Readers are often curious about the best bars in Melbourne, but in a city such as this, secrecy is overrated.

While locals and out-of-towners alike would prefer the air of exclusivity that comes with stumbling upon a hidden gem in Melbourne, the truth is that this city’s exacting standards are so high; anywhere and everywhere is a reliably good time.

Melbourne’s best cafes, restaurants and pubs are all tied together by the throughline of storied Victorian produce. But bartenders also benefit from all those pristine ingredients, using them in creative ways to craft signature cocktails that blow minds by the day. Couple this with well-sourced wine lists and a strong connection to great local breweries, and you have a bar scene to rival cities like London, New York and Tokyo.

Below, we’ve rounded up a long but earnest list of almost 40 best bars in Melbourne. These are the ones that have either already made an impact, or will make a major one in the future. Se’ve gone broad with it as well, listing our favourites so you’ve got a solid guide whether you’re searching for the best bars in Melbourne CBD or a sunny rooftop with an outsider’s perspective of Melbourne’s jagged skyline.

In short

If we had to send you to just one bar, it’d be Caretaker’s Cottage. It may seem cliché at this point, but the combination of historic architecture and simplicity, coupled with remarkably high quality, perfectly reflects where Melbourne’s drinking scene is at right now. Locals want those tighter, more focused moments of hospitality that feel like vignettes of what makes Australia’s coolest capital one of the world’s most liveable cities; the tiny bluestone cottage behind Wesley Church delivers that every night. Get there early, squeeze in wherever you can, and order the house Martini – served freezer-cold with the bar’s own gin.

Daphne, Brunswick East

Daphne took over the old Bar Romantica site on Lygon Street in late 2025, with Etta owner Hannah Green turning the much-loved space into her version of a neighbourhood pub. It’s bigger and looser than Etta, with a walk-in front bar where you can just drop in for a drink without a dinner reservation.

Monday is the best time to go. That’s Martini Club, when every Martini is $15, and your tenth is free, although getting that far in one session could be a problem. The cocktail list gets playful elsewhere too, with Daphne previously turning Guinness into an Americano riff and making its own celery gin in collaboration with White Possum distillery.

The Douglas Club, CBD

The Douglas Club is the smallest space inside Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street, although it has its own Bourke Street entrance and feels removed from the usual hotel-bar experience. It reminds us of a darker, antiquated version of West Hollywood’s Bar 1200 at the celebrity-studded Sunset Marquis. The 1930s influence makes sense here given the setting, with the hotel occupying the restored Equity Chambers building.

We’d come around 4pm and grab one of the armchairs before the after-work crowd arrives. The current cocktail list has a loose travel theme, and the Ririku is our pick: Roku gin with sake, umeshu and sencha, finished with prosecco. There’s also a Tim Tam-infused espresso cocktail called the Slam Dunk with Disaronno infused into the iconic Aussie biscuits, then layered with Baileys, Captain Morgan’s Black Spiced, coconut, Frangelico and espresso.

Capers, Thornbury

Just a short walk from Thornbury Station, Capers brings a little bit of Greece to High Street. Cousins Christian Evripidou and Anastasios Konnari have kept the room fairly simple, with most of the personality coming from bright, citrusy Greek food and stiff drinks.

We’d come in early evening, particularly if you’re already eating your way along High Street, and start with the Greek Salad Martini. It’s the drink Capers has become known for, mixing Tanqueray gin and Martini Bianco with cucumber, tomato, olive brine and vinegar shrub. A salad-inspired cocktail could easily be a gimmick. This one isn’t. It’s sharp, savoury and surprisingly refreshing.

Black Pearl, Fitzroy

After 24 years, Black Pearl is still one of those Melbourne bars that bartenders will happily recommend. Part of the furniture in Brunswick since 2002, the multi-level bar is split across a homely downstairs that feels properly lived-in, rather than overly styled, and The Attic. We prefer the latter for a more intimate vibe – it’s great for date night! – but street level is where you’ll want to be if you’re looking to drink with friendly locals.

