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The Best BYO Restaurants in Sydney for Your Next Night Out
Our guide to the best BYO restaurants in Sydney will make you the hero at your next group dinner!
Sydney’s best BYO restaurants span cheap Italian nights at Bar Reggio in Darlinghurst, waterfront pasta at Chiosco by Ormeggio in Mosman, and French bistro fare at Loulou Bistro in Lavender Bay.
Sometimes all you need is a night out with the crew at a fun, buzzing BYO spot, whether you’re chasing a $2.50 corkage fee or a proper wine-and-Wagyu pairing, saving cash on drinks or finally cracking open that special bottle you’ve been saving. From cosy Italian joints to trendy Asian fusion spots, there’s an option here for every palate and occasion, we’ve scoured the city to round up the best places to bring your own bottle and settle in for a memorable night out.
In This Guide:
Best Cheap BYO Restaurants in Sydney
Bar Reggio
Bar Reggio exudes a charmingly worn-in Italian feel, and that’s exactly why we love it. The welcoming, rustic atmosphere draws in a diverse crowd—locals, families, office groups—united in their love for hearty, traditional Italian food that feels like home.
The BYO option for just $2.5 per person adds to the laid-back vibe, making every visit a relaxed, memorable Italian feast. It’s an affordable corkage fee, making this the perfect spot for a budget-friendly, wine-infused get-together with friends, featuring a delectable lineup of pasta, pizza, and Pinot Noir.
Suburb: Darlinghurst
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: Italian
Best For: Budget-friendly, Group dining, Families
Need To Know: BYO available, $4 per person corkage fee.
Cairo Takeaway
In Enmore, this Egyptian eatery offers fresh, authentic, tricked-out feeds. Popular for food-to-go, there is also a little cosy courtyard if you’re lucky to snag a table.
Cairo Takeaway serves taameyya, an Egyptian-style falafel that uses fava beans instead of chickpeas. Made to order, it’s crunchy and golden on the outside, and crumbly and bright green on the inside, just as it is in the owner’s hometown of Cairo. BYO is available, but for wine only!
Suburb: Newtown
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Best For: Quick bite, Budget-friendly, Locals
Need To Know: BYO wine only, no other alcohol permitted. No corkage charge.
Emma’s Snack Bar
The Inner West has a special place in its heart reserved for Emma’s Snack Bar. A regular pit stop for locals, food lovers flock from near and far to sample Emma’s authentic Lebanese street food and moreish share plates.
Note to self: Emma’s fills up quickly on the weekends, so bring your bottle (with a small corkage per person) along with you, and show up early to guarantee a spot.
Suburb: Enmore
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: Lebanese
Best For: Budget-friendly, Group dining, Quick bite
Need To Know: BYO available, small corkage fee per person. $6 per person
Best BYO Restaurants for a Group Dinner
Don’t Tell Aunty
In Surry Hills, Don’t Tell Aunty is bringing its brand of ‘unauthentic Indian fare’ to the local foodies. The sister venue to popular Pinky Ji, this eatery boasts a fun and cheeky atmosphere, whilst putting a twist on tradition by using ingredients that aren’t typically found in Indian cooking.
The drinks menu complements the kitchen’s efforts with a strong wine selection and a playful gin and mezcal-centric cocktail list, though you can bring your own bottle of wine any night of the week for a corkage fee of $20.
Suburb: Surry Hills
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Indian
Best For: Group dining, Cocktail lovers, Locals
Need To Know: BYO wine available every night of the week, $20 corkage fee.
Mamak CBD, Chatswood & Haymarket
A cult-favourite Malaysian joint known for its hand-stretched roti, satay skewers and always-bustling vibe. With outposts in the CBD, Chatswood and Haymarket, Mamak’s offering is casual, quick and high-flavour. All venues offer BYO for a small cost, making it ideal for weekday and weeknight catchups.
Suburb: CBD, Chatswood and Haymarket
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: South-East Asian
Best For: Quick bite, Budget-friendly, Group dining
Need To Know: BYO available at all locations for a $4 fee.
Best Waterfront and Date Night BYO in Sydney
Chiosco by Ormeggio
A relaxed, waterfront Italian spot perched on the jetty at The Spit. Chiosco is known for serving handmade pasta and antipasti with a side of salty sea breezes. Better yet, the venue offers BYO wine for those long, lazy lunches in the sunshine.
Suburb: Mosman
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Italian
Best For: Waterfront, Long lunch, Wine lovers
Need To Know: BYO wine available, well suited to long, relaxed lunches by the water. $20 per bottle.
