From garage workshops nailing noodles to laneway burgers and top Thai, Newtown restaurants offer plenty of juicy feeds. Echoing the eclectic vibe of Newtown as a whole, the restaurant scene spans fancy date night spots, casual kerbside eateries, and some of Sydney's coolest digs to grab a natural wine or craft cocktail.
These are Urban List's picks for the best Newtown restaurants to try on your next Inner West dining odyssey.
Continental Deli Bar & Bistro
210 Australia Street, Newtown
Image credit: Continental Deli | Instagram
Take a seat at the deli counter or a footpath table to have your Euro moment at Continental Deli, where the fine selection of cheeses, tinned seafood, and cold cuts is accompanied by a neat bistro offering and the cutest canned cocktails and desserts going around.
Share some scallops with bottarga butter and salted chilli, grass-fed beef tartare with gaufrette potatoes, or farmhouse-style pork andouille smoked sausage with sherry confit onion and grilled pepper, or craft your perfect plate of salumi, tinned foods and cheese. You can't leave without trying Continental's iconic Mar-tinny—a perfectly balanced gin martini from a can.
Insider intel
- Visit at lunchtime for the iconic French dip sandwich with a cup of beef jus
- There's an $85pp set menu filled with favourites for when you head in with a group
- If you love the Mar-tinny, try the Flan in a Can for dessert
Odd Culture
266 King Street, Newtown
Image credit: Odd Culture | Supplied
Odd Culture is an all-day eatery and bar dedicated to all things fermented. This cool and casual Newtown restaurant takes culinary inspiration from all over the globe (but if we had to pick a cuisine we'd say it's European-leaning), and the drinks focus on natural wine and wild ales.
Pay Odd Culture a visit for snacks to pair with a seasonal cocktail in the bar, a full meal matched with esoteric wines in the upstairs dining room, or a set menu spotlighting the ferment-forward eats.
Insider Intel
- Lunch is served Friday–Sunday, and offers an epic cheeseburger, $15 martinis and $3 oysters
- We love the bar seating overlooking King Street for people watching
- Hit Odd Culture's drink-in bottle shop two doors up, SPON, for a post-meal wine
Cafe Paci
131 King Street, Newtown
Image credit: Cafe Paci | Instagram
Award-winning Finnish-born chef Pasi Petänen's Cafe Paci is a top example of Sydney's ever-growing upscale-casual restaurant trend. It's the evolution of his hugely popular pop-up than ran until 2015, and opened in the Inner West in 2019, toeing the line between neighbourhood bistro and fine diner.
In this Newtown restaurant you'll find a seasonal a la carte menu that follows Petänen's European sensibilities with some global twists; think fermented carrots with nduja on rye, gnocchi-like potato dumplings with XO trout, and seasonal filled pastas. Head in for a cocktail and a snack, or stick around for a full night of feasting.
Insider intel
- You need to try the rye taco with ox tongue and sauerkraut
- Solo diners should request seating at the central bar for a people-watching spot
- There's a $90pp set menu (required for groups more than six)
Thai Pothong
294 King Street, Newtown
Thai Pothong is an Inner West institution—and it dishes up some of the best Thai food in Sydney.
Service is top-notch at this Newtown restaurant, with super-speedy delivery of dishes despite it being packed most nights of the week. Try the prawn betel leaves or the classic chicken satay to start before choosing from all the usual suspects for the main event: green, red, yellow, massaman and Penang curries.
Insider Intel
- You might hear Thai Pothong referred to as the robot restaurant—you'll see why...
- This Newtown restaurant is super vegan-friendly
Rising Sun Workshop
1C Whateley Street, Newtown
Image credit: Rising Sun Workshop | Instagram
This laneway Japanese joint is an eclectic Newtown restaurant that was dreamt up by a collective made of former coffee legends, motorbike enthusiasts, a baker, a chef and a designer.
