Have you got an amazing team who are all on the nice list this year? Stars and angels aren’t just tree-toppers, sometimes they’re the fabulous folks who make up your work team, family, or friendship group.
So treat them to a sensational end-of-year shindig and one of Sydney/Eora's best venues for an end-of-year shindig to let them know that they are the real Christmas miracles. And these aren’t just stocking-filler soirées. For something a little bit different this year, enjoy bars, breweries, fine dining, and fun activities at the best Christmas party venues in Sydney.
El Primo Sanchez
27-33 Oxford Street, Paddington
Image credit: El Primo Sanchez | Steven Woodburn
Swap the function for a fiesta at El Primo Sanchez, a colourful, culinary piñata in Paddington. As sure as everyone will yell “Tequila!” after hearing a certain sax riff, you’re sure to enjoy the Mexican street food-inspired menu, fruity cocktails, and extensive tequila and mezcal offerings.
Vibrant and unexpected, tacos and tapas are the missing ingredients to make your navidad extra feliz. Did we mention the pint-sized karaoke room, DJ booth, dance floor, and disco balls? The perfect setting for a festive fiesta. More info is here.
Maydanoz
1/50 Carrington Street, Sydney
Image credit: Maydanoz | Supplied
Casual dining inspired by traditional Turkish meze bars will have everyone covered this Chrissy, including your vegetarian workmates. Vegetables are the centerpiece of the seasonal-driven dishes in this Aegean coastal-inspired restaurant.
Whatever your pleasure, Maydanoz executive chef Arman Uz creates tailor-made menus according to the event brief. The Maydanoz feast will keep the good times flowing, offering four mouth-watering courses and two or three-hour beverage packages. Feast or canapé packages can be enjoyed in private, semi-private, or alfresco seating with up to 62 guests, or book the whole venue for groups of up to 100. Head over here for more info.
Bar 83 At Sydney Tower
Level 4/108 Market Street, Sydney
Image credit: Bar 83 | Instagram
Rise above the end-of-year brain fog…way above. Congratulate your team for reaching new heights this year by taking them to Bar 83 at Sydney Tower. High above the city and with undoubtedly the best view in town, enjoy a tailored event experience—think a bespoke selection of cocktails and canapés, a sky-high dancefloor, and retro furnishings to make this year’s worries a thing of the past.
Here are the last numbers you need to crunch for the year: get exclusive hire for groups of 51 to 170, for a 260-degree view of the city and 100% great vibes. Those numbers look pretty good to us! Head over here to book.
Reign
QVB, Level 1, Shop 48/455 George Street, Sydney
Image credit: Reign | Instagram
Make like one of Santa’s Reign-deer with a Christmas party at Sydney’s premium champagne parlour and bar. Treat your team like royalty with light share plates, bespoke cocktails, and, the crowning glory, the best of the best champagne varietals.
Grazing stations or canapés will complement your bubbles, keeping the team fizzing with festive cheer as they enjoy the modern Australian menu set in elegant interiors. With exclusive hire for 80 seated guests or 150 cocktail-style, as well as a semi-private dining room for smaller-scale occasions, good times will reign supreme and your crew will be shouting: Yass Queen! Head here for more info and to book.
a’Mare
Crown Sydney, Level 1/1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo
Image credit: a'Mare | Supplied
Tapping into the nostalgia for his childhood in Italy, award-winning chef Alessandro Pavoni has composed a menu that champions seasonal Australian produce, Italian ingredients, and a beautiful story told through traditional foods with a twist. Enjoy focaccia, antipasti, pastas, and, of course, seafood, in glamorous surrounds with a showstopping harbour view.
Personalised menus can be created for your event, and there are plenty of food and beverage packages to suit your occasion. Smaller groups of up to 10 will enjoy the intimate Wine Room, and with six rooms for exclusive booking, you can cater to anywhere from 10 to 290 guests. More info is here.
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ESQ
QVB, Shop 1- 4 Level 2/455 George Street, Sydney
Take your secret Santa behind the secret door of ESQ, a prohibition-style speakeasy with opulent vintage flair. Jingle bells meet Jazz Age bliss when you sequester yourselves in one of the semi-private event spaces, suitable for up to 30 guests, for canapés or a plated menu.
