The Best New Restaurants In Melbourne For 2026 So Far
Coby Renkin
Melbourne Editor | Urban List
Looking for somewhere new to eat in Melbourne? The city is brimming with new restaurants, from special occasion cocktail bars in the CBD to unfussy Italian with moody lighting primed for date night in South Yarra.
Whatever you're in the mood for, there's bound to be a new opening in Melbourne that's just right. We've rounded up the best of the best—dig in.
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Delmonte Brings Salumi, Pasta And Wine To The King & Godfree Precinct
Image credit: Delmonte | Supplied
Translating to 'from the mountains', Delmonte is an homage to founder Jamie Valmorbida's grandfather Carlo, who was born in Italy's mountainous Veneto region. The menu celebrates simplicity, seasonality and traditional Italian dining, and honours the site's original deli and wine shop roots with salumi, wine and pasta.
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Andrew McConnell Opens Côte Basque, Dishing Up Lesser-Known Regional Flavours With Wood-Fired Flair
Image: Côte Basque | Supplied
Next date night, you're heading to Basque country. Côte Basque is the newest venue by Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann, and it's now open on Crossley Street. Inspired by traditional Basque cuisine (think: French-meets-Spanish) from McConnell’s trips since the 90s, ‘rustic simplicity’ is the brief, executed with signature Trader House elegance. It centres on a European-style wood grill and a wood oven, dishing up calamari a la brut (squid in its own ink), a rich fisherman’s stew of ttoro, and cuts of a special Wagyu hybrid beef aged in-house and cooked over flame and embers. The team have also hinted at a Monday veal cotoletta special.
If you're someone who always looks at the desserts first, you'll be very happy, with old-school Euro dishes like a fluffy chocolate soufflé and Gâteau Basque with prunes soaked in Armagnac. Formerly the site of Becco, the Côte Basque space brings back the mid-century Italian dream with 1950s green terrazzo floors and cherry wood panelling.
Bar Sala Feels Like Your Favourite Kind Of Dinner Party
Image credit: Bar Sala | Supplied
Make yourself at home with weekly specials to the tune of pasta and steak nights, and get up and about for live DJ sets on the weekends.
Yamagen Is Where Craftsmanship, Connection And Curiosity Meet At The Bar
Image credit: Yamagen | Supplied
Tucked in Melbourne's Portland Lane, Yamagen brings a new take on traditional Japanese dining. It honours heritage, but carries an edge of rebellion, blending time-honoured knife work and robata cooking with the vibrant energy of Melbourne's CBD—dramatic lighting, handcrafted cocktails and unexpected flavours.
Leading the kitchen is Culinary Director Adam Lane, who having worked in hatted restaurants and Michelin-recognised kitchens (think Nobu and Tetsuya's) says "opening Yamagen in Melbourne feels like a natural evolution."
Dingo Ate My Taco Brings Its Cult Birria To An All-Day Texas Taqueria In Abbotsford
Image credit: Dingo Ate My Taco | Supplied
Dingo Ate My Taco has expanded its taqueria network with an all-day diner on Johnston Street, the former Range Brewing site. Warm red light, exposed brick and a long bar beckons the taco-lover to linger over Tex Mex flavours with fresh, hand-made tortillas and frosty Mexican lagers.
The all-day 'Texas taquería’ is made for casual drop-ins. Start the day with breakfast tacos (exclusive to this venue and the truck) and Proud Mary coffee. Settle in at the bar or high-top tables for a birria lunch, or kick off the night with a round of tacos topped with queso or juicy Texas brisket. Keep an eye out for taco specials and sweet treats like cortadillo: a cake topped with thick pink frosting and sprinkles—a beloved staple of Mexican bakeries.
The Angel Of Malvern Is Reborn As A Multi-Level Playground Built For Late Nights
Image credit: Angel Of Malvern | Supplied
A beloved Malvern local is spreading its wings again, with all three levels of heritage-listed corner pub The Angel of Malvern now open.
On the ground level, expect a relaxed public bar pouring tap beers and natural-leaning wines, backed by a leafy courtyard beer garden made for sunny afternoons and impromptu knock-offs and refined pub fare (think: fried buttermilk chicken, beer battered fish and chips and rigatoni vodka pasta).
Upstairs, Mediterranean-inspired dining room Flores is primed for long lunches, with polished but unfussy dishes built around great produce, it's serving share plates alongside a strong showing of European wines.
Climb one more level and things get darker as the nights get later, with cocktail bar Lately bringing a speakeasy feel, late-night snacks and a sharp list of signature drinks.
Armed With A Pasta-Led Menu And Unhurried Approach, Julietta Makes South Yarra Home
Image credit: Julietta | Supplied
With pasta at the core, hand-made dishes range from cacio e pepe with green peppercorns, to a more adventurous nduja, vodka and stracciatella baked pasta, and a lighter counterpoint in the lemon and tarragon butter prawn ravioli.
Sri Lankan Flair Makes Dutch Rules Distilling Co Your Next Must-Try Dining Destination
Image credit: Dutch Rules Distilling Co | Supplied
Classy cocktails, vinyl DJ nights and a “Lankan-leaning” cuisine you’ve never tried before: Dutch Rules Distilling Co has raised the bar in Mitcham.
Young Chef of the Year and Dutch Rules’ head chef Viveik Vinoharan elegantly blends French, Italian and Japanese technique with his Sri Lankan background.
Vinoharan weaves gin throughout the menu, from fresh oysters with Dutch Rules spirit mignonette, to sweet granita with a lilt of Thai gin. The charcuterie board isn’t your everyday salami: it’s custom-made by Kyle Nicol of Big Time Small Goods utilising Dutch Rules products like bresaola cured with coffee liqueur. A bright trout crudo with green tomato pil-pil uses tomatoes from O.MY’s farm dressed with pomelo byproduct from gin-making and shiso, served on lentil vadai, a crispy spiced Sri Lankan street snack.
Little House Is The Understated Wine Bar Bringing A Little Extra Warmth To Smith Street
Image credit: Little House | Supplied
A neighbourhood wine bar that’s built on warm restraint and the idea that good hospitality doesn’t need to announce itself, Little House has landed in Collingwood.
Defined by well-made drinks, seasonal cooking, and down-to-earth service, there are no theatrics here, just a simple vision brought to life with heart.
The menu is seasonally led, with opening dishes including standouts like Amatriciana supplì with Fremantle octopus, brick chicken with eucalyptus honey and lemon myrtle, and flan with Cynar caramel and dark chocolate.
Bar Ferdinand Is The CBD Cocktail Bar Where The Menu Is A Walk In The Park
Image credit: Bar Ferdinand | Supplied
Strolling through a leafy botanic garden, soft light peering through the treetops, delicious drink in hand. That’s how a visit to Bar Ferdinand feels.
The intimate 21-seat cocktail bar’s drinks list is structured like a walk through a (fictional) Melbourne garden, with each cocktail designed to capture a different aspect of the environment.
While the drinks will change with the seasons, the garden structure they're built on—inspired by the likes of rose, eucalypt, fern and oak—will not.
Main image credit: Julietta | Supplied
Check our listings here for Melbourne’s top-rated restaurants, or if you’re looking for some ‘near me’ options close to home, we have you covered with our interactive map.
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