The ramen at Rising Sun Workshop equals what you find in Tokyo, with just four bowls on offer: The Light (a chicken-based shio broth), The Darkness (a chicken and smoked pork shoyu broth), The Monk (a vegetarian bowl) and the breakfast ramen with buttered toast bone broth. The rest of the menu features creative and seasonally changing takes on Japanese cuisine with sandos, snacks like gyoza and coal-grilled skewers.
insider intel
- Visit on Sunday from 11am to pair your ramen with bottomless beers or Bloody Marys
- Bring the pup—the downstairs workshop space is dog-friendly
- Try the Japanese-style pressure lager crafted exclusively for Rising Sun by nearby brewery Young Henrys
You might also like
- The Best Bars In Newtown
- Where To Start The Day At Sydney's Best Cafes
- The Best Restaurants In Sydney's Inner West
Cairo Takeaway
81 Enmore Road, Newtown
Image credit: Cairo Takeaway | Instagram
Cairo Takeaway specialises in Egyptian street food served with a lot of heart. Any night of the week you can find keen Inner Westies lined up out the door, and the vibe is fun and unpretentious. The food is flavoursome and wholesome, with a big focus on plant-based goodness and a limited offering of charcoal-grilled meats just like the streets of Egypt.
We love the packed pita pockets, plates of meats or falafel served with salad, pickles, bread and dip, and hawawshi flatbread with spiced mince.
insider intel
- Cairo Takeaway does BYO wine
- The kounaffa with vanilla custard, lemon syrup and strawberries is the perfect dessert
Westwood Pizza
245 Australia Street, Newtown
Image credit: Westwood Pizza | Website
Westwood is a hole-in-the-wall Newtown restaurant in an old neighbourhood store by Mitchell Westwood, whose Sydney pizza resume includes Queen Margherita of Savoy and the nearby Bella Brutta.
The flavour-packed, minimalist menu offers wood-fired pizzas topped with spanner crab, parsley, lemon and shellfish oil; nduja, ricotta and caramelised onion; and the classic Margherita, plus a few salads and sides.
INSIDER INTEL
- It might sound basic, but you need to try the garlic honey pizza
- Consider pre-ordering from 3pm—wait times can get long
- Try the seasonal pizza special if you're looking for something special
Maiz
33 Enmore Road, Newtown
Walking into Maiz feels like you’re in a courtyard in Oaxaca or Puebla, and this Newtown restaurant breaks away from the typical taco with a vision of linking authentic food to the Aussie culinary scene by celebrating corn in all its form.
The menu covers tacos, filled molotes, chilaquiles, flautas and loads more, plus an extensive selection of agave spirits served as signature margaritas and specialty cocktails like the Pata Gordo: duck fat-washed mezcal, xocolatl mole bitters and pepita syrup.
Insider intel
- Maiz does one of Sydney's best bottomless brunches on weekends, 12pm–3pm for $89pp
- Because the menu is corn-based, Maiz is a gluten-free-friendly restaurant
- Try the Maisie corn lager made for Maiz by local brewery Yulli's
Bloodwood
416 King Street, Newtown
Bloodwood is a cosy, brick-walled Newtown restaurant that's big on supporting its community and small-scale producers, especially local growers. The seasonal menu changes often but always offers hearty, home-style food, and the drinks list is big on sustainably made natural wines.
Start with small plates like smoked corn and leek croquettes with gruyère or fried chicken with Old Bay spice and creamy pickle sauce before main plates of whole fish with miso butter and fennel or Wagyu with nduja butter, speck and spaetzle.
INSIDER INTEL
- The $70pp banquet menu is great value
- Vegans need to try the house-made pecan paté
- Bloodwood's signature cocktails are packed with flavour and house-made elements
Little Lagos
125 Enmore Road, Newtown
A beloved Newtown restaurant, Little Lagos is a Nigerian dining gem where the walls are painted a warm ochre and a mural of Fela Kuti, an iconic West African activist and musician, welcomes you at the door.
The menu is made up of traditional recipes passed on from generation to generation. Jollof rice, a rich basmati rice cooked in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce with traditional Nigerian spices, is the best place to start (it’s suitable for vegans and vegetarians too) before adding hearty stews, fried plantains and more.
