Best Cocktail Bars Melbourne 2024
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By Ben Oliver || Last Updated: December 19, 2023
When the Victorian gold rush arrived in Melbourne in 1851, the city’s population drank themselves into a stupor.
Melburnians were drinking more champagne per capita than the French by the 1880s, and the city’s bartenders were finding new and extravagant ways to party. Enter the cocktail bar.
The city’s first cocktail bar was Cafe De Paris, which opened in King Street in 1859 and was the place for a Sherry Cobbler – the height of indulgence due to the large quantity of ice required (a luxury reserved for the rich).
More than a century later, an unnamed Melbourne bartender would invent the Japanese Slipper in 1984.
After the deregulation of Melbourne’s bar scene and decades of Temperance nonsense later, our cocktail bars are simply world-class. And since then, Melbourne’s cocktail scene has only continued to grow.
Here’s a list of our favourite cocktail bars in Melbourne – from basement bars to classic cocktails and everything in between.
Explore on your own, or join us for one of our brilliant hidden bar and history tours!
Beneath Driver Lane || @beneathdriverlane
Why come here?
It’s a rare thing for the hardened Melbourne barfly to walk into a new bar for the first time and be truly impressed. Beneath Driver Lane is one of those bars.
Hidden down a laneway and several flights of steps, you’ll encounter a bar that is the perfect sum of its parts. Everything just works: from the booths to the bar stools, the soft lighting, an incredible list of spirits and some of the most delicious cocktails you’ll ever try. The drinks list is inspired by “a day in the life of a blues musician”. Being a sucker for a Negroni, we recommend the Spice Rum Negroni.
What’s the food situation?
French bistro inspired and open till 3am. The wagyu reuben toastie is a fan favourite.
The final word
Everything that makes a great Melbourne cocktail bar.
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Sat-Thurs: 4pm-3am | Fri: 1pm-3am
State Of Grace || @stateofgracemelbourne
Why come here?
The original State Of Grace – and hidden underground speakeasy Fall From Grace – reopened at its new King Street address in late 2018 after serving last drinks on Collins Street a year prior. The reborn SOG was greeted by Melbourne’s drinking population with a collective sigh of relief.
Thoroughly European in style, State Of Grace is not just back, it’s better than ever. Level one is old-world class. Downstairs, the cellar bar Fall From Grace is rocking gothic vibes (hidden behind the bookcase). And the addition of a rooftop bar upstairs only cements its place as an icon of Melbourne’s bar scene
What’s the food situation?
The restaurant has an Aussie-French hybrid vibe, with a menu featuring dishes like crispy pork belly and confit duck leg. Fall From Grace has a grazing menu, while the rooftop serves more pub style, casual food.
The final word
Three bars in one.
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Mon-Tues: 12pm-12am | Wed-Fri: 12pm-1am | Sat: 12pm-12am
1806 || @bar1806
Why come here?
A classic cocktail bar with a sense of history and theatre.
Named after the year the word cocktail was first immortalised in print, 1806 takes mixology and mythology to a whole new level all in a swanky prohibition-era fitout. Please, check your tommy guns and brass knuckles at the door and enter the golden era of cocktails.
The cocktail lists of most bars are browsed for 30 seconds before being gently folded and never reopened. At 1806, you may spend a good portion of the night learning about cocktails in their proper historical context – from ancient Rome to 1930s New York.
And if you can’t find a cocktail to satisfy you (extremely unlikely) their impressive whisky collection surely will.
Finally, 1806 offers a cocktail masterclass, a gin odyssey and whisky tasting sessions.
What’s the food situation?
Let’s not forget the food menu: halloumi fries, croquetas and scamorza toasties headline the small plates menu, while the baked camembert with parsley butter & chilli oil, and their magnificent charcuterie will have you rethinking your dinner plans.
The final word
An experience for true cocktail aficionados
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Mon-Tues: 5pm-12am | Wed-Thurs: 5pm-1am | Fri-Sat: 4pm-1am | Sun: 5pm-1am
Bar Margaux || @barmargauxmelbourne
Why come here?
Not all the best bars in Melbourne are down a narrow laneway or underground cellar. Bar Margaux falls into the latter category, but this New York-cum-French bistro would still make the list if it sat in the middle of Federation Square.
Bar Margaux is one of those classic go-to bars which can serve as both a night starter and/or night ender; once you head down the stairs and hang a left, you’ll lose track of time in any case.
Just the right amount of mood lighting illuminates Bar Margaux’s carefully chosen design aesthetic. From the white subway tiles to the chequerboard food and gold backlighting, it’s obvious each element has been carefully considered.
Getting a booth or a table may be a tall order unless you get there early, but we like hanging out at the bar just fine.
A great wine list, excellent cocktails and a solid spirits menu will see MGX – the initials you’ll see on the door – become your new city staple.
Put simply, one of the best cocktail bars in Melbourne.
What’s the food situation?
Parisian-inspired bistro food. The dinner menu has everything you would expect; from steak tartare to cured salmon roulade and escargot. Past midnight, the menu switches to supper. That being said, you’ll still be able to order a 220g flank steak until close.
The final word
Ça te dit d’aller boire un verre?
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Sat-Thurs: 5pm-3am | Fri: 12-3am
New Gold Mountain || @newgoldmountain
Why come here?
The Chinese gold miners who arrived in Melbourne in the 1850s saw parallels to San Francisco, scene of America’s first gold rush in the 1840s.
They called San Fran Gold Mountain, so later gave Melbourne its Chinese pseudonym – and the name of our next bar – New Gold Mountain.
NGM is one of Melbourne’s best kept secrets. The lack of signage makes stumbling across this bar by accident difficult. But once you find NGM, you’ll need to ascend several flights of seemingly rickety stairs – passing photos of Chinese migrants from times gone by – until you arrive at this tiny gem.
The decor is turn of the century, opium-den Shanghai, but the cocktail menu is 21st century Australian. NGM proudly focuses solely on Australian spirits and ingredients; their Aussie negronis are something to behold.
What’s the food situation?
No kitchen to speak of, but you can get some tasty treats courtesy of Luxbite, one of Melbourne’s best patisseries.
The final word
Come for the gold, stay for the drinks.
If you’re equal parts drinker and explorer, Melbourne’s bar scene is sure to send your senses into a flurry. Our tour guides have been showing locals and visitors around the city’s best bars for years.
With our curated tours, you can explore what makes Melbourne’s cocktail scene so damn good, and learn a bit about the history as well