It’s walk-in only downstairs and gets busy, so either arrive around opening for a quieter drink and a chat with the bartenders, or make it the last stop on a Fitzroy bar crawl. The doors stay open until 3am from Wednesday to Sunday. Don’t feel tied to the cocktail list either. The bartenders have a reputation for going off-menu, so tell them what you normally drink and let them take it from there. An ice-cold Martini is never a bad fallback.

Bouvardia, CBD

Bouvardia is hidden upstairs on Bourke Street, close to Russell Street and Chinatown. Owner Abjar Kasho has gone for a dark, intimate room built around a green marble bar, pitching an arsty atmosphere that’s perfectly aligned with Melbourne’s sense of style.

There’s very little interest in simply reproducing the classics here. The team plays around with seasonal produce, unusual techniques that sometimes feel closer to a kitchen than a conventional cocktail bar. We wouldn’t skip the non-alcoholic options either. They’re treated with the same seriousness as everything else rather than being an afterthought.

Go early if you want to talk through the menu with the bartenders. The room is much quieter around opening time and, given how unique some of the drinks can be, you’ll undoubtedly have a lot of questions.

Black Kite Commune, CBD

Inspired by the supper clubs of the 20th century, Black Kite Commune banks big on atmosphere, centred around a striking gold-tiled bar and clever lighting. Owner Ben Luzz has deliberately pushed the CBD venue towards something more timeless, with the drinks program following suit.

Cocktails are premium and the kitchen isn’t afraid of unusual ingredients, including our favourite crocodile meat with hot sauce suggested, best downed with a classic Old Fashioned. Open until 1am every night, Black Kite Commune has become a useful late-night option when another round of beers at the pub isn’t going  cut it.

Whisky & Alement, CBD

Whisky & Alement has been pouring the brown stuff on Russell Street since 2010, and we’d still send anyone serious about whisky here. The list runs to more than 500 bottles, including plenty you’re unlikely to see elsewhere in Melbourne.

If that sounds slightly overwhelming, don’t bother trying to decipher the eccentric drinks list. Tell the bartender what you normally drink and ask for a Dealer’s Choice tasting flight. Four whiskies are picked around your preferred style, region or even flavour profile. It’s probably the best way into the collection.

We’d go around 4pm or 5pm, before Russell Street gets busy for dinner. There’s also a bottle shop and regular masterclasses upstairs if a few drams aren’t enough.

The Elysian Whisky Bar, Fitzroy

The Elysian feels a world away from the busier end of Brunswick Street. Former Whisky & Alement bartenders Kelvin Low and Yao Wong keep around 350 rare and interesting whiskies behind the bar, with a particular love for independent bottlers.

Around 10 new whiskies are opened each week, so we’d ask what’s just come in rather than arrive with a particular bottle in mind. The bar takes plenty of cues from Japanese whisky bars and usually has jazz and old classics playing in the background.

We’ve been plenty of times and still feel like we’ve just discovered a hidden gem in the backstreets of Shibuya. Go early on a weeknight if you want time to talk whisky. Elysian opens at 4.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday and doesn’t close until 1am, so it also works as a much quieter final drink after a night around Fitzroy.

Bar Thyme, Footscray

Bar Thyme sits on Barkly Street and feels much more like a neighbourhood bistro than a dedicated wine bar these days. That’s no bad thing. The wine list still gives Australian and European producers plenty of room, while the food changes with what’s in season.

We’d actually come on Sunday. Bar Thyme runs a changing three-course Sunday menu and, for winter, has been pouring half-size, half-price Martinis all day. Wednesday is another good-value option, with a weekly-changing three-course menu for around $50.

Commis, Collingwood

Three former Gerald’s Bar staffers opened Commis on Johnston Street in late 2023, and some of that Carlton North looseness followed them across town. The wine list is deep and the produce-worshipping menu changes with whatever the kitchen can get its hands on.

There’s no need to over-plan this one. The bar and courtyard are kept for walk-ins, and co-owner Dan Docherty has said he’ll always try to find space. We’d turn up around 5pm, grab a glass and see what’s cooking rather than arrive chasing a particular dish.

