Melbourne’s Most Iconic Restaurants: The 23 Institutions That Define This City

In a city fuelled by food, Melbourne’s restaurant scene constantly shifts, but some places stand the test of time. These are the enduring institutions, the pioneers, the architectural knockouts, and the neighbourhood darlings that have earned their place in the city’s collective culinary consciousness. From century-old classics to contemporary heavyweights, these are Melbourne’s most iconic restaurants, chosen for their longevity, beauty, popularity, influence, and undeniable staying power.

The Classics: Established & Enduring Institutions

Florentino

Florentino begins a dazzling new chapter without loosening its grip on Melbourne’s dining imagination. Established in 1928, the Bourke Street institution remains one of the city’s grandest restaurant addresses, now under Edition Group’s custodianship and renewed across the Dining Room, Cafe Florentino and Cellar Bar. Beneath Napier Waller’s frescoes, the Mural Room still frames milestone lunches and elegant dinners, with Michael Greenlaw and Brendan Katich shaping menus grounded in Italian tradition and refined through contemporary technique.

Heritage favourites endure — the chocolate soufflé among them — while new energy flows through the kitchen, wine program and the building itself.

80 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Flower Drum

For close to five decades, Flower Drum has set the standard for Cantonese fine dining in Melbourne. The Market Lane dining room still carries that unmistakable sense of occasion, with old-school service, silverware, pressed linens and staff who know exactly when to step in. Peking duck remains a signature for good reason, while mud crab and sang choi bao continue to justify the booking. It is a restaurant built on precision, continuity and genuine craft.

Chinatown, 17 Market Lane, Melbourne 

Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar

Pellegrini’s remains one of Melbourne’s defining rooms, not because it has changed with the city, but because it has held its shape. Since 1954, it has served espresso, pasta and ritual in equal measure, with handwritten menus, counter seats and staff who understand the value of familiarity. The late Sisto Malaspina remains central to its story, and the feeling of his generosity still runs through the place. Few venues carry memory this well.

66 Bourke Street, Melbourne

The Waiters Restaurant

Up a narrow flight of stairs in Meyers Place, The Waiters still feels like a Melbourne secret you’re relieved hasn’t changed. Established in 1947 as a post-service club for Italian waiters, it keeps the old dining-room spirit intact: close tables, brisk service, handwritten specials and pasta that arrives exactly as you hoped it would. Veal, osso buco and red-sauce comforts remain central. It’s heritage with appetite, not nostalgia theatre.

20 Meyers Place, Melbourne

Stalactites

Stalactites remains one of Melbourne’s great constants, especially after dark. Since 1978, the Lonsdale Street dining room has kept its bright glow, limestone-style ceiling and all-hours energy, turning out souvlaki, grilled meats and dips for the city at every hour. Pre-theatre, post-gig, end-of-shift, first stop, last stop — it covers them all. Few restaurants are this woven into Melbourne life, and fewer still keep the pace this well.

177/183 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Jim’s Greek Tavern

Jim’s Greek Tavern still runs on instinct, speed and generosity, which is exactly why people keep coming back. The Panagopoulos family has been feeding Collingwood since 1980 with a format that skips the printed menu and puts the meal in the hands of the floor team. Plates arrive in waves, chosen to suit the table, and the room moves with the force of a proper feast. It’s exuberant, deeply personal and impossible to fake.

32 Johnston Street, Collingwood

Supper Inn

Upstairs in Chinatown, Supper Inn continues to do what it has always done best: feed Melbourne late, fast and well. The room is plain, the stairs are steep, and none of that matters once the food lands. Roast duck, congee, XO pippies and Cantonese staples arrive with speed and precision, especially when the city is running late, and everyone is hungry at once. For that, it remains one of the city’s most useful and most thoroughly delicious addresses.

Chinatown, Level 1/15 Celestial Avenue, Melbourne

Modern Icons: New Classics Redefining the Scene

Attica

Attica remains one of Australia’s defining restaurants, and its significance to Melbourne dining is hard to overstate. Ben Shewry’s work has reshaped how local ingredients, memory and place can be expressed on the plate, without reducing any of it to concept alone. The tasting menu continues to evolve, but the underlying strength is discipline: rigorous cooking, exact storytelling and a restaurant experience that still feels singular after all these years.