Exclusive hire of the venue for 100 seated guests or 140 cocktail-style will allow you to party like it’s 1929. This is definitely the place to splurge on the deluxe beverage package, to give your team the full prohibition experience. More info is here.
QT Sydney
49 Market Street, Sydney
With seven event spaces and two standout restaurants, the fab QT Sydney Hotel has you covered for any kind of Christmas party. Among the many options, go for something fun and different this year—like the screening room and reel bar with a covert entrance off Market Street, the intimate late-night Gilt Lounge cocktail bar, or the cute and quirky "Pink Room" for up to 10 guests.
Of course, Qt Sydney also features the award-winning steakhouse Gowings and the newly opened French-inspired Parlour restaurant. More info is here.
Teahouse
Crown Sydney, Level 3/1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo
Treat your team to a tea party like no other at Baragaroo’s Teahouse. Decked out with four birdcages that seat up to 16 people, as well as an outdoor terrace available for hire, your guests will relish in decadent surrounds and plush furnishings so comfy they’ll want to perch there all night.
Set menus take the guesswork out of what to pick from the lush list of Japanese and Cantonese-inspired light bites. The bespoke cocktail list brimming with fan favourites, and the world-class champagne selection and extensive range of specialty teas will give everyone something to sing about. More info is here.
Pool Bar At Oxford House
21 Oxford Street, Paddington
Image credit: Oxford House | Nikki To
With daylight savings extending our time in the sun, why not make the most of it at the Oxford House Pool Bar. Let your guests lounge poolside, soaking up the sun, cocktails, and light bites in the alfresco area.
The venue is ready to rock with audio-visual equipment, and DJ hire is available to keep things lively all night long. Catering to 130 guests standing, or 50 for a seated soirée, your team will feel sunned, satiated, and spoiled rotten! Head here for more.
Coogee Rooftop
Level 3/169 Dolphin Street, Coogee
Image credit: Merivale | Supplied
Featuring four indoor and outdoor bars, this enormous rooftop spot is perfect for soaking up the end-of-year atmosphere. Here your team can enjoy views of the iconic Coogee Beach, cocktail in hand, as you cheers to summer and another successful year.
With room for up to 100 seated or 600 standing, Coogee Rooftop is great for larger teams, but you can book more intimate spaces for smaller groups. More info is here.
Icebergs Dining Room And Bar
1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach
Enjoy an Italian-inspired menu and breathtaking views at Sydney's ultimate beachside beauty, Icebergs. The venue’s three versatile spaces can accommodate small bookings or larger groups of up to 250 guests, for seated, plated, or cocktail events.
Besides the incredible food from award-winning chef Alex Prichard, a tailored event experience, and perfectly curated wine and cocktail lists, the real star of the show is the panoramic seaside vista which will make the problems of the year simply float away with the tides. More info is here.
The Dolphin
412 Crown Street, Surry Hills
Christmas at The Dolphin is your answer to a luxe yet laid-back work ‘do. Woodfired pizzas, share plates, and creative cocktails are the order of the day at the Surry Hills institution. Casual group bookings are available, as well as exclusive hire of the various spaces.
Enjoy private bar access in the Lounge, a set banquet menu in the Dining Room or, if you have a big team to spoil, hire the whole venue for up to 500 people to spread the seasonal cheer across all five bars set over three levels. More info for events is here.
Atomic Brewery
158 Regent Street, Redfern
Image credit: Atomic Brewery | Supplied
If your crew aren’t quite the fine-dining types, they’ll love a more casual Chrissy at Atomic in Redfern. There are a range of spaces available to book for your function, suitable for groups of 15 to 200 guests.
Order tasting paddles to sample the best of the brews, sit back and relax with a set menu, and don’t worry—it’s not all about the beer, you’ll also find wines, spirits, and cocktails a-plenty! The venue has AV for your end-of-year slideshow, grab some in-house games for the table, or book a private trivia sesh for your team to finish the year on a win. More info is here.
