fresh Mexican eats: corn with queso, lime and chilli salt; prawn quesadillas; and fresh ceviche made with locally caught saddletail snapper. There are also some fun takes on Tex-Mex and Cali-Mex staples like chilli con carne meatballs; habanero and orange chicken wings; and battered fish tacos with chipotle mayo, cabbage, pico de gallo. Ice-cold cucumber jalapeño Margaritas are a staple on the drinks front, joined by local tins and Mexican cervezas.
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