74 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea

Vue de Monde

Few Melbourne restaurants understand occasion the way Vue de Monde does. High above Collins Street in the Rialto, the room gives you scale and skyline from the moment you arrive, but the kitchen keeps the experience grounded in craft. Since 2000, the restaurant has built its reputation on technical precision, Australian produce and a format that knows how to stage a meal. It remains one of the city’s clearest fine-dining statements.

55 Rialto Towers, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne

Stokehouse

Stokehouse is one of Melbourne’s great comeback stories, and one of its most enduring seaside bookings. First opened in 1989, lost to fire in 2014, then rebuilt and reopened in 2016, it still owns that St Kilda beachfront sense of occasion. Floor-to-ceiling windows pull Port Phillip Bay into the room, while the kitchen keeps the focus on top-tier seafood and finely judged mains. It’s glamour, yes, but with substance — an iconic restaurant in Melbourne people book for milestones and sunset dinners alike.

30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda 

Mamasita

Upstairs on Collins Street, Mamasita still feels like the restaurant that changed how Melbourne eats Mexican. Since 2010, it has held onto its first-floor energy, black-and-white tiles and those grand windows while keeping the menu sharp, produce-led and firmly outside Tex-Mex territory. Think house-pressed tortillas, elotes, tostadas and flautas, backed by an agave-heavy drinks list and a signature margarita that still earns its place. Fifteen years on, it remains a city dinner staple with real bite.

Level 1/11 Collins Street, Melbourne

Embla

Embla helped reset the tone of city dining, proving that serious wine and serious cooking could share the same room without stiffness. Since opening in 2016, it has drawn a loyal crowd for its natural wine focus and kitchen built around smoke, fire and sharp seasonal decisions. The menu moves with confidence, the dimly lit room stays full, and the experience still feels as relevant now as it did when it first arrived on Russell Street.

122 Russell Street, Melbourne

Gimlet at Cavendish House

Gimlet at Cavendish House brought large-scale glamour back into Melbourne dining and made it feel current. The room does plenty of the work — high ceilings, marble bar, impeccable proportions — but the staying power comes from the food and the tempo of service. Andrew McConnell’s menu moves between European classics and richer house signatures with control and appetite in mind. It feels cinematic, yes, though never at the expense of substance.

Cavendish House, 33 Russell Street, Melbourne 

Lucy Liu

Lucy Liu still lands with impact because it strikes the right balance: a room built for energy, a menu made for sharing, and enough culinary precision to keep regulars coming back. Since 2014, the Oliver Lane space has held onto its place in the city’s dinner rotation with pan-Asian plates that move from dumplings and bao to larger dishes without losing momentum. It’s loud in the right ways and consistently good where it counts.

23 Oliver Lane, Melbourne 

Tipo 00

Down the stairs on Little Bourke Street, Tipo 00 still feels like one of Melbourne’s smartest bookings. The room is compact, low-lit and always in demand, with plates of silk-edged pasta moving fast from the kitchen to tightly packed tables. Everything lands with control, from rich, glossy sauces to sharply judged finishing touches. It helped reset the city’s expectations of what a pasta bar could be, and it still holds that line.

361 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne 

Cumulus Inc.

Cumulus Inc. helped define a new Melbourne dining mood when it opened in 2008, and the room still makes the point the moment you walk in. Tall windows, generous proportions and a service style that moves with ease set the scene, while the menu shifts across the day without losing focus. Andrew McConnell’s produce-led approach remains central. It’s one of Flinders Lane’s key institutions because it continues to feel current and deeply enjoyable.

45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 

Supernormal

Supernormal has become part of Melbourne’s dining shorthand for good reason. Since 2014, Andrew McConnell’s Flinders Lane restaurant has held onto its pace, appetite and broad appeal, pairing pan-Asian references with a menu people return to on repeat. Lobster rolls, duck bao and peanut butter parfait have entered local restaurant folklore, while the open kitchen and late-night energy keep the room in constant motion. It still feels fun, which matters.

180 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Cult & Classic: Neighbourhood Hangouts

France-Soir

France-Soir has held its line for decades, and that is exactly the point. The room runs at full tilt, tables packed close, aproned waiters moving with speed, Burgundy flowing, steak frites landing, duck confit rarely skipped. The board changes, the mood stays the same, and regulars like it that way. In a city that constantly reinvents itself, France-Soir remains one of Melbourne’s sharpest arguments for consistency.