Don’s, Prahran

Don’s is tucked just off Chapel Street near Prahran Market, with much of the room built around one long communal table. It’s walk-in only and can get noisy, but that’s part of the appeal.

The fried chicken sandwich is what we’d order first. There’s also the slightly ridiculous but very Melbourne “pasta on a spoon", a single mouthful of pasta that changes regularly. It can feel like a gimmick at times, but we’ve had some real stunners before. You’re only looking at around $10 for the dynamic menu item as well.

Monday is the clever time to go. There’s been a $40 menu with entrée, main, dessert and a glass of wine, although the deal can change, so check before heading over.

Boire, North Melbourne

Boire sits directly across Errol Street from Manzé and gives chef Nagesh Seethiah’s drinks program much more room to play. The name means “to drink" in French, which tells you roughly where the priorities lie. There are hundreds of bottles on the wine list, with around 10 to 12 changing options by the glass and some less obvious regions mixed in.

We’d go on a sunny afternoon and grab one of the tables out front. A glass of wine works, but we have a soft spot for the Mauritian Phoenix lager on tap, particularly with the taro fritters and Manzé hot sauce.

Boire turns into a sandwich shop at lunch, with the fillings changing regularly, before switching back into wine-bar mode later in the day. We think it’s a good excuse to wander up Errol Street well before Melbourne’s usual wine-bar hour.

Navi Lounge, Yarraville

Navi Lounge is the easier way into chef Julian Hills’ world without committing to the full Navi tasting menu next door. The Yarraville bar uses the same local and native ingredients in its drinks and snacks, creating a nice little throughline to next door. Needless to say, it’s best to follow this up with a dinner (or vice versa).

We’d book the cocktail flight. It’s available between 6pm and 9pm from Wednesday to Saturday and comes with matching snacks. Otherwise, start with a drink at 5.30pm and order the salt-and-vinegar fish skins, ducklava with tamarillo or one of Navi’s black-garlic macarons once the kitchen starts at 6pm.

Caretaker’s Cottage, CBD

Caretaker’s Cottage has only become harder to ignore since sliding into the top 20 of the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2025.. The tiny bluestone cottage behind Wesley Church was also named the best bar in Australasia, and it’s very difficult to disagree.

For all the awards, we’d keep the order simple. Get the house Martini, served freezer-cold using the bar’s own gin, or do what plenty of regulars do and order a Guinness. Better yet, have both as a boilermaker.

It’s a small room and gets seriously busy. We prefer an afternoon visit, when you have a better shot at settling in rather than joining the evening crush.

One or Two, CBD

One or Two hides down Celestial Avenue in Chinatown, a 26-seat whisky and cocktail bar from Melbourne bartender Andy Chu. The room takes cues from Japanese wabi-sabi design and Midnight Diner, although the cocktails often pull flavours from much closer to home.

The cocktail menu changes monthly, so we’d avoid going in with a fixed order. Tell the team what you like and see where they take you. Asian flavours crop up regularly, while the classics are treated seriously too. If you’re after something simple, the house Martini is served very cold and very dry.

Marion Wine Bar, Fitzroy

Andrew McConnell’s Marion has been part of Gertrude Street for more than a decade now, sitting right beside Cutler & Co with one of the most impressive wine collections in Fitzroy.

The size of the list does tend to give us a choice anxiety, so we prefer asking the staff what’s drinking well. Plenty of wines are by the glass, and half-glass pours are also available if you’d rather taste your way around the cellar than commit to one bottle.

Food can turn a quick drink into dinner fairly easily. The menu changes, so we’re wary of sending you in for one particular dish, although the Cutler’s whitebait sandwich has been getting plenty of love lately.

HER Bar, CBD

HER takes up four levels of a Lonsdale Street building, but we usually start downstairs at HER Bar. The room has a European feel without pushing the theme too hard, and the kitchen moves between Italian, Frenchand Spanish influences with a few nods to chef Nada Thomas’s Turkish background.

We’d go around 5pm and start here, then slowly proceed upstairs to the Music Room or the very fun rooftop. Cocktails lean bright and fairly approachable, while the wine list gives smaller producers plenty of attention.

