What’s the best new restaurant in Melbourne? This is a question we’re often asked at Boss Hunting, and one we've almost certainly got the answer to. In that spirit, we’ve compiled a rolling list – updated on a quarterly basis – of all the best new Melbourne restaurants (all opened within a year) below.
Note that this list is not ranked.
Florentino, CBD
Edition Hospitality’s Rebecca Yazbek has taken the reins at Florentino, ushering the Bourke Street institution into a new chapter without losing sight of its past. The menu keeps its Italian soul, serving up plates of handmade pasta, gnocchi, and lasagne, but has sharpened things for a 2026 appetite with top local produce and lighter touches.
Expect pumpkin tortellini glossed in brown butter and refined ravioli doppio that's as delicious as it sounds. The rooms are moodier, louder, and more relaxed, meaning there's less reverence and more fun dining, while maintaining a feeling that's still unmistakably Melbourne.
Opened: February 2026
Address: 80 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening Hours: Monday - Tuesday (6 PM - 9:30 PM); Wednesday - Friday (12 PM - 2:30 PM, 6 PM – 9:30 PM); Saturday (6 PM - 9:30 PM)
Cleo, CBD
Perched atop Hyde Melbourne Place, Cleo takes over the former Mid Air rooftop with sweeping skyline views and all-day energy, kicking off with breakfast at sunrise and carrying on until cocktails well past dark.
Chef Jordan Clavaron leans towards eastern Mediterranean cuisine that's built for sharing, serving dishes such as crisp prawns with green harissa, slow-roasted lamb tomahawk and plenty off the grill.
Matthew Jensen’s drinks list keeps things breezy, with cocktails like pistachio spritzes, spicy Margaritas, and the Cleo Colada. With DJs and the occasional rooftop Pilates, it’s part restaurant, part social club.
Opened: December 2025
Address: Level 12/130 Russell St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening Hours: Monday - Wednesday (6:30 AM — 11 PM); Thursday (6:30 AM — 9 PM); Friday (6:30 AM — 11 PM); Saturday - Sunday (7 AM — 12 AM)
Roma, CBD
When Nigella makes a point of visiting twice on one trip, you know you’re in safe hands. Roma is Melbourne's newest Roman fantasy: vintage Italian glamour, marble accents, chandeliers and a menu that isn't afraid to get its hands dirty.
Yes, there's excellent handmade pasta; don’t miss the velvety paccheri alla Baronessa, but the real draw is a proper embrace of quinto quarto, Rome's “fifth-quarter” tradition of making something delicious out of the bits most kitchens would rather overlook. Think trippa alla romana and traditional lamb coratella, alongside grilled meats and seafood ordered by weight and de-boned tableside.
Make sure to leave room for gelato, churned in-house in Victoria’s only Cattabriga vertical machine. There's a particularly good drinks list, too, with bottles from Lazio that are rarely seen this far from Rome. Come hungry, bring an appetite for adventure, and don't make plans for afterwards.
Opened: May 2026
Address: 120 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 11:30 AM–3:00 PM and 5:30 PM–late
Little Rose, Fitzroy
Rosheen Kaul, queen of sauces, is back at it again following a successful stint at Etta and her much-loved Bistro Marigold pop-up.
Little Rose is her new permanent home, bringing Kaul’s vibrant Chinese-ish lens to the pleasures of French dining. The pommes purée, an almost indecent amount of decadent buttery potato crowned with a rich, Suzhou-style crab roe sauce, is reason enough to visit.
Also not to be missed are the chilled clams marinated Chaozhou-style with garlic, coriander and vin jaune. There's an extremely naughty little snackable foie gras number too, and an andouillette-inspired pork sausage developed with Meatsmith: a slightly less confronting take on the French original, but still not for the squeamish.
Visually, the restaurant feels moody and romantic, blending the elegance of a Belle Époque Parisian cafe with the sultry energy of a 1920s Shanghai salon.
