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Cheeseburger and chips.

Collection

The 27 pubs, gelato shops, bars, and pop-ups to put on your list for January, Melbourne

Catch up on all the hot, new and just-reviewed places around town, whether you’re after a counter meal, hangover-curing sandwich or soothing sorbet.

13 stories
Death & Co. is a new, dimly-lit bar arriving from NYC on Flinders Lane.

Famous NYC bar Death & Co lands in Melbourne

  • Tomas Telegramma
Sorbet is served in hollowed out fruits at Taste of Amalfi.

10 exciting places for gelato (and what to order at each)

  • Haymun Win
Cleo is Melbourne’s hot new rooftop bar in the former Mid Air space.

Cleo is Melbourne’s new summer hotspot, replacing rooftop bar Mid Air

  • Emily Holgate
Cheeseburger and chips.

Richmond’s reborn Rising Sun Hotel captures the good old days but feels very 2026

  • Emma Breheny
Pepple officially opens December 9 in West Melbourne.

Former head chef of three-hatted Amaru opens Pebble pop-up in West Melbourne (reopens January 3)

  • Dani Valent
Chicken milanesa (schnitzel) chilaquiles torta.

Mexican sandwich shop Cumbe’s chilaquiles tortas are ‘a delicious mess’

  • Annabel Smith and Tomas Telegramma
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Bar Elsie started as a cafe before morphing into a flexible, full-service bar and restaurant.
14/20

It was the year of the local bistro, and the truly versatile Bar Elsie stands out in a crowded neighbourhood

  • Besha Rodell
The 1853-built Waterside Hotel has been transformed into a seven-storey, 1000-person venue after a monumental renovation and extension.

Seven-storey Waterside Hotel reopens on a city corner, plus six more new Melbourne pubs for summer

  • Tomas Telegramma
The view from Fitzroy’s On Top bar on the rooftop of the StandardX hotel.

‘I’ve never seen Fitzroy like this’: Sweet view, sweeter drinks at rooftop bar On Top

  • Tomas Telegramma
Chicken parmigiana.
14/20

The Doutta Galla Hotel (aka ‘Dirty Gutter’) is spruced up into a charmer with a ‘bloody good’ parma

  • Dani Valent
Inside Jollof Vibe’s new Flemington restaurant.

Melbourne eatery Jollof Vibe serves every type of jollof rice found across West Africa

  • Sanka Amadoru
The ‘soggy burger’ at Sosmos could spark Melbourne’s next burger craze.

Try Turkish-style ‘soggy burgers’ at Sosmos, a stall at Queen Victoria Market

  • Dani Valent
On the Good Food app, you can save all of your favourite recipes and restaurants in one easy place, and create your own custom saved lists.

Create your own custom hit list with the ‘saved’ function on the Good Food app