The Sitchu Awards 2025 Winners: New South Wales

The 2025 Sitchu Awards winners are in and Pellegrino 2000 took out Best Date Night Spot, Olympus claimed Best New Restaurant Opening, and Flour swept both Best Bakery and Best Coffee Spot. After thousands of nominations and votes from readers across New South Wales, the nine category winners have been crowned — from a Surry Hills trattoria to the Caringbah South cult bakery that earned a double win. These are the NSW venues, neighbourhoods, and local businesses that readers voted as the very best of 2025.

Best Date Night Spot in Sydney 2025

The restaurants, rooftop hideaways, or bars that set the stage for unforgettable evenings.

Winner: Pellegrino 2000

Tables at Pellegrino 2000 don’t always come easily, but they’re definitely worth the wait. The two-storey Surry Hills trattoria from chef Dan Pepperell is all about Roman and Florentine classics, and comes complete with a moody underground wine cellar. The prawn ravioli alone is worth the effort and we like to think Taylor Swift tried this hero dish when she dined there in 2024.

Surry Hills

Runner up: TOKI Bistro & Bar

TOKI in North Sydney is the kind of restaurant that makes a real occasion of dinner. Dishes blend classical French technique with contemporary Asian flare across a tasting menu that runs seven to ten courses, earning a Chef’s Hat for its commitment to fusion and flavour.

North Sydney

Best Deli or Sandwich Spot in Sydney 2025

Where the sandwiches are stacked high, the flavours bold, and tomorrow’s cravings are guaranteed.

Winner: Norma’s Deli

Norma’s Deli on Manly Corso wears a lot of different hats (and it looks good doing it). Operating as a Mediterranean diner, sourdough bakery, espresso bar, grocer and aperitivo bar, you can stop in at any point in the day and expect to find something delicious. From the team behind Rollers Bakehouse, it’s built its reputation on jam-packed sandwiches, traditional Greek cooking and family-style hospitality that keeps people coming back.

Manly

Runner up: Duke’s Providore

Formerly known as Fred’s Providore, Duke’s in Cronulla does double duty as a gourmet deli and bakery by day and an intimate European bistro by night. The house-baked focaccia is reason enough to visit, but stay for the wine list after dark.

Cronulla

Best Bakery in Sydney 2025

Those irresistible loaves, pastries, or cakes you’ll happily queue for.

Winner: Flour

Flour earned a double win in the 2025 Sitchu Awards, taking out both Best Bakery and Best Coffee Spot. The Caringbah South bakery is built around a glass-walled doughroom where you can watch pastry chefs roll out croissants and cruffins in real time. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but the cinnamon scrolls alone are worth the drive from anywhere in the city.

Caringbah South

Runner up: A.P Bakery

A.P Bakery grows its own heritage wheat varietals in regional NSW, mills them in-house daily and turns them into some of the best bread and pastry in Sydney (read: they take it seriously). They have a few outposts, but the rooftop Surry Hills location at Paramount House Hotel alone is a standout.

Various locations across Sydney

Best Neighbourhood Bar in Sydney 2025

A glass of local vino, a crafted cocktail, or the easy hum of your favourite haunt.

Winner: Bar Copains

Bar Copains is everything a neighbourhood bar should be, without even really trying. Chefs Nathan Sasi and Morgan McGlone have built something special in Surry Hills, with over 300 bottles on the list and a food offering that goes well beyond bar snacks.

Surry Hills

Runner up: Dear Saint Eloise

Hidden down Llankelly Place in Potts Point, Dear Sainte Éloise has a 350-plus bottle wine list leaning heavily into organic and biodynamic drops, and a European menu that changes regularly.

Potts Point

Best Region For a Weekend Escape in NSW 2025

A close-to-home getaway with standout eats, scenic allure, and undeniable local character.

Winner: Hunter Valley

Though it may just be two hours from Sydney, the Hunter Valley somehow feels a world away. It’s beloved not only for the world-class wineries scattered across the region, but the cellar doors, farm-to-table restaurants and boutique stays that make it easy to fill a weekend without a plan. Come for the wine but stay for the pace; there’s enough open space and good eating here to actually switch off properly.

Runner up: Blue Mountains

Boasting cool-weather eating, dramatic scenery and a town scene that keeps getting better, the Blue Mountains is always worth the drive from Sydney. The food scene has grown into something that feels really exciting, with strong coffee, excellent restaurants and a handful of destination stays making it far more than just a day trip. Add the hiking trails, eucalyptus valleys and misty lookouts, and it’s one of NSW’s most complete weekend escapes.

Best New Restaurant Opening in Sydney 2025

The newcomer already winning hearts and setting the bar high.

Winner: Olympus

Olympus arrived and almost immediately set a new benchmark for ambitious dining in Sydney. From the team behind The Apollo, the restaurant is built around a 50-year-old tree beneath a retractable glass roof in Redfern’s Wunderlich Lane, and the Greek charcoal cooking from chef Ozge Kalvo is truly something special.

Redfern

Runner up: Neptune’s Grotto

From the same trio behind Pellegrino 2000, Neptune’s Grotto is a subterranean Northern Italian restaurant beneath Clam Bar in the CBD. It’s fun, moody and seafood heavy in the best way.

Sydney CBD

Best Coffee Spot in Sydney 2025

From perfectly pulled espresso shots to artisan brews, the cafés that get it right every single time.

Winner: Flour

This second win for Flour is well deserved. Their rotating roster of specialty roasters means the coffee offering changes regularly which keeps regulars on their toes and rewards first time visitors with something outside-the-box. Paired with a pastry from the glass-walled dough room next door, it’s one of the better ways to spend a morning in Sydney’s south.

