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How’s this for a pedigree. A 70s disco bar from the guys behind Hanoi Hannah, Tokyo Tina, Saigon Sally, San Telmo and Pastuso. Phew. Lend us a broom to sweep up the names we just dropped.  

Let’s decode the geek speak, to start with. GG EZ stands for ‘Good game easy’. It’s something you type with a nonchalant smirk after crushing your opponent at a game of DOTA (Defense Of The Ancients), LoL (League Of Legends), or SC (Starcraft). Computer speak is a bit like marketing—you tend to talk in acronyms.

It’s easy to forget there are still buildings like this in the CBD, time-warped here straight from the 1920s. Just replace the brothels and/or opium dens with Diesel Bar, the city’s new all-day cocktail bar and eatery.

The Cork & Chroma paint and sip studio has opened in Melbourne, following four years of crazy success at their flagship studios in Sydney and Brisbane (obviously, they saved the best until last).

Melbourne’s latest vegan haven is here and it’s sweeter than ever. A dedicated vegan bakery and patisserie, Tidbit Cakes offers bespoke, whole cakes to order as well as a range of daily rotating treats.

Good coffee is right up there with the most heinous Melbourne clichés. Throw a brick, we’re told, and you’ll hit a killer cold drip or the greatest double-shot latte in the universe. It’s gotten to the point where you almost can’t write about coffee – it’s just assumed it’ll be amazing.

Fairfield’s cafe game is pretty strong, but it’s probably not the first suburb that pops to mind when you think ‘outrageous burgers’. Until now, anyway...

Hold on to your malts, Melbourne. There’s a new whisky bar on its way to the city, and it’s officially sponsored by Glenfiddich. It’s called Whisky Boutique (makes sense), and it’s going to be a lighthouse venue for the Scottish brand, featuring a bunch of never-before-seen expressions, bottlings and single malts. It's going to pop up next to Ms Collins, down the shirt-and-tie and of the CBD. 

“In-a Spain, we don’t play by the rules. We don’t use no measurements.”

Behind the doors of Thunder Road Brewery, master brewers develop unique craft beers for locals keen on a drink with character. And with the philosophy, ‘Beers Without Borders’, you can bet these frothies that take you to another place.

The Piccolina story is pretty epic. Owner Sandra Foti grew up licking homemade Italian gelato, made by her father, and was lucky enough to inherit some recipes that had been in the family over 100 years.

Donovan Cooke is well known in the cooking world, and especially that particular world right here in Melbourne. His restaurant Est Est Est which has now been closed for over 15 years still cops a mention from those that were frequenting it at the time.

We're gonna call it. Richmond’s new Concrete Boots is the only place in Melbourne serving up deep-fried Spam Chips. 

Robbie Burns might seem like a strange little find at first: an authentic, traditional Spanish kitchen housed in an open-brick bar that’s been around since the 80s. But the longer you stay, the more you’ll come to love him.

“This is Spain,” Andres Ruiz Mesa says, waving a calloused hand at his new bodega. “Those chairs on the walls, they from Spain. This wine, from Spain. A lot of our ingredients—“

Whatever happened to those uncomplicated corner cafes? The ones that didn't rely on slick branding, brushed concrete or nouveau art plate design?

The phrase “a local gem” gets tossed around reasonably regularly, and there’s not usually much substance (by that, we mean food) to back it up. 1932 Café & Restaurant is not one of those cafes.

If you’ve ever bitten into a crispy chicken banh mi from Pho Nom, you’ll know Jerry Mai is a flat-out, Benedict Cumberbatch-level genius (she can do things with Sriracha mayo you never thought possible).

When the 2015 Young Chef Of The Year opens his own digs, you know delicious things are on the horizon. Tim Martin (former head chef at The European) has been plotting his own restaurant venture since business school. Harvest is the result: an all-day coffeehouse and eatery, with a casual, European bent.

The Brunswick cafe scene is no slouch, so if you’re gonna open a new brunch bar anywhere near Sydney Rd, it’s got to be on point.

