Greek to Vietnamese, strip malls to fine diners: The Good Food Guide heads west

A pizzeria with red and white checked tablecloths, a wood-fired Greek restaurant and a destination for northern Vietnamese cuisine are among the 30 restaurants in Melbourne’s west reviewed in the latest Age Good Food Guide. That number is a marked shift from past editions of the Guide, nearly tripling in the span of four years.

“It has brought more attention to the western suburbs,” says Kena Gudina, whose Sunshine restaurant Gojo Ethiopian Cafe was included for the first time. “Sometimes people think that good food is just in the city.”

Among the 30 western suburbs restaurants in this year’s Good Food Guide are eateries in Truganina, Maidstone and Sunshine North, and span two-hatted fine-diners to simple shopfronts in Footscray.

“Melbourne’s west might be the most dynamic region of the city to eat in,” says Age Good Food Guide co-editor Frank Sweet. “That’s been true for a long time, and we realised we needed to work harder to show that dynamism in the Guide.”

The inclusions have been met with a mix of emotions from local business owners, from surprise to pride.

“Keilor is very Keilor proud,” says Joshua Cusato, who runs Paesino pizza restaurant in Keilor Village with wife Vanessa. This is the second year it’s been included in the Guide.

While locals were slow to embrace the restaurant when it first opened in April 2023, he says: “Once we started getting a bit of recognition … they were bragging about us.”

The growth of western suburbs venues in the Guide mirrors the increasing numbers of Melburnians who call the west home.

Two local government areas in the region – the cities of Wyndham and Melton – are in Melbourne’s top five LGAs for population growth in the past 10 years, adding 135,500 and 90,390 residents, respectively.

‘There’s great things in the west, and more people should make the trip out. Don’t just come to the airport.’

Joshua Cusato, Paesino restaurant

That growth is expected to continue, as the West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance forecasts that Melbourne’s west will almost double in size to 1.8 million people in the next 25 years.

“From Filipino to Ethiopian, Balkan and beyond, there’s exuberant cooking and big flavours wherever you look in the west – in strip malls, in supermarkets, in food trucks,” Sweet says. “It was important to us that this year’s Guide celebrated the area’s breadth and abundance because which two words better describe eating in Melbourne?”

The dining scene in the west has changed a lot in the past five to seven years, says Cusato, who grew up in Altona and Keilor Downs.

“For a while it was pretty stale, I would say. But in the pre-COVID period, something just burst and there was an influx of really good businesses,” he says.

He’s seeing a younger demographic who normally hangs out in “the foodie areas” of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Brunswick now coming to the west to eat. After Paesino was included in The Age Good Food Guide 2025 as a Critics’ Pick – a place the Guide’s reviewers recommend regardless of its score out of 20 – Cusato says he was visited by more customers from the inner city.

“After that Critics’ Pick last year, that was a big game-changer,” he says.

He also says diners’ expectations grew in response. For some restaurants that pressure can be unwelcome, but he says he enjoys being held to a high standard with his 48-hour fermented pizza dough.

The Cusatos started making pizza in their home garage in Sunshine North, and initially took takeaway orders via Instagram. Joshua says he always wanted to open a restaurant in Keilor after growing up in Keilor Downs, and was “beside himself” when a space became available in Keilor Village.

“Keilor Village is like its own little country. If you’re not from Keilor, people ask why you’re there,” he says.

For Gudina, choosing to open in Sunshine 14 years ago was a risk that’s worked out. At the time, Gojo was one of the first East African restaurants in the suburb.

“There was a lot [of Ethiopian food] in Footscray,” says Gudina. “But we wanted to try something and attract more people from the western suburbs.

“It was really hard at the beginning, and then it started growing a little bit more.

“It’s such a strong community and the people are very warm and supportive. We love being part of the area. It’s always growing too.”

Offering Ethiopian coffee ceremonies and large platters of colourful dishes, Gojo has since been featured on Channel Nine’s Postcards program, by food influencers on social media and in this year’s Good Food Guide and its Cafes and Bakeries Guide.

Gudina says being included in lists and guides was a proud moment.

Cusato agrees. “There’s great things in the west, and more people should make the trip out,” he says. “Don’t just come to the airport.”

The Good Food app is the home of the 2026 edition of the Good Food Guide, with more than 500 reviews. The app is free for premium subscribers of The Age and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.