Best Pub Dining in Melbourne

The dining room at Richmond's Grand Hotel delivers some of the finest Italian food in Melbourne. The only pub in Melbourne to be awarded a Chef Hat eleven years running, The Grand delivers fine food, with an equally fine wine list to match. Explore a menu that takes traditional Italian style and gives a modern facelift through the use of fresh seaosnal produce and the skillfull, talented team in the kitchen. Like the menu, the interior is a clever of old and new, with dark brown walls, arched windows dressed with light curtains that create an intimate and romantic ambience.

The Reymond family has put a modern spin on the old pub genre with L’Hôtel Gitan in Prahran. It’s a real family affair with Jacques and Kathy’s children Nathalie, Edouard and Antoine assisting with business administration and front of house. The comfortable, open-plan space designed by SJB Architects features a 12-seat private dining room and an outdoor patio with built-in ironbark seating. The French menu offers a rotisserie du jour, pub staples and plenty of petit options such as croquettes, dark liver parfait and housemade boudin noir and blanc.

Hospitality stalwarts Chef Geoff Lindsay (Dandelion, and previously Pearl) and Paul Dimattina have taken the helm of much-loved South Melbourne gastropub, Lamaro’s. With Geoff as Executive Chef and Paul as General Manager, the duo have created a familiar and comfortable environment to relax and enjoy quality food and drinks. The Bar is the perfect spot for a casual dining experience, For larger groups, Lamaro’s also offers two private dining areas that can seat from 20-24 guests to accompany the larger dining room.

Affectionately known as the beer-lovers gastropub, Richmond's The Royston Hotel places a special emphasis on microbrews. Reminiscent of a 1950's steakhouse, the old-school fitout is a great play on the modern pub-fare menu, seamlessly blending new and old. For the beer afficionado's, there's also a rotating selection of 10 featured microbrews, making each trip to the Royston a unique one.

The Espy Kitchen is a cocktail and rooftop bar located in St Kilda, Melbourne.

The venue serves pub food which you can eat outside while listening to live music.

Open Monday to Sunday from 12:00 pm.

Photography: Pete Dillon

Across from Fitzroy Town Hall lies The Napier, a venerable old pub founded in 1866 that's maintained its original decorative plasterwork and stained glass windows. The main bar is decked out with Fitzroy Lions memorabilia and upstairs is an artist-run exhibition space. The menu here is very much geared towards old school pub favourites, plus, there are 11 varieties of beer on tap and plenty more by the bottle.

Collingwood's big heart still beats for the historic Grace Darling Hotel; the pub and restaurant at which the suburb's famous football club was first formed. Constructed in 1854 the bluestone building is one of the inner-city's last standing examples of a gold rush era hotel. The restaurant has a relaxed yet vibrant ambience and modern Australian dishes with a contemporary twist.

Nestled in leafy North Carlton, the Great Northern Hotel was founded in 1883 and has been one of Melbourne's most popular pubs since. With a huge decked beer garden, twenty beers on tap and classic pub fare with generous weekly deals and a kids menu, this one is a consistent crowd pleaser.

A North Fitzroy icon, The Empress Hotel restaurant merges the boutique grunge of Fitzroy with old-world opulence. Set over two rooms, the front bar doubles as an eating hall and bar, serving classic pub fare and a plethora of wine and beer from across Australia and New Zealand. If live music is your thing, be sure to check out the band room, constantly buzzing with fledgling acts from all over Australia.

Full of character and busy with locals, The Pinnacle is an enchanting Fitzroy North pub that dishes up food of restaurant quality. This old Victorian-style, slice of pie building on the corner first graced Fitzroy North as a post office before becoming a favourite watering hole for locals and visitors in the mid-1990's.

Collingwood's "Gem" is aptly named - a treasured local pub, it wears its rock credentials on its sleeve and offers great Mediterranean-style restaurant grub in a variety of dining settings. The seasonal menu is a real crowd-pleaser with everything from fish stew to a classic parma on offer, but stop by on Sunday's for the Texas BBQ, grilling up brisket, pulled pork and more.

Photography: Michael Woods

The Marquis of Lorne has been sitting regally on the corner of George and Kerr Streets in Fitzroy for more than 150 years. Restored to its former glory, the pub has embraced its history with hand-painted signs, leather chairs and steak specials. Meat is the menu's focus, but the offerings are thoroughly modern, with Pacific oysters and raw snapper sitting alongside chicken schnitzels and cheeseburgers.