Man, Essendon’s been getting some solid venues lately. First the hoop gods handed us Dribbles, and now there’s Beats Burgers, a brand new burger bar on Keilor Rd.

The Paul Wilson empire grows ever larger. First came Mr Wilson’s Tuckshop, then the in-house cafe and brasserie, then the Wilson & Market ‘Luxe Bar’. Now we’ve got The Terrace, and a good thing too—it’s arrived just in time to catch some Melbourne sun.  

Anyone over the age of 25 probably remembers Baroq House. If you don’t have a few (slightly sketchy) memories from this place, you must have slept your way through the noughties. From 2006 to 2014 it was Drewery Lane’s buzzing, late-night hot-spot—a lavish nightclub, with a rep for atomic-strength cocktails.

A lot of things can happen at Queen of Spades. You can make new friends over a game of old-school Pictionary....or lose old friends when Monopoly brings out your dark side and you accuse the Banker of embezzling money. 

It’s fair to say this isn’t the sort of place you come for ‘just a trim’. Boutique grooming salon Men’z Biz just opened new digs in Collins Square, and the space is looking damn fine.  

So long, Saigon Sally. Hello, BKK. Yep, Windsor’s Old Faithful has closed its doors, and in its place is a Thai-spliced ode to Bangkok airport (that’s the ‘BKK’ bit). It’s the Commune Group’s first venture into serious Thai cuisine, but they’re attacking it with a trademark swagger.

If you’re a bit behind on your Underbelly binging, you might not know the name Dolly Gray. She was the first wife of infamous 1920s Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor—a brothel owner, gun runner, and (now) the namesake for Fitzroy’s newest cocktail bar.   

The news is out: one of the bay’s premier burger joints, Between 2 Buns, just opened new digs in Williamstown. Sun, Sundays and fat burger stacks—a roadtrip over the West Gate just became a hell of a lot more fun.

Who indeed? If you haven’t heard of 70s surf icon Bunker Spreckels, here’s a crash course. Great-grandson of sugar baron Claus Spreckels, stepson of Clark Gable, millionaire playboy, surfer, loafer and all around badass dude.

The name Middle South East has a pretty simple story: “Middle East” for the flavour, “South” for the Chapel St location. 

Melbourne night owls, this one’s for you.

If you’re looking for a bar that ticks all of the boxes, you’ll be glad to know that nestled within the hustle and bustle of Fed Square, is Transport Public Bar.

Whether you've already completed your weekly shop or not, we can guarantee you’re not going to be able to refrain from waltzing on in to LaManna & Sons. This place is the definition of eye candy (or veggie).

A nursery and jaffle bar, all in one? You better believe it, because nestled in Melbourne’s inner 'burbs is our new favourite green space: Native Home, House of Plants. 

Warrandyte doesn’t LOOK like a fine dining destination. The main strip is a sleepy mix of cafes and galleries, fresh air and gum trees all over the place. The Yarra burbles past, running clear and cold (not the brown sludge we’re used to in Southbank). It’s probably full of fish that don’t glow in the dark or have legs.

If funky skull-art and pops of colour are any indication, you can expect to satisfy your Mexican food cravings at Mi Mexiko. Whipping up all your favourites, from tostaditas to quesadillas, this is some of the best Mexican on the Mornington Peninsula. 

The evolution of Melbourne’s pasta scene is accelerating at X-Men speed. A decade ago, it was enough to nail a good carbonara (the secret’s in the room temperature egg yolks). These days if your pasta isn’t handmade on an imported Italian pasta extruder, you’re already behind the Otto-ball, so to speak.

This place is basically a library for wine. Vinorium is Northcote’s latest vino temple, and it's boasting some of the best international plonk going around.

Take your usual vanilla scoop in a cone and toss it out the window, because at Northcote’s Cuppa Turca, you’re in for a whole new ice-cream experience.