Insider intel
- You need to try the spongey, plus-size Nigerian doughnuts, or puff-puffs, for dessert
- Little Lagos holds epic Afro-Caribbean block parties—check out their Insta for upcoming events
Pistou
601 King Street, Newtown
Image credit: Pistou | Instagram
Pistou is a romantic, French-inspired Newtown restaurant from Jules Bouillon, whose experience includes being a part of the team that opened the legendary Balthazar in London and, more locally, NOLA Smokehouse and Bar and Glorietta.
Pistou is rustic with pink walls, baskets of fresh bread, and a large cabinet stocked with charcuterie and pickles. The menu heroes a weekly rotation of seasonal cheeses, charcuterie, freshly made dips, and sandwiches, plus bistro-style dishes like beef tartare, seared scallops and house-made pasta.
Insider intel
- If it's a nice day, take away cheese, charcuterie and more for a picnic in nearby Sydney Park
- Swing in 3pm–6pm on Saturday for $15 glasses of champagne
Belly Bao
184 King Street, Newtown
Image credit: Belly Bao | Instagram
This little hole in the wall specialises in (yep you guessed it) bao. The Taiwanese street food makes an appearance on menus Sydney-wide, but Belly Bao takes the soft, springy dough and transforms it into new experiences you need to try.
As well as the usual filled buns with braised pork belly, fried chicken or beef short rib, they do specialty “bao-gers”, noodles made from their bao dough, and even serve burrata with flatbread-style bao.
Insider Intel
- Don't skip the Golden Gaytime bao for dessert
- Belly Bao has low tables, bar seating, and a few tables outside on King Street
Mary’s Newtown
Mary Street
Image credit: Mary's | Instagram
Located in an old church with gothic chandeliers, candle wax and loud punk music, Mary's Newtown restaurant is your go-to for damn good burgers.
If you're uninitiated, start with the signature Mary's burger with beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato onion and Mary's sauce, and don't forget the insane mash and gravy on the side.
Insider Intel
- Plant-based diners are well looked after with burgers, snacks and more
- Visit on Thursday for $10 margaritas
Bella Brutta
135 King Street, Newtown
Image credit: Bella Brutta | Instagram
Bella Brutta serves some of the best pizza in Sydney in our books—and it does have a full menu of Italian goodness too. A typical meal here looks like a few bits from the antipasto selection (like pickled mussels, salumi, and silky stracciatella) and a spanner crab spaghetti followed by Naples-style pizzas topped with primo local and imported ingredients.
Come for the delicious pizza and stay for a tiramisu, or plan ahead and order takeaway online.
Insider intel
- If you're bringing a GF or coeliac friend, they'll have to pass on the pizza
- Finish with a house-made ricotta cannoli
The Stinking Bishops
Shop 5/63-71 Enmore Road, Newtown
The Stinking Bishops is a gourmet cheese shop and restaurant with over 40 varieties of cheese on offer. Saddle up for a charcuterie board made up of two, three or four types of cheese and pair with local wines for the perfect aperitivo hour, or take home your new favourite.
If you want to upgrade your cheese selection into a full meal, this Newtown restaurant also serves a full menu with cheese-friendly snacks and dishes like beef tartare, mac 'n' cheese drizzled in paprika oil, and crispy porchetta with cabbage and apple salad.
Insider intel
- Visit between 5pm and 6pm, Tuesday–Friday for happy hour
- Not sure what to pick? The cheese bible has all the tasting notes you need
Want More Dining Out Inspo?
Sydney’s Best Solo Dining Restaurants And Bars
Whether you’re a solo traveller sick of room service or you are just sick of trying to wrangle the group chat, Sydney will reward you for venturing out solo.
The Best Cafes In Sydney Right Now
The Sydney cafe scene is one of the best in the world—no yolk—and these are our favourites.
The Best Sydney Sandwich Shops Right Now
There are few things more comforting in life than a perfectly layered sandwich. Here's where you'll find the best sandwiches in Sydney.
Main image credit: Continental Deli | Instagram
Urban List Best Of: has our highest stamp of approval—curated lists of the very best recommendations for you to eat, do, see, buy or book, carefully chosen by our Editors.