Opened: May 2026 as a pop-up; reopened permanently in August 2026
Address: Ground Floor Rear, 274 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Opening Hours: Wednesday – Friday (5:30 PM – 11 PM); Saturday (12 PM – 2:30 PM, 5:30 PM – 11 PM); Sunday (12 PM – 2:30 PM, 5:30 PM – 10 PM)
Cote Basque, CBD
Gimlet’s Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann return to the former Becco site with Côte Basque, a wood-fired European grill where France and Spain meet over a very good bottle of Albariño.
Start with the anchovy matrimony, salty meets sour, served together on a piece of crunchy toast with a generous smear of cultured butter, before diving into the delicate crab tart, charred calamari à la brute, and a rustic ttoro fisherman’s soup for an uncompromising taste of the seaside.
From there, the grill is the main event, turning out smoky veg, market seafood, and premium cuts of David Blackmore’s Rohne beef (an exclusive hybrid dry-aged in-house for 30 days). Round things off with gâteau Basque, ideally alongside a glass of Madeira or a bitter vermouth. Skipping dessert would be not just poor form, but a personal failing.
Opened: August 2026
Address: 25 Crossley Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Opening Hours: Open 7 days, 12 PM until late
Marea Beach House & Bar, St Kilda
Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann’s Trader House group has also taken over the legendary 36-year-old Stokehouse precinct. While the upscale upstairs dining room undergoes a complete refresh, they have transformed the downstairs space into Marea Beach House & Bar, successfully importing the effortless, sun-bleached romance of a Southern European coastal summer and anchoring it firmly onto the St Kilda foreshore.
The space behaves like a love letter to Mediterranean beach clubs; the architecture feels lived-in, textural, and warm, featuring flashes of greenery and art by Mallorca-based painter Magnus Reid. It is a room that actively courts the golden hour, where floor-to-ceiling glass looks out over the rippling tides of the bay.
There’s a choose-your-own-adventure attitude that pivots effortlessly from a quick post-swim beer to an absolute marathon of a lunch. But make no mistake: the relaxed attitude belies a kitchen operating with dead-serious execution under head chef Davy Dai (formerly of Marion). Think creamy smoked mussels accented with pastis, or heavy rounds of potato crisps stacked with Jamón Serrano and guindilla peppers, alongside a perfectly chilled carafe of white sangria.
Opened: October 2026
Address: Downstairs at Stokehouse, 30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda VIC 3182
Opening Hours: Monday–Sunday, 12 PM until late
Yiaga, Fitzroy
Securing a table at Yiaga requires the kind of military precision usually reserved for acquiring a rare watch. Reservations for Hugh Allen’s three-hatted powerhouse open three months in advance, at 10:00 am on the first of each month, and vanish in minutes.
To enter Yiaga is to step out of Melbourne’s urban grid and into a masterfully curated dreamscape nestled inside the historic Fitzroy Gardens. Under the soft evening glow, the room breathes a quiet, earthy luxury. There is no fluff on this $320 menu.
Instead, you get laser-focused, fire-and-acid precision that champions heavy-hitting Australian produce. There are no permanent "signature" plates here; the kitchen exists in deliberate, poetic motion. Master Sommelier Dorian Guillon steers a beverage program that moves between boutique Australian bottles and heavyweight European benchmarks, with a distinctly generous Australian skew.
Opened: October 2025
Address: The Pavilion, Fitzroy Gardens, 230–298 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne VIC 3002
Opening Hours: Thursday (6 PM – 11 PM); Friday–Saturday (12 PM – 4 PM and 6 PM – 11 PM); Sunday (12 PM – 4 PM)
The Parlour at Geralds Bar, Carlton North
The Parlour is the dedicated, fine-dining room tucked inside the newly expanded Gerald’s Bar on Lygon Street in Carlton North. The concept functions as an intimate, indulgent enclave where you sit back, lose track of time, and lean entirely into old-fashioned hospitality while the faint, warm hum of the front room’s vinyl records spins in the background.
Expect a frequently shifting degustation menu priced at $145 per person. This includes playful bites (like a refined riff on fish and chips), and more substantial mains alongside a dedicated, old-school cheese trolley, and some unique final touches like goose fat fudge.
On Wednesday nights, they run a dedicated BYO option with $30 corkage, letting you raid your own cellar for a change. Because the space is deliberately limited, reservations are essential to secure a spot inside the cordoned-off room.