The Surf Deck
1064 Pittwater Road, Collaroy
Image credit: Merivale | Steven Woodburn
On the Northern Beaches, this surfside Merivale venue has you covered with ocean views and Tiki-style cocktails. Perfect for welcoming in the summer holidays, the friendly menu includes scallop sashimi tostadas, beer-battered fish and chips, jerk spatchcock, and a list of light and bright pizzas too.
Book for up to 35 or lock away the whole venue for your team—The Surf Deck has capacity for 58 seated or 90 for a standing, cocktail-style event. More info is here.
MANIAX
9-11 Jabez Street, Marrickville
Did you send a few too many “as per my last email”s this year? Take out your frustration by sending an attachment—an axe, at a wall. Check out their three epic AXE-mas packages that have more inclusions than you can hurl an axe at.
Antipasto, pizzas, beers, and wines serve as sides to axe-throwing antics, and the venue can host groups of 8 to 150. So go and chuck an axe at a wall with your colleagues, to make sure it’s reattached for your convenience. Christmas party info is here.
Rising Sun Workshop
1C Whateley Street, Newtown
Christmas party in a motorcycle workshop that doubles as a friendly neighbourhood ramen restaurant? It doesn't get much more Inner West than that.
Beloved Newtwon institution Rising Sun Workshop is now taking bookings for the Christmas period, with set menus of izakaya-style snacks (think gyoza, a blood orange gochu sashimi, yakitori, pork belly korroke, and more) for $65 per person. Drinks packages are available for $45 per person, and you can also go a la carte if that's more your vibe. More info is here.
Taphouse
122 Flinders Street, Darlinghurst
Image credit: Taphouse | Supplied
Over three floors, the recently reopened Taphouse has plenty of cool and casual options available for your Christmas party 'do. Downstairs, the public bar can accommodate 70 people seated or 100 people for a cocktail-style event.
The first floor features a private bar and TV screen, and the sunny rooftop space, now splashed in bright blue and white, has a retractable roof and roaming canapés and shared platters available for large groups and events. The new Cantonese-inspired menu features a $65 per person banquet menu loaded with steamed pork and prawn siu mai, sweet and sour pork, and steamed lava custard buns. More info is here.
Three Blue Ducks
1/85 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery
Trade three wise men for Three Blue Ducks this Christmas, the Rosebery restaurant with an Argentinian grill, woodfired oven, and charcoal pits, championing sustainably farmed produce. But meat isn’t the only thing on the menu—you’ll find plenty of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, so whether you go for the Holiday Feast, Ultimate Holiday Feast, or even a breakfast menu, everyone will be catered for.
Book before Wednesday 1 November to take advantage of their early bird offer, which includes a free round of Summer Spritz cocktails to get the party started. More info is here.
The Greens
50 Ridge Street, North Sydney
Image credit: The Greens | Instagram
If anyone in the office got on your nerves this year and really needs to go and touch some grass, then boy, do we have news for you. Put your pedicure to good use with barefoot bowls at The Greens North Sydney.
With options for food stations, a four-course table share, or a more casual "Burgers & Bowls", you can incorporate a fabulous feed while getting your team away from the screen and out on the green. The Greens team will take care of all the deets, just show up, ditch the shoes, and lose the blues for a playful party with all the trimmings. Christmas party info is here.
Oribu
215 Church Street, Parramatta
Seated in the Heritage Precinct, you’ll find Oribu, Parramatta’s Japanese fine dining gem. Grazing tables and set menus are available or enjoy an elevated dining experience with the chef's table omakase option. The phrase means “I leave it up to you”, and it does exactly that.
Esteemed Head Chef, Harry Cho, will curate a dining experience where every course is a surprise, lovingly crafted with your tastes and requirements front of mind. The set menu has received just as much care, and the considered courses complement each other, providing a perfect sampling of the meticulously created Japanese delights. More info is here.
Looking for more end-of-year cheer? Check out:
- The best Christmas gifts under $50
- Sydney's best bars of 2023
- The best nightclubs in Sydney to dance all night at
Image credit: Merivale | Supplied