Tucked into the bustling end of Chapel Street, Jalisco (that's ha-les-ko, by the by) is dishing out some of the best modern Mexican food in Melbourne. Named after the Tequila producing State in Mexico, look out for the art-deco floral patterning and turquoise door.

Celebrity Chef Eyal Shani has brought “pita to the land without pita” at his new Australian restaurant, Miznon. The latest addition to Hardware Lane, Miznon is the ninth branch of the award-winning restaurant originating in Tel Aviv, so you know it’s gonna taste damn good.

Your favourite fried chicken and waffles is hitting Smith Street, and we’ve never been more excited to get our hands waffle-y dirty. Bringing their well-known, fried and tasted chicken recipe from Brunswick East—F.A.T Fried & Tasty serves six different types of chicken and accompanying American-style sides.

"Holy crap." That’s a pretty accurate summary of our internal thoughts the minute we laid eyes on a Duke Pizza. This is officially the biggest delivery pizza available in Melbourne. We’re talking a 24-inch diameter (that’s a 64cm pizza box, just FYI). Basically two footlong subs, stacked end on end.

Melbourne’s most Instagrammable cafe has swapped lycra for flannel. What does that mean? It means Long Story Short just opened a second cafe in Brunswick. Get the hell excited.

The Rustica empire keeps on keeping on. Earlier this year the bakery business expanded into sunny Hawthorn, and now it’s set up shop inside Collins St’s newly revamped Rialto Towers.

Once upon a time...

Brunswick, meet your new local. A kitschy coffee house, cocktail bar, gallery and general hang, tucked into a revamped bank vault on Sydney Rd.

You can’t fake a good cafe atmosphere. It’s like an IQ test—you’ve either got it you don’t. And whatever it IS that makes a cafe feel cosy, warm, homely, the Wilkinson crew's new venture Lillie has it by the scoop.

Just when you think Melbourne has reached peak burger, we get this place. Chiquito & Co is the city’s latest all-American fried chicken and burger bar, and it’s already making a few waves in Fitzroy (Melbourne’s unofficial burger heartland).

Mrs. Hopper is Araliya’s louder but (equally loveable) Sri Lankan aunty, a new cocktail den inside the famous Fitzroy St restaurant. And if you haven’t guessed it already, Mrs. Hopper is all about hoppers…and Bombay-ass cocktails.

With two cafes already booming in Balwyn and the CBD, it was hard to see how the White Mojo boys were gonna up their game. Where do you go after inventing French toast with hazelnut crystals and matcha meringue?

Abbotsford's favourite brewery bar is growing up. Moon Dog Brewery has recently taken over the warehouse next door, expanding their beer capacity (they're able to pump out a ridiculous 2.5 million litres a year, now) as well as launching a pizza trailer and roller disco. Yep, all in a day's work for the Moon Dog boys.

Any small business whose motto is “F*ck Vegas” is one we want to learn more about.

A Vietnamese hip hop noodle joint, from four of Melbourne’s most accomplished restaurant pros? Okay, you have our attention.

You’ve probably walked straight past Denmark House dozens of times. It’s hidden on the third floor of a nondescript brick building on Little Bourke St: a little temple to Danish minimalism, floating high above the city.

Tucked away 'round a corner off Toorak Road, there's a new salon dedicated to dedicated to "anti-crap": Bob Hair Co.

Georgia Perry describes Kiosk as her “playroom”, a physical space she can dream up her own products of internet-y graphics and silk scarves.

When French pastry prodigy Gontran Cherrier launched his first Australian boulangerie on Smith St in 2016, it’s fair to say there was a bit of hype. Okay a lot of hype. People lost their sh*t.

It may be right on the corner of Exhibition Street, a prime location for CBD hustle and bustle, but at Vacation you really can expect a quality coffee break, away from all the city hype.

It took a while, but the last part of The Smith puzzle just fell into place. Following on the back of its multi million dollar refurb, everyone’s favourite Prahran drinking den just opened its own in-house fish & chippery.