Opened: February 2026
Address: 920 Lygon Street, Carlton North VIC 3054
Opening Hours: Wednesday (6:30 PM – 11 PM); Thursday – Saturday (6:30 PM – midnight)
Fitzroy Oyster House, Fitzroy
Fitzroy Oyster House does exactly what it says on the tin. Tucked away on George Street, this casual neighborhood oyster and seafood bar carries the unmistakable DNA of Maison Premiere Brooklyn’s legendary, James Beard Award-winning oyster and cocktail den (a must for any New York visit).
At the heart of the room is an intimate horseshoe-shaped bar, where oysters are shucked before your eyes and served straight onto the counter over raw salt rocks. They come strictly natural with a squeeze of lemon, letting the different regional waters do the talking.
Behind the bar, the beverage list keeps a tight, specific brief: high-acid, younger white wines dominate to complement the clean, mineral qualities of the seafood, alongside cold, crisp dirty martinis pulled straight from the ice.
Opened: September 2026?
Address: 422 George Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Opening Hours: Wednesday–Thursday (5 PM–10 PM); Friday–Sunday (1 PM–10 PM)
Bar Carnation, Carlton North
Filling the OG Gerald’s Bar’s enormous shoes was never going to be easy, but chef-owner Audrey Shaw was well placed for the job. A regular for more than a decade, she’s taken over the Rathdowne Street institution with a sleek new sibling to her much-loved Carnation Canteen (not to be missed).
Bar Carnation gets a sharp architectural refresh with sculptural lighting and angled mirrors that make people-watching almost as good as the food. The old back room is now a walk-in bottle shop. Like Gerald’s, it’s strictly walk-in only.
The menu is full of things worth coming back for: vitello tonnato, mozzarella bolognese on toast, fritto misto and steak frites. Don't skip the dense and decadent dark chocolate mousse slicked with olive oil and sea salt. At the bar, expect freezer-door Martinis and a Kalimotxo spiked with Saison Rabarbaro amaro, topped off with Mexican Coke.
Opened: February 2026
Address: 386 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North VIC 3054
Opening Hours: Monday–Friday (5 PM – 11 PM); Saturday–Sunday (3 PM – 11 PM)
Agnii
Chef Gayan Pieris (the mastermind behind the hatted Many Little in Red Hill) has brought his ambitious, fire-fuelled modern Sri Lankan, Agnii, to Chapel Street in Windsor. Built around a traditional wood-fired dara lipa, it’s a love letter to ancestral flavours and technical showmanship. Grab a razor-sharp Negroni soured with goraka fruit and let the culinary blitz begin.
For the main event, the curry trolley rolls through the dining room like an elite tableside service, dispensing insanely rich, regional specialities like Northern-style Jaffna goat curry alongside a dedicated, live-action hopper station. On Friday and Saturday nights from around 10.30 PM, the lights drop, vinyl-spinning DJs take over the decks, and the venue transforms into a late-night supper club pumping out plates of wildly addictive kottu roti
Opened: October 2026
Address: 105 Chapel St, Windsor VIC 3181
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Thursday (4 PM to 10:30 PM), Friday – Saturday (12 PM until late) (with a late-night street food menu from 10:30 PM – 1:00 AM), Sunday (12 PM – 10:30 PM)
Nina Pasta Bar, Northcote
And finally, if you're tired after all that fine dining and want comfort and quality, look no further than Nina, a highly buzzed-about, unpretentious high-street joint in Northcote.
The clever team behind smash-hit Fitzroy North wine bar Suze describe Nina as a place for unplanned, unscripted catch-ups, somewhere you can comfortably roll in for a quick mid-week bowl of carbs and a great glass of wine without needing to plot it out weeks in advance.
Pasta naturally remains the undisputed center of gravity, with hand-shaped specialties rolled out daily. Meanwhile, entrées are anchored entirely by the infamous Suze focaccia, designed to be ripped apart and used to mop up small share plates of beef tartare and house-made ricotta.
Opened: September 2026
Address: 66–68 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Friday (5 PM – late); Saturday (12 PM – late)