Hope St Radio, Collingwood

Hope St Radio still feels more like part of Collingwood’s creative community than a conventional wine bar. It broadcasts from Collingwood Yards, DJs regularly take over the decks and the big communal tables make it very easy for a quick glass to stretch out.

We’d come around 4pm on a Saturday, before the room really gets going. Wine is the obvious order, with plenty of smaller and natural producers represented, but arrive hungry. The food has become just as much of a reason to visit as the radio station itself.

The other advantage is location. You’re already inside Collingwood Yards, with galleries, performance spaces and PBS nearby, so Hope St Radio makes a particularly good stop after spending an afternoon around the precinct.

Death or Glory, Prahran

Death or Glory is opposite Revolver Upstairs on Chapel Street and doesn’t try to paint over much of Prahran’s rougher personality. Skateboards line the walls, and it feels considerably less self-conscious than plenty of places further down Chapel Street. While we love Melbourne’s bar scene, a lot of the grit and grime can come across as performative. Death or Glory has a knack for holding onto that raw authenticity, both in style and service.

Happy hour is when we’d go. It currently runs from 4pm to 7pm on weekdays and 4pm to 6pm on weekends, with $15 Negronis, Tommy’s Margaritas, Tom Collins and Aperol Spritzes. A pint of Guinness is $12.

Montys Bar, Fitzroy North

Montys doesn’t need much of an introduction. It’s a small neighbourhood bar on St Georges Road with a church pew to sink into and a drinks list that isn’t overcomplicated with Melbourne’s love of complicating things.

We’d come around 5pm, particularly if the weather is good enough to sit outside. Tap beer is currently $10 during happy hour, although wine is really where Montys builds its solid reputation. Staff are more than happy to roll out suggestions, so we’d lean on their knowledge rather than order the same thing we always do.

Fargo & Co., Richmond

Fargo & Co. makes good use of its old bank building on Swan Street, with enough of the original architecture left to give the bar some genuine personality. The drinks and events are considerably less serious.

Saturday afternoon is probably the Richmond bar’s best expression. The current bottomless session starts at 3pm for $69, with cocktails, beer and wine alongside share plates and Detroit-style pizza.

Tetto di Carolina, South Yarra

Tetto di Carolina sits above the excellent Bar Carolina on Toorak Road and goes much harder on the cocktails. The room is deliberately glamorous, with a long bar, walnut stools and enough low lighting to make South Yarra feel slightly more European than it actually is.

This is one place where we’d order something from the house list rather than automatically retreating to a Martini. The cocktails are the reason to come upstairs in the first place, and the bar works particularly well for a drink before dinner downstairs.

Mr West, Footscray

Mr West helped make drinking in central Footscray considerably more interesting. Downstairs is the bottle shop, while upstairs you’ll find a big, relaxed bar with a courtyard and 30 taps covering craft beer, cider, wine and cocktails.

We love taking a beer into the courtyard on a warm afternoon. If you’re hungry, don’t make the mistake of assuming the lack of a kitchen is a problem. Mr West actively encourages you to order from surrounding Footscray restaurants and bring the food in.

That little arrangement is part of the appeal. Few Melbourne suburbs give you a better choice of nearby Vietnamese, Ethiopian and Indian food so you can have fun experimenting with a wide range of food-drink matching.

Beneath Driver Lane, CBD

Finding Beneath Driver Lane still feels slightly illicit. Head underground near the corner of Little Bourke and Elizabeth streets and an old bank vault opens into one of Melbourne CBD’s better basement bars.

We’d go late and order the whisky straight away. Friday and Saturday currently run until around 2.30am, which makes this particularly useful once dinner has finished and plenty of the CBD has started shutting down.

Leonard’s House of Love, South Yarra

Leonard’s House of Love looks like somebody turned a 1970s American ski lodge into a Melbourne party bar and then decided not to explain themselves. That’s pretty much all you need to know.

We’d go on a Sunday afternoon rather than waiting for the Friday-night crush. Order a cold beer and a cheeseburger, or the fried chicken if you’ve arrived properly hungry. The combination has been central to Leonard’s since it opened.