11 Toorak Road, South Yarra

Scopri

Scopri doesn’t advertise itself — it simply exists, quietly impeccable on a sleepy Carlton North corner. A neighbourhood restaurant in theory, a northside institution in practice, it’s where serious eaters go for silky strands of tajarin with truffle, veal cotoletta fried to golden perfection, and a wine list that reads like a love letter to Piemonte. Linen-clothed tables. Gentle murmur of conversation. Service that remembers your name and your Barolo preference. There’s nothing performative here — just heart, heritage, and a deep respect for Italian cooking.

191 Nicholson Street, Carlton 

Rumi

Rumi is Brunswick East’s enduring ode to the flavours of the Levant, a place where warmth is plated as generously as the food. Since 2006, Joseph Abboud’s cult dining room has been luring devotees with tender Persian-style lamb shoulder, roasted cauliflower strewn with barberries, and that endless parade of chewy housemade bread. The lighting is low, the buzz is constant, and the service is unpretentious. It’s an iconic Melbourne restaurant that feeds both appetite and soul — a legendary neighbourhood haunt that’s anything but ordinary.

2 Village Avenue, Brunswick East 

Neighbourhood Wine

Neighbourhood Wine feels like stepping into your most charming friend’s living room — if your friend happened to have impeccable taste in natural wine and a kitchen that turns out perfect roast chicken. Housed in a former gambling den just off Brunswick Street, this Fitzroy North favourite wears its old-school soul proudly, all timber warmth, low lighting and soft jazz murmurs. The menu shifts with the seasons — housemade pasta, lush terrines, and produce-led plates that never try too hard. It’s a locals’ sanctuary that never forgets to seduce.

1 Reid Street, Fitzroy North 

Old Palm Liquor

From the same clever crew behind Neighbourhood Wine, Old Palm Liquor is a northside sanctuary of wood-fired cooking, natural wine, and slouchy good times. There’s a timber-panelled glow to the room that softens even the iciest Melbourne night, with smoky skewers and charred seasonal veg tumbling out of the kitchen in waves. It’s convivial, cool, and impossible to categorise — part wine bar, part Euro tavern, all charm. Slide into a booth, order the flatbread (non-negotiable, sorry), and stay for one more bottle than planned.

133B Lygon Street, Brunswick East

Marion

Marion remains one of Gertrude Street’s most dependable pleasures, especially when you want excellent food without a major production. The room runs from lunch into evening with a compact, highly considered menu, a first-rate wine list and a kitchen that treats produce with real care. Andrew McConnell’s influence is evident, though Marion has long held its own character. It’s nimble, stylish and deeply competent in the best possible way.

53 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Cutler & Co

Cutler & Co. remains one of Melbourne’s benchmark dining rooms, where fine dining holds its shape without tipping into stiffness. The menu moves with precision from oysters and anchovy fritters to pristine seafood, seasonal proteins and larger-format dishes made for the table, including serious steaks and suckling pig when the occasion calls for it.

The six-course dégustation is a strong play, especially with matched wines from a cellar that rewards curiosity. Service is exact and deeply considered, and the whole experience feels assured from first course to final pour.

Level 1/55-57 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Bar Liberty

Bar Liberty earned its place quickly and has kept it through consistency, intelligence and a room people genuinely want to spend time in. Since 2015, it has remained central to Fitzroy’s food and wine conversation, with a natural wine list that rewards curiosity and a kitchen that shifts with the seasons. The menu stays concise, the drinks are always worth discussing, and the atmosphere strikes that rare balance between neighbourhood ease and serious hospitality.

234 Johnston Street, Fitzroy

Melbourne’s iconic restaurants pulse with stories that stick around — timeless classics and daring new voices weaving the city’s rich culinary tapestry. For more journeys through taste and terroir, explore our handpicked foodie wine bars and regional Victorian darlings, each a chapter in Melbourne’s ever-evolving, utterly captivating food story.

Writer

Kelsey Harrington

28 February 2026

Kelsey Harrington is a Melbourne-based writer with a sharp eye for the city's ever-evolving food, wine, arts, and culture scene. Her journey into the creative industry took the scenic route—what started as a passion for capturing Melbourne’s energy through a camera lens led her to Sitchu, where she worked her way up to Melbourne Editor. With over four years in the industry, she’s all about uncovering the best places to eat, drink, and explore. Off the clock? You’ll find her diving into a platter of fresh oysters and crudo, gallery-hopping, or sipping an extra dirty martini while plotting her next adventure.