The Best Flinders Ranges Restaurants To Dine At

From cute diners championing native ingredients to classic country pubs and a pop-up bakery with a difference, here’s your guide to the best Flinders Ranges restaurants.

Gorgeous sunsets that stretch from horizon to horizon, impossibly cute rock wallabies silhouetted against the golden glow and a deep silence that settles over everything once the sun goes down… There are plenty of things to love about the outback, but those star-filled nights can lose their lustre if you forget to pack enough food.

Fortunately, the days of having to make do with lukewarm roadhouse pies are long gone. It doesn’t matter if you’re camping remotely or living it up in the region’s best accommodation; a new crop of eateries bringing fine dining to every corner of this majestic landscape means you’re never far from your next meal. Whether you’re looking for a paddock to plate feed on a working sheep station, a mixed grill with a difference or an iconic quandong pie, here are the best Flinders Ranges restaurants to help you get the most out of your outback adventure.

1. Flinders Food Co

a table-top view of hands holding out drinks at Flinders Food Co — Fuel up at Flinders Food Co.

Homemade barbed wire chandeliers set the scene at this welcoming Hawker diner that specialises in finding inventive new uses for locally sourced materials. Native ingredients find their way into most dishes on a modern Australian menu that would be at home in any capital city: cornbread with avocado and feta gets a dusting of native dukkah, while the sticky eggplant is doused with a delicious Korean BBQ sauce spiked with native pepperberry (you can also buy bottles to take home).

Add in taps pouring craft beers, coolers and cold press juices, plus cans of refreshing quandong or golden wattle soda, and you’ve got a winning formula.

2. Woolshed Restaurant

the dining area at Woolshed Restaurant, Flinders Ranges — Woolshed Restaurant offers spacious seating.

Dining options begin to thin out as you head further north, so the Woolshed Restaurant on Rawnsley Park Station is a godsend for anyone staying in or near Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park. Don’t be fooled by the rustic fit-out that goes heavy on the corrugated iron; the kitchen here turns out seriously sophisticated dishes (just skip the pizza).

The property is a working sheep station, so homegrown lamb finds its way into meatballs, stewed hash and pizzas, but there’s also a seasonal menu featuring fresh vegetarian options like lemon zucchini pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes if you’re in the mood for something lighter.

3. Prairie Hotel

the Prairie Hotel in Flinders Ranges — Prairie Hotel is a classic pub in town. (Image: South Australian Tourism Commission)

Harvey Keitel and Kate Winslet have stayed here, John Williamson wrote a song about the venue, and it’s even featured in Home & Away. Not bad for a pub in a town with a single-digit population. But it’s the Feral Mixed Grill at the Prairie Hotel that has made Parachilna’s pride and joy a fixture on outback itineraries for decades.

Portions are among the most generous of any Flinders Ranges restaurants, so you’ll need to bring a serious appetite to finish the platter laden with an emu rissole, camel sausage, grilled roo fillet and goat tomahawk. Or you can check out the menu of native proteins that includes everything from roo schnitzel and wild boar orecchiette to a leafy salad with chardonnay dressing.

After lunch, peruse the walls adorned with Aboriginal artworks from across South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, before heading to the stylish front bar pouring session ales, IPAs and hazies from the 500-litre microbrewery in the corner.

4. The Miners Crib Cafe

The former copper mining settlement of Blinman is South Australia’s most elevated town, but there’s nothing highfalutin about the local bakery . Their hunger-busting pies come in an impressive variety of flavours, including kangaroo curry, goat curry, roast lamb and roast pork, while their version of a Cornish pasty packs a little apple pie filling into the trademark thick crusts so you can finish your lunch with a little dessert. You’ll also find scones with quandong jam and cream as well as a range of takeaway soups, curries and stir-fries in case you don’t feel like cooking dinner.

5. North Blinman Hotel

a vehicle parked outside The North Blinman Hotel, Flinders Ranges — The North Blinman Hotel is a classic country watering hole in the Flinders Ranges. (Image: Ranch Glapers)

When this classic country watering hole opened in 1869, it aimed to keep customers satisfied with ice-cold beers and hearty pub meals. More than 150 years later, the “pub in the scrub" is still going strong on both fronts. The classic counter meals taste even better after a long day on the road, and it’s easy to spend an entire evening admiring the unusual decorations; the bar walls are almost entirely hidden by business cards and other mementoes left by satisfied customers.

6. Farina Bakery

a finger bun on white background at farina, Flinders Ranges — Swoon over sweet finger buns at Farina Bakery.

Head north from Leigh Creek, and after half an hour, you’ll hit the railway siding at Farina , which was home to 600 souls in its heyday. These days, the ghost town is mostly populated by tumbleweeds, but for eight magical weeks each winter, a group of enthusiastic volunteers helps to bring the town back to life.

The chief attraction is an underground bakery where mulga fenceposts are fed into a vintage scotch oven, turning out a range of rolls, cobs and loaves, including the infamous one-kilogram fruit loaf. A more modern bakery also produces pies, lamingtons and swoon-worthy cream cakes that are worth the trip alone. It’ll be open again in 2026 from 23 May to 19 July.

7. Over The Edge

If the day doesn’t truly start until you’ve had your caffeine fix, head to this surprisingly cosmopolitan Over the Edge cafe in the small mountain biking hub of Melrose. Racks of bikes and accessories share space with a bright red espresso machine pouring shots of single-origin Guatemalan coffee – order an affogato and you can also try the delicious (and palm oil-free) Golden North ice cream from nearby Laura. A cabinet filled with vegan cakes, slices and tarts is perfect for breakfast on the go, and even if you’re not hungry it’s worth grabbing one of the famous chocolate and raspberry brownies to enjoy later.