Prudence, North Melbourne

Prudence is the sort of neighbourhood bar Melbourne tends to do better than almost anywhere. The Victoria Street space was once a record store and music still matters, with staff choosing what gets played from the bar’s collection each night.

We like it around 6pm, particularly after a late wander through Queen Victoria Market. There’s a deep spirits collection behind the bar, but we’d ask whoever is working what they’re drinking rather than arrive with a pre-set favourite order in mind.

Gerald’s Bar, Carlton North

Gerald’s Bar has been part of Carlton North long enough that trying to make it sound fashionable misses what makes it good. Gerald Diffey and Mario Di Lenno built the place around hospitality first, and it still feels like a neighbourhood bar where eating and drinking are treated as the same activity.

We always arrive hungry. The food changes constantly, so prescribing a particular dish isn’t especially useful. See what’s on the board, order whatever the kitchen is excited about and then let the staff steer you towards a bottle.

Above Board, Collingwood

There are only a handful of seats at Above Board, and that’s exactly how owner Hayden Lambert wants it. The tiny Smith Street cocktail bar seats around a dozen people, with no standing and very little separating you from the person making your drink.

We’d go right on the 6pm opening. You’re more likely to get a seat without waiting and the quieter room gives Lambert time to work out what you actually like.

Whitehart, CBD

Whitehart turned a former CBD car park into an open-air bar using shipping containers, steel and a lot of greenery. Digital work from Melbourne artist Daisylegs adds another layer once the light starts dropping.

This is one we’d save for good weather. Come around sunset, grab a local beer or something from the seasonal cocktail list and head for the upper level.

Its position near Queen and Little Bourke streets makes Whitehart an easy first stop before dinner around Chinatown or Hardware Lane. It opens from noon, though, so nothing is stopping you from treating it as an afternoon beer garden in the middle of the CBD either.

Bar Liberty, Fitzroy

Bar Liberty has been on Johnston Street long enough to become part of Fitzroy’s furniture. Wine remains the reason we’d go, with an adventurous list that rewards asking questions rather than simply ordering a familiar grape.

Sunday afternoon is the sweet spot. Bar Liberty opens from noon and closes at 5pm on Sundays, which gives the whole thing a much more relaxed feel than a busy Friday night.

Felix Woods runs the drinks after time at places including Above Board and The Everleigh. You can see that background in the menu. Martinis are taken seriously, and there’s a good selection of French brandy; we’dprobably start with the Cognac Sazerac.

Flores and Lately, Malvern

The Angel of Malvern now spreads across three floors. We’d start at Flores on the first, then head upstairs to Lately once wine starts sounding less interesting than cocktails.

Flores takes most of its cues from Southern Europe. Justin North’s menu is built for sharing and the wine list moves between Australia and Europe without getting too bogged down in one style. There’s also a $49 two-course lunch with a glass of wine, which makes a good argument for starting early.

Lately is where we’d end up on Friday night. DJs play vinyl on Fridays and Saturdays and the cocktails get a bit stranger up here. Latitude, for example, mixes bourbon with mandarin aperitif and nori.

Frenchie, CBD

The easiest thing to remember about Frenchie is the price. Almost everything is $14.

That applies to the cocktails as well as most of the food, which is unusual enough for Collins Street. We’d order the Parisian Iced Tea, made with gin, French Earl Grey and yuzu soda. Food ranges from steak to escargot brioche, and even the crème brûlée sticks to the $14 rule.

We’d use Frenchie for a late bite rather than dinner at the usual hour. It trades until midnight from Monday to Saturday, and $14 cocktails become considerably more appealing once you’ve spent a night paying CBD prices elsewhere.

Three Horses, CBD

Three Horses comes from the Caretaker’s Cottage crew, this time with a fixation on sherry. You’ll find it on Little Lonsdale Street, and there’s no booking system, so we tend to favour an early visit.

Start with the Jabberwock. It’s their take on a Martini, seasoned with dry sherry and poured at the table. After that, ask what’s open by the glass. The selection moves between Spanish bottles and Australian sherry-style wines, so there’s usually something you haven’t tried.