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Pearl Diver Martini
Best Of

Where To Find Melbourne’s Best Martinis

Martini mania is nothing new to Melburnians. We’ve long been indulging in the stiff drink, whether it’s laced with olive brine or spiked with espresso. We continue to evolve the classic, offering many a martini to every kind of drinker. Here are our eight current favourite martini iterations around town: 
Food & Drink

Hampton Hotel

Just two minutes from Hampton station, Hampton Hotel is settling into the neighbourhood like it’s been there for years. 

Food & Drink

Little House

A neighbourhood wine bar that’s built on warm restraint and the idea that good hospitality doesn’t need to announce itself, Little House brings considered new dining to Collingwood’s Smith Street. 

Food & Drink

Radio Nacional

Looking for an events space with a little more personality than the bright overhead lights and white walls of your local Scout hall? 

Food & Drink

Bar Ferdinand

The intimate 21-seat cocktail bar’s drinks list is structured like parts of a garden, with each cocktail designed to capture a different aspect of the environment.

Food & Drink

Chapati & Daaru

Chapati's new Crossley Street home continues its reign as one of the city's most vibrant modern Indian kitchens, but it's the daring upstairs addition—Daaru cocktail bar—that's really setting tongues wagging (and burning). This dynamic duo delivers a complete spice experience, from street food to cocktails, under one roof.

Food & Drink

Miss Gunn’s

Beneath Flinders Street Station you’ll find this mysterious yet timeless basement bar oozing with old world charm.

Food & Drink

Mid Air

Yes, it is in Mid-Air. This open-air architecturally designed rooftop is a stunning addition to Melbourne's skyline and your must-do list.

Things To Do

Flight Club

Darts are back, baby.  If you’re anything like us and have been craving something to do while consuming a tasty beverage, Flight Club’s social darts and cocktails situation is exactly what the doctor ordered.

The Valiant

Get ready to get your boogie and your bubbles on at this new discotheque themed cocktail bar, hidden in a CBD car park.
Food & Drink

The Chapel

Windsor is about to get a futuristic twist with Chapel Street’s latest opening: The Chapel. This isn’t just another bar or restaurant, it’s a portal to a dystopian world where art, music, cocktails, and a Mediterranean-inspired menu collide.
An inside of a bar with neon-lights with people drinking.
Bars & Pubs

Ghost Donkey

New York’s famed mezcal bar, Ghost Donkey, is bringing its Mexican flair and fairy-light-covered ceiling to longstanding nightlife destination Crown Melbourne. 
A bar with people sitting at tables drinking.
Bars & Pubs

Odd Culture

Odd Culture, a mainstay in Sydney’s most happening district of Newtown, is extending its wings and flying down to Melbourne to set up shop. The Old Culture group, whose venues have gradually augmented from their King Street domain to become dotted all over Sydney, decided there was no better place for their next opening than in Fitzroy’s Brunswick Street, and they’re not wrong. Fitzroy has always been a neoteric epicentre of food, drinks, and hospitality, and Odd Culture decidedly prioritises all those things. 
The Young Hearts Bar lit up at night with bottles on the shelves.
Bars & Pubs

Young Hearts

Led by the same team behind Neptune Food & Wine just a few doors down, the industrial-chic surroundings of Young Hearts is set to bring big things to the region. The former stomping grounds of quasi bottleshop and bar Galah, Young Hearts champions the structure's bygone workspace tenure with a myriad of original fittings from steel beams overheard to exposed brick throughout. 
The inside of Cinema Nova's candy bar.
Activities & Itineraries

Cinema Nova

Cinema Nova, the indie darling of Melbourne’s extensive cinema collection, is now over 30 years old and showing no signs at all of slowing down, so if you’re looking for arthouse films and eclectic screenings, please look no further. Starting off with a sparse 4 screens back in 1992, it’s now evolved into a 16-screen Elysium for movie lovers, and there are no questions as to why.
The inside of a bar with plants and pendant lights.
Bars & Pubs

Molly Rose

What started as a little craft brewery serving some truly unique and exceptional beers, has now expanded into a fully-fledged restaurant, brewery, and bar, all in the same location. Molly Rose Brewery, the brainchild of Nic Sandery, has only been open since 2019 but took no time at all to leave an impact on the Collingwood locals.
A marble table with a coffee and a prawn benedict dish.
Cafes

Au79 Southbank

From their humble origins in Abbotsford to sleek new digs on Southbank, Au79 is spreading the love across Melbourne. Not wanting anyone to miss out on their signature coffee blends and quality-crafted baked goods, they’ve opened an airy and light-filled space on City Road in Southbank, which will soon also double as a wine bar. 
A large bar in the centre of a room with a large window overlooking the city.
Bars & Pubs

Sky Bar Melbourne

Melburnian's rooftop bar obsession has been taken to new heights with Sky Bar opening 140 metres above the clouds. The doors are opening on the Yarra Hotel Group’s heavily anticipated venue this Thursday the 30th of June, after a lofty 5 years in development. Slip in through a private elevator entrance along Southbank's bustling Normanby Street and discover sweeping 360 views, stretching from Yarra River to Port Phillip Bay.
A restaurant with red booths and red and white check tablecloths.
Restaurants

Connie’s

Straight out of the swinging light, rock n roll halls of Heartbreaker, in-house pizza bar, Connie’s, has made it big time, securing a trattoria-style diner for its mega slices and Italia-styled dining just up the stairs from the bar.  
A green-painted wall of a restaurant in a CBD laneway.
Food & Drink

Yum Sing House

Fusing two of Melbourne’s truest loves, the unexpectedly brilliant Yum Sing House seems to have been purpose-designed for scratching that much-needed venn diagram of Cantonese cuisine and Karaoke. Situated down on Sutherland Street in the city, the 1960’s Hong Kong-Inspired venue has taken over the former late-night stomping grounds of Hugs&Kisses.
Bars & Pubs

Punk Carla

Windsor, meet Punk Carla, the cocktail bar that combines grunge with hedonism and high-end design on Chapel Street. Taking its name and inspiration from a mysterious woman they met one European summer, the owners keep Punk Carla in mind with their decor, food and cocktail curation. 
Bars & Pubs

Your Guide To The Best Cocktail Bars In Melbourne For 2026

When the clock hits cocktail hour you don't want to be messing around, it's time for a crisp martini or meaty negroni. Thanks to Melbourne's stellar culinary and bar scene there are some seriously good spots around the city to get a glass in hand. From hidden watering holes to some serious first-class swank here are Urban List's picks for the best cocktail bars Melbourne has to offer in 2026.
Things To Do

A New Dance Festival Is Coming To Melbourne In October

A massive dance festival will chassé its way into Melbourne this spring. The one-off event, DanceX, will feature some of the country's most impressive performers and dance companies in a never-before-seen collaboration happening at Arts Centre Melbourne from Thursday, 20, October till Tuesday, 1 November courtesy of The Australian Ballet.