Garfish
For some seriously good seafood north side of the bridge, head straight to Garfish. Fresh fish is served just the way you want it – grilled, spiced or woodfired, in two distinct locations.
Overlooking Manly Cove, Garfish has a woodfired oven and a cocktail and wine bar, SuGarfish. Up the hill from the harbour, Garfish Crows Nest soaks up the curbside café culture of Crows Nest.
Both restaurants are BYO bottled wine only. Manly offers BYO all day on Monday and Tuesday ($10 per bottle) and Crows Nest offer up Tuesday all day and Saturday lunch ($9 per person), which sounds like a great way to kick off the week, if you ask us!
Suburb: Manly & Crows Nest
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Seafood
Best For: Waterfront, Date night, Wine lovers
Need To Know: BYO bottled wine only, available all day Monday and Tuesday at Manly ($10 per bottle) and Tuesday all day and Saturday lunch at Crows Nest ($9 per person).
Best BYO Restaurants for European and French Fare
Loulou
Loulou Bistro, Boulangerie & Traiteur in Lavender Bay, offers a triple treat, capturing European deli vibes and the cosmopolitan essence of New York bistros.
The bistro boasts classic French fare, while the boulangerie excels in bread, charcuterie, and wines. On BYO Tuesdays & Wednesdays, guests can bring their treasured wines to complement the traditional French dishes.
Imagine your vintage Chardonnay accentuating grilled spatchcock, or a premium Bordeaux elevating a 600g bone-in Wagyu sirloin — that’s certainly worth a $20 corkage fee.
Suburb: Lavender Bay
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: French
Best For: Special occasion, Wine lovers, Date night
Need To Know: BYO available Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, $20 corkage fee.
Best BYO Restaurants in Sydney’s Inner West and Eastern Suburbs
Brown Sugar
A neighbourhood-leaning Bondi staple with a warm dining room and Mediterranean-leaning menu. Brown Sugar’s BYO keeps it popular with locals looking for a laid-back but polished dinner spot. Corkage is $25 per bottle from Monday to Thursday and increases to $35 per bottle on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
Suburb: Bondi Beach
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Best For: Locals, Date night
Need To Know: BYO available, $25 per bottle and $35 on Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights.
Frequently Asked Questions about Sydney’s Best BYO Restaurants
BYO stands for “bring your own” and refers to restaurants that allow diners to bring their own alcohol, usually wine, rather than purchasing drinks from the venue. Most BYO restaurants charge a corkage fee, a small per-bottle or per-person charge for opening and serving your own drinks. In Sydney, corkage fees typically range from $2 to $20 depending on the venue and whether it’s a fully licensed restaurant offering BYO on select nights, or a dedicated BYO-only establishment.
BYO restaurants can significantly reduce the overall cost of a meal, since diners avoid restaurant markups on wine and other alcohol, paying only a corkage fee instead. Savings depend on what you bring and the venue’s corkage rate. A $20 bottle of wine with a $5 corkage fee will always be cheaper than ordering from a restaurant wine list, though the gap narrows at venues charging higher corkage or when bringing premium bottles to venues with steep per-bottle fees.
It depends on the restaurant. Some Sydney venues, like Don’t Tell Aunty, offer BYO every night, while others restrict it to specific days, such as Loulou Bistro’s Tuesday and Wednesday BYO nights or Garfish’s Monday and Tuesday policy at its Manly location. Always check a venue’s specific BYO days and any applicable corkage fee before planning your night, as policies vary widely even among restaurants in the same suburb.
This varies by venue. Some Sydney BYO restaurants, such as Cairo Takeaway and Garfish, restrict BYO to bottled wine only, while others are more flexible. If you’re planning to bring beer, spirits or premixed drinks, it’s worth confirming directly with the restaurant, since many BYO policies in Sydney are wine-specific due to licensing arrangements.
Corkage fees at Sydney BYO restaurants generally range from around $2 to $20 per person or per bottle, depending on the venue. Casual, neighbourhood-style restaurants tend to sit at the lower end, while venues offering BYO as a special addition to an otherwise fully licensed wine list, particularly for fine dining or special occasion spots, tend to charge closer to $20. It’s standard practice to confirm the fee when booking.
Now that you have read through our list of the best BYO restaurants in Sydney, it is time to explore the rest of the city’s dining scene. Whether you’re after authentic Italian pasta or spicy Indian, there’s a restaurant in Sydney that caters to your taste buds.