8. Quandong Cafe

Spend any time in the Flinders and you’re bound to encounter quandongs in one form or another. Also known as the native peach, this hardy tree thrives throughout the arid ranges, and the tart, vitamin C-rich fruit has long been a local favourite. The cute Quandong Cafe , set a street back from the grand country pubs in the former railroad hub of Quorn, lives up to its name with offerings like quandong milkshakes, waffles, cheesecakes, pies and fluffy scones with whipped cream and quandong jam alongside a range of brunch standards.

For more inspiration and itinerary tips, read our travel guide to the Flinders Ranges.

The country’s rawest places offer some of its most transformative, restorative experiences.

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1. Bamurru Plains

safari tent at Bamurru Plains wild bush luxury — Let nature take front row.

In the remote Top End, just outside Kakadu National Park on the fringes of the spectacular Mary River floodplains, you’ll find Bamurru Plains , a peerless Australian safari camp. After a quick air transfer from Darwin to the camp’s private airstrip, you’ll be whisked away via 4WD to a vivid natural wonderland of shimmering floodplains, red earth, herds of peacefully grazing water buffalo and 236 bird species (Bamurru means magpie goose to the Gagadju people).

Accommodations consist of 10 mesh-walled bungalows and two luxe stilted retreats where guests enjoy panoramic, up-close views that invite them into their rightful place in the landscape (and binoculars to see it even better). Being an off-grid experience designed to help guests disconnect, the only distractions are birdsongs, frog calls, curious wallabies, the occasional crocodile sighting and the daily drama of the spectacular golden sunset.

It’s a place where nature’s vastness rises to the level of the spiritual, and Bamurru’s understated, stylish, largely solar-powered lodgings are designed to minimise human impact and let nature take front row. Guests relax in comfort with plush linens, an open bar, communal tables that allow for spontaneous connections and curated dining experiences from the in-house chef using local ingredients and bush-inspired cooking methods.

Bamurru Plains airboat tour — Zoom across the floodplains. (Image: Adam Gibson)

It’s a restorative backdrop for days spent zooming across the mist-covered floodplains in an airboat, birding with expert guides, taking an open-sided safari drive or river cruise through croc country. Spend time at the Hide, a treehouse-like platform that’s perfect for wildlife spotting.

In fact, nature is so powerful here that Bamurru Plains closes entirely during the peak monsoon season (October to April), when the floodplains reclaim the land and life teems unseen beneath the water. Yet Wild Bush Luxury’s ethos continues year-round through its other experiences around Australia – each designed to immerse travellers in a distinct Australian wilderness at its most alive and untouched.

2. Maria Island Walk

woman on a headland of Maria Island Walk — Maria Island Walk offers sweeping coastal scenes.

Off Tasmania’s rugged east coast, the iconic Maria Island Walk is an intimate four-day journey through one of the country’s most hauntingly beautiful and unpopulated national parks, encompassing pristine beaches, convict-era ruins, and wildlife sightings galore. Accessible only by a small ferry, Maria Island feels like a place reclaimed by nature, which is exactly what it is: a penal settlement later used for farms and industry that finally became a national park in 1972.

These days, the island is known as ‘Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark’ and its only human inhabitants are park rangers. It’s a place where wombats amble through grassy meadows, wallabies graze beside empty beaches, dolphins splash in clear water just offshore and Tasmanian devils – successfully reintroduced in 2012 after near-extinction on the mainland – roam free and healthy.

Each day unfolds in an unhurried rhythm: trails through coastal eucalyptus forests or along white-sand bays, plateaus with sweeping ocean views, quiet coves perfect for swimming. Midway through the journey, you’ll explore Darlington, a remarkably preserved 19th-century convict settlement whose ruins tell stories of human ambition at the edge of the known world.

At night, sleep beneath a canopy of stars in eco-wilderness camps – after relaxing with Tasmanian wine and locally-sourced meals, and swapping stories with your fellow trekkers by candlelight.

3. Arkaba

two people standing next to a 4wd in Arkaba — Explore Arkaba on foot or on four wheels.

For a bush immersion with more of an outback flavour, Arkaba offers a completely different type of experience. A former sheep station and historic homestead in South Australia’s striking Flinders Ranges that has been reimagined as a 63,000-acre private wildlife conservancy. It’s now patrolled mainly by kangaroos and emus.

Small-scale tourism (the homestead has just five ensuite guestrooms) helps support rewilding projects, and guests become an essential part of the conservation journey. Days begin with sunrise hikes through ancient sandstone ridges or guided drives into the ranges to spot yellow-footed rock-wallabies. And end with sundowners on a private ridgetop watching the Elder Range glow vibrant shades of gold, crimson and violet as the air cools and time stands still.

Here, you can join conservation activities like tracking native species or learning about Arkaba’s pioneering feral-animal eradication projects, then unwind with chef-prepared dinners served alfresco on the veranda of the homestead, which is both rustic and refined. The highlight? Following Arkaba Walk, a thriving outback wilderness where emus wander and fields of wildflowers grow.

It’s an unforgettable immersion in Australia’s vast inland beauty, a place where the land’s deep and complicated history – and astounding resilience – leave their quiet imprint long after you return home. In a world where genuine awe is rare, Wild Bush Luxury offers a return to what matters most in the untamed beauty of Australia’s wilderness.

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Skip the roadhouse pies at these Flinders Ranges restaurants