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The Best Bars in Collingwood for a Cracking Night Out
Keep the rounds coming at the best bars in Collingwood.
Collingwood‘s predilection for late-night revelry is well known, and the suburb has a high density of good times bars within its borders. There’s somewhere to whet your whistle every night of the week, with the nightlife buzz dialling up as you approach the weekend.
From iconic pubs and gritty dive bars to classy cocktail bars and elegant wine saloons, these are the best bars in Collingwood for drinking in style in the 3066.
Bar Local Drop
Bar Local Drop gives Collingwood a wine bar with serious cellar-brain and very good table manners. Born from The Local Drop’s sommelier-led wine service, this Rokeby Street room now brings the whole operation into the real world: 500-plus bottles, seasonal cooking, thoughtful service and plenty to drink in or take home. Head chef Damon McIvor keeps the food Euro-leaning and produce-led, with snacks, pasta specials and midweek barbecue chicken giving the list something generous to lean on. For anyone who likes their glass chosen with care, this one lands beautifully.
116 Rokeby Street, Collingwood
Babines
Babines has the sort of French accent Collingwood can actually pull off. Run by two Juliens with serious bar and kitchen pedigree, this Smith Street bistro-bar folds French drinking culture through a Melbourne lens: house-made ingredients, local produce, clever cocktails, natural wines, tap beers and food that knows when to flirt and when to feed you. The $45 prix fixe is a gift, Thursdays bring $3 oysters with raspberry vinegar and habanero mignonette, and Sunday steak night keeps things pleasingly civilised. It is lively, good-looking and much sharper than your average “one more drink” situation.
108 Smith Street, Collingwood
Holy Diver
Holy Diver is Johnston Street after dark with the volume turned up: neon, pool, DJs, margaritas and the sort of room that doesn’t ask much of you beyond ordering another drink. It’s scruffy without trying to make a personality out of it, fun without being feral, and very good for a night that starts with one happy-hour cocktail and somehow ends several rounds later.
113 Johnston Street, Collingwood
The Cordial Club at Orlo
Below Orlo’s 1880s cordial factory, The Cordial Club turns Collingwood history into something darker and more delicious. The drinks take their cue from the building’s past, with cordial-led cocktails sitting beside classics, wine and late-night snacks. Upstairs, Orlo has its Mediterranean dining room and courtyard; downstairs, the mood drops a register. Low light, good glassware, Oxford Street above your head, and one round becoming two before anyone checks the time.
44 Oxford Street, Collingwood
Commis
Commis has the easy intelligence you hope for from a bar run by Gerald’s alumni: relaxed on the surface, very considered underneath. It’s not quite a wine bar, not quite a restaurant, and better for refusing to sit neatly in either camp. The menu changes often, moving with Victorian produce and whatever the kitchen is excited by that week, while the drinks list has fun without losing its footing. Add vinyl, switched-on service and a room that feels instantly good to be in, and you have one of Collingwood’s most likeable nights out.
56-58 Johnston Street, Collingwood
Panacea
Panacea is the Collingwood bar that knows how to loosen a night up. Tucked into Johnston Street with modern wines, cocktails and a leafy beer garden, it has that easy local feeling without going full pub. One night might bring comedy, another a gallery show, another a DJ in the courtyard. Keep an eye out for Scoville Sundays too, when hot sauce, wings, vegan nuggets and drink specials turn the heat up in a delightfully silly fashion.
210 Johnston Street, Collingwood
Paradise Alley
Paradise Alley has that easy Collingwood magic: a leafy laneway, a warehouse bar, good records, pool tables and a courtyard that makes one drink turn into several without anyone really noticing. Happy hour runs Wednesday to Friday, Thursdays mean free pool, and Sundays bring 2-for-1 cocktails and Bloody Marys for anyone moving gently back into the world. It’s relaxed, a little bit scruffy in the right places, and exactly where you want to be when the night starts making its own plans.
25 Easey Street, Collingwood
Hope St Radio
Hope St Radio still feels like Collingwood’s best house party, only with better wine, better pasta and DJs behind the bar. Now led in the kitchen by Jamie Yates, ex-Templo, Sonny and Analiese Gregory’s travelling right-hand, the menu has shifted to handmade pastas, seafood, mid-sized plates, and dishes made for sharing. The cult focaccia remains part of the mythology, the wine list keeps moving, and the courtyard still has that magic trick of turning one drink into dinner. Walk-ins are welcome, though bookings are smart if you’re eating.