Caringbah South

Runner up: Primary Coffee Roasters

Roasting in small batches and sourcing direct-trade beans, the ethos at Primary Coffee Roasters is all about doing one thing very well. Their seasonal espresso blend is paired with Sungold Jersey milk for a flat white that’s hard to fault, and the pared-back Potts Point space feels more like a coffee showroom than a café.

Potts Point & Marrickville

Best Small Local Business in Sydney 2025

Lifestyle, Beauty, Fashion, Wellness — the boutique and independent spots that bring personality, purpose and real community presence.

Winner: Better Read Than Dead

Newtown’s beloved independent bookshop has been a community anchor for decades, and this win is a testament to that. The independent bookshop is known for its knowledgeable staff, handwritten shelf recommendations and regular author events that keep the neighbourhood engaged.

Newtown

Runner up: Slow House

This subterranean bathhouse and wellness space has become one of Bondi’s most talked-about places to unwind. Magnesium pools at 38°C, Finnish saunas, a steam room and 5°C ice baths make up the contrast therapy circuit, while private infrared suites and an on-site medi-spa take it well beyond your standard dip.

Bondi Beach

Best Foodie Suburb in Sydney 2025

The neighbourhoods that pack a serious punch, serving up big flavours from hidden cafés to local culinary gems.

Winner: Surry Hills

Surry Hills has long been Sydney’s most consistently excellent eating suburb, and this win cements its reputation. Crown Street alone holds Bar Copains, Pellegrino 2000 and some of the city’s best casual spots within a few blocks of each other… and that’s before you get to the side streets. From cult bakeries and neighbourhood bars to destination restaurants and late-night gems, the density of good eating here is genuinely hard to match.

Runner up: Newtown

Newtown has one of the most diverse eating streets in the country, with King Street covering pretty much every cuisine and price point you could want. It’s the kind of suburb where an exceptional Vietnamese bowl sits next to a natural wine bar, a Sri Lankan curry house and a decades-old vegan café; and all of them are worth your time.

What Are the Sitchu Awards?

The inaugural Sitchu Awards set out to celebrate the places that shape the way we live, dine and play across New South Wales, from the bakery that starts your morning just right to the neighbourhood bar that feels like a living room.

Here’s how it worked: nominations opened to Sitchu readers across NSW, giving the community the chance to put forward the spots that truly matter to them. Sitchu’s editors then curated five finalists across each of the nine categories. Voting then re-opened, with thousands of reader votes determining the winners. The results are entirely reader-driven; no editorial panel, no paid placements.

FAQs About the Sitchu Awards NSW 2025

Who won the Sitchu Awards NSW 2025?

The nine category winners for NSW in 2025 were: Pellegrino 2000 (Best Date Night Spot), Norma’s Deli (Best Deli or Sandwich Spot), Flour (Best Bakery and Best Coffee Spot), Bar Copains (Best Neighbourhood Bar), Hunter Valley (Best Region for a Weekend Escape), Olympus (Best New Restaurant Opening), Better Read Than Dead (Best Small Local Business), and Surry Hills (Best Foodie Suburb). Flour was the standout, taking home two awards.

Where is the best weekend getaway from Sydney in NSW?

The Hunter Valley was voted the best region for a weekend escape in NSW by Sitchu readers in 2025. Located approximately two hours from Sydney, it is recognised for its concentration of wineries, cellar doors, farm-to-table restaurants, and boutique accommodation options that make it easy to fill a weekend without much planning. The Blue Mountains was named runner-up, noted for its cool-weather food scene, hiking, and growing number of destination stays.

What is the best foodie suburb in Sydney?

Surry Hills was voted the best foodie suburb in Sydney by Sitchu readers in 2025, recognised for the concentration of restaurants, bars, bakeries, and neighbourhood dining it packs into a relatively compact area. It covers significant ground across price points and cuisines, with Pellegrino 2000 and Bar Copains — both 2025 Sitchu Award winners — among the suburb’s standout venues. Newtown was named runner-up.

What is the best bakery in Sydney?

Flour in Caringbah South was voted the best bakery in Sydney by Sitchu readers in 2025. The bakery is built around a glass-walled doughroom where you can watch pastry chefs work in real time, and produces croissants, cruffins, and cinnamon scrolls that have earned it a following well beyond the southern suburbs. It also took out Best Coffee Spot in the same awards, making it the only double winner of the inaugural Sitchu Awards NSW.

What is the best new restaurant in Sydney in 2025?

Olympus, from the team behind The Apollo, took out Best New Restaurant Opening in Sydney for 2025. The Redfern restaurant is built around a 50-year-old tree beneath a retractable glass roof in Wunderlich Lane, with Greek charcoal cooking from chef Ozge Kalvo at its centre. The design alone set a new benchmark for ambitious dining in Sydney when it opened, and the kitchen has more than matched it. Reservations are essential, as it has become one of the harder tables to secure in the city.

How were the Sitchu Awards 2025 winners chosen?

The Sitchu Awards 2025 were entirely reader-driven. Sitchu’s community was first invited to nominate their favourite venues and businesses across nine categories. After nominations closed, Sitchu’s editors curated five finalists per category. Voting then re-opened, with thousands of reader votes from across New South Wales determining the final winners. There was no editorial panel involved in the outcome and no paid placements — every winner reflects what NSW locals genuinely love.

Now that you’ve caught up on Sitchu’s 2025 award winners, check out the best new restaurants in Sydney and the best new cafes and bakeries in Sydney.

Writer

Lucy Cocoran

12 November 2025

Lucy Cocoran is the Sydney Editor for Sitchu. When she’s not following the scent of pastries, she enjoys reading fantasy books, finding zen at Pilates and smiling at dogs.