It's not easy to land on single choice for the best restaurants Fitzroy has to offer in 2023, and that's because there are simply so many. The previously working-class inner-city suburb has blossomed through the renaissance of Melbourne’s cultural boom and is now home to some of the highest-rated diners in the entire city.
So, read on, and tick off the best Fitzroy restaurants for 2023:
Marion
Part neighbourhood wine bar, part fine diner, Marion is all the things that we’ve come to love from Andrew McConnell’s restaurants.
The next-door neighbour to Cutler & Co, Marion has a much more accessible and laid-back feel to it. The menu is meant for sharing and consists of a range of small and large plates and has a 20+ page wine list.
Bar Liberty
Bar Liberty is this irreverent diner on Johnston Street. Helmed by a team whose collective experience includes Cutler & Co, Rockwell & Sons, and Attica, this Fitzroy restaurant has it finely dialled.
The menu has a seasonal focus and incorporates contemporary dishes with an inventive flair—from torched kingfish to wood-grilled hanger steak with sauce Robert, capers, and parsley.
Poodle Bar & Bistro
Poodle Bar & Bistro launched over two years ago and in 2023 it's still got a buzz unlike anywhere else in Fitzroy, with a modern-style dining menu that fuses classic French, with Australian and Asian flavours.
With checkered floors and white-washed brick walls, there’s laid laid-back vibe at Poodle making it a top choice restaurant in Fitzroy for comfortable yet elevated dining.
Naked For Satan
You all knew Naked For Satan was making the list of Fitzroy's best restaurants. Where else can you take in panoramic views of the city as you knock back cocktails? The upstairs bar and diner have created iconic dishes from their baked camberet, herb-crusted lamb wrack; and their passionfruit and blackberry pavlova to finish things off.
Belles Hot Chicken
A cult favourite for northsiders, Belles Hot Chicken, it opened years back now by two ex-fine-dining chefs who lived and worked in Nashville and knew they had to bring the signature fried chicken to Melbourne. There are four cuts of chicken and six levels of spice — per fect to create your own Hot Wings with your mates.
The Builders Arms Hotel
Smack bang on the corner of Gertrude and Gore Street. The Builders Arms Hotel is a dyed-in-the-wool Melbourne pub. Inside the corner resting hotel, the space has been split into three sections: the front bar, a fancy bistro-style restaurant and a secluded beer garden. With Andrew McConnel at the helm, the menu is always on point, and that's just one reason it makes it onto the list of Fitzroy's best restaurants.
Ichi Ni Nana Izakaya
Japanese is big in Melbourne and Ichi Ni Nana is doing some of the best in the city. With an extensive menu of authentic and regional Japanese dishes, there's always something different to try at Ichi.
Situated on Brunswick Street, the diner has a seriously impressive and varied interior with an almost greenhouse-feeling back section and delicate wall printed inside.
Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca
Now a beloved Italian bistro, Rocco's Bologna Discoteca and ‘Italian Maccas’ aesthetic burst onto the scene, winning hearts and filling stomachs all over town with its hefty meatball sub and accompaniments, and a few years later in 2023, RBD is easily considered one of the best Fitzroy restaurants on rotation.
Neighbourhood Wine
Neighbourhood Wine is one of our favourite wine bars and restaurants in Fitzroy North—combining great local wines and a fantastic seasonal menu in one of the quaintest spaces in Melbourne.
The former Fitzroy club room has been transformed into a sleek space with plenty of charm with a set menu that focuses on local produce and accommodates the wine perfectly.
The Royal Oak Hotel
Technically in the northern end of the suburb, this Fitzroy restaurant is one of the region's oldest institutions and has been lovingly restored to glory to the same team behind Marquis Of Lorne.
The familiar green facade has been torn away—making way for bold red and burgundy colouring and striped awnings. The dining room has a Euro-bistro-influenced menu while still retaining the traditional counter meals.
Cutler & Co
Another Fitzroy icon, Cutler & Co. pretty much set the scene for what Gertrude Street was going to become. Andrew McConnell opened this almost 15 years ago, and the idea was to celebrate local produce and execute with flair and sophistication—what's resulted over the years later is one of Fitzroy's best restaurants.
Mukka
Many a cracking night has been had at this Fitzroy favourite. Mukka keeps the menu pretty authentic, an Indian restaurant with a focus on solid flavour.
Their banana leaf fish fry is a revelation, while you can never go from their selection of curries, small plates and even drinks including the spiked mango lassi.
Marquis of Lorne
This ain’t your ordinary pub, the Marquis Of Lorne on Kerr and George Street in Fitzroy has a lot to offer.
A special nod to dishes like the now-iconic rockling burger, a complete game-changer with a dill-infused aioli, shallots cos lettuce and a hearty serving of chips as well as the humble chicken schnitzel, truly one of the best in town.
Vegie Bar
Sitting on Brunswick Street since 1988, Vegie Bar offers an array of vegetarian cuisine, encompassing noodles, Buddha bowls, and pizzas, thoughtfully crafted with vegan cheese alternatives.
Adjacent to this establishment, you'll find their sister eatery, Girls & Boys, which specializes in vegan ice cream and confectioneries. While firmly rooted in a plant-based culinary ethos, Vegie Bar undeniably ranks among Fitzroy's best restaurants.
Masti
Part restaurant, part cocktail bar, Masti is the Indian restaurant from the acclaimed 'curry queen' Manpreet Sekhon. She’s put together the ultimate sharing menu with loads of vegetarian and vegan items on there.
For those who like to play it safe, the butter chicken here is next level, while anyone venturing further down the menu will relish in the scallop coconut curry.
Panama Dining Room
You could walk down Smith Street your whole life and miss this place. It’s perched up high, a New York-style loft space with views over Melbourne. Panama Dining Room is pretty much a Fitzroy institution.
With a worldly menu designed by Danny Parreno, the dishes highlight supreme quality produce with a contemporary flare that draws from classic French, Japanese, Australian and more.
Shop Ramen
You can’t miss this place, with the glowing neon sign out front and a line out the door. Shop Ramen is serving up piping bowls of tonkatsu broth. Vegetarians won’t miss out either.
There’s a veggie (cashew milk) broth on the menu, stuffed with enoki mushrooms and carrots. The staple choice here is definitely grass-fed pork ramen with a soft-boiled egg with a perfectly cloudy and salted ramen.
Rice, Paper, Scissors
Rice Paper Scissors is a red-hot destination Fitzroy restaurant, the Asian-fusion diner has some of the best rice paper rolls and southern Asian share plates in town. Order up the Thai fried chicken, crispy barramundi and steamed pork buns.
Even better, there’s a shared menu that includes five dishes for two people. Dessert-wise, it’s gotta be the Terrarium; Vietnamese coffee mousse with peanut and chocolate soil.
Trippy Taco
Nestled on Gertrude Street Fitzroy is Trippy Taco, Melbourne's entirely vegetarian Mexican restaurant. Open for a late breakfast and well into the evening, Trippy is the hotspot for many devoted local northerners, but in no way should that deter you.
Transformer
Many will argue this is the best restaurant in Fitzroy. Owned by the Team of Vegie Bar, Transformer focuses on innovative plant-based dining, with treats like slow-roasted tomato tartrate or sweet corn fritter fries with chipotle mayonnaise.
er-spaces="true">If you’re looking for something a bit bigger, try out the fried halloumi with prickly box honey and black olives.
Tamura Sake & Jazz Bar
Fumi Tamura is bringing modern, casual Japanese dining to Fitzroy with Tamura Sake & Jazz Bar.
The dishes are paired with classic highballs, shochu and sake while the fresh salmon sashimi and Japanese fried chicken (JFC) adds to some of the most authentic and best ramen in Fitzroy, all served up in a charming, authentic atmosphere.
Gogyo
As far as the best restaurants in Fitzroy go, Gogyo is up there. Their signature charred miso ramen dish is like nothing else found here, and their spicier dishes pack some heat (try the karaka-men bowl for a real punch in the tastebuds). G
Flint
Centred around fire and flame, the charcoal-grilled dishes of Flint have championed this quaint diner into a fully-fledged Fitzroy restaurant favourite. Here Australian ingredients are highlighted in a mixture of smokey and flame-kissed menu options from the standout charred carrots to cuts of wagyu skirt steak.
Frankies Tortas And Tacos
From its humble origins operating out of a caravan on Smith Street to its new digs on Johnston Street, Frankie's Tortas & Tacos has been a staple destination.
Awash in their signature white and red-painted aesthetic, the restaurant in Fitzroy features their sizable Tortas, a Mexican-style sandwich that comes in the form of the Pollo Millanesa (chicken) and Al Pastor tortas (beef) which both take centre stage, as well as the legendary tacos.
Alta Trattoria
Bringing more of a Northern lense to Melbourne's Italian culinary community, Alta on Brunswick Street Fitzroy celebrates the form and flavours of the Piedmont region.
In the part of the country where the tomato is less frequently found, dishes take zesty and rich combinations like mussels with an anchovy and parsley sauce to roasted lamb rump with lentils and pancetta.
Keen for more of Melbourne's best? Check these out:
Melbourne's best restaurants
Melbourne's best cafes
Melbourne's best bars
Melbourne's best breakfast
Image credit: supplied