35 Johnston Street, Collingwood
Beermash
Beermash is Smith Street’s craft beer mothership: part bar, part bottle shop, all gleaming fridges, rotating taps and very good reasons to try something strange. The Collingwood favourite pours from 22 taps, with more than 500 craft beers available to drink in or take away, plus cider, wine, seltzers, canned cocktails, snacks and merch in the mix. It’s walk-in only, BYO food is welcome, and the team will happily steer you towards your next obsession.
306 Smith Street, Collingwood
Molly Rose
Molly Rose has loosened its collar, and Collingwood is better for it. What began as a backstreet brewery has grown into a full Wellington Street playground, with a beer garden, dining hall, taproom and plenty of room for mates, dates, kids and dogs. The latest chapter is more of a European beer hall than a formal restaurant, with schnitzel, barramundi, kohlrabi parma, lamb rump, and beer focaccia made for sharing around long tables. Founder Nic Sandery’s beers are still the heartbeat, but there are spritzes, cocktails and a mostly local drinks spirit in the mix too. Come for a pint, stay for steak night, trivia, vinyl or whatever the brilliant Collingwood bar throws at you next.
279/285 Wellington Street, Collingwood
Goldy’s Tavern
Goldy’s Tavern has taken the old Leinster Arms Hotel and given it a new lease without sanding off the good bits. Friends, families and dogs are all welcome at this Collingwood pub, where floral carpet, vintage knick-knacks, board games, cold beer and multiple dining rooms keep the mood pleasingly old-school. There are bars to perch at, outdoor spaces for sunny afternoons and enough easy charm to make a quick jug turn into an accidental afternoon.
66A Gold Street, Collingwood
Above Board
Above Board is tiny, meticulous and still one of Melbourne’s most respected places to drink. Hidden upstairs behind Beermash, this walk-in-only cocktail bar keeps things close: no standing room, small groups only and a seat-at-the-bar setup that puts you right in the action. Hayden Lambert and team are known for razor-sharp classics and clever signatures, with a calm confidence that makes every drink feel considered without turning the whole thing into theatre. Go early, order a martini, and let them steer you from there.
306 Smith Street, Collingwood
Runner Up
Runner Up gives Collingwood’s rooftop scene a softer, sun-drunk edge. Set above the street with a brick bar, open-air courtyard and greenery from cumquat and fig trees, it feels more Mediterranean terrace than inner-north drinking deck. The list moves through Italian and Australian wines, limoncello spritzes are the natural first order, and weekend DJs keep things ticking after dark.
Level 2/35 Johnston Street, Collingwood
Nighthawks
Every nightlife-loving neighbourhood needs a good dive bar, and Nighthawks is Collingwood’s. Harking back to the grungy and frayed-edge Melbourne of yesteryear, the lights are low, the records spinning and the mood conspiratorial. Sidle cheek-to-cheek in booths, catch some fresh air in the rear beer garden or even drop in for a solo tipple up at the bar.
Sitchu Tip: The bar’s petite dimensions don’t stop it from being one of our favourite live music venues, with weekly intimate gigs in the front room.
136 Johnston Street, Collingwood
Gum
Small in size but big in soul, Gum is a ‘70s-inspired bar injecting a shot of nostalgia into Johnston Street. Somewhere between a wine bar and a pub, it’s the place you can hit up for a quick pre-dinner drink and late nights with local DJs. The space is effortlessly inviting with bright, throwback décor in the form of orange laminate tabletops, brown leather chairs and floral print wallpaper that looks great on the ‘gram.
173 Johnston Street, Collingwood
Glou
Glou is Collingwood wine culture with a conscience, and very inner north in the best possible way. This low-waste wine bar and shop pours minimal-intervention Australian drops from taps, cutting out single-use bottles, labels and excess transport weight without making the experience feel worthy or dull. There are 16 rotating wines to try, a cellar-door spirit to the whole operation, and reusable bottles to fill when something hits. Come curious, taste before you commit, then leave with your next fridge-door pour sorted.
310 Smith Street, Collingwood
The Moon
The Moon has long been Collingwood’s low-lit answer to “just one glass?” This Stanley Street wine bar and bottle shop keeps more than 400 bottles in orbit, with 20 by the glass changing constantly across minimal-intervention producers, local drops and smart European finds. The room is sleek, moody and made for date-night leaning, while the food menu moves with the seasons, from snacks to proper dinner plates. If there’s anchovy on the menu, order it.
28A Stanley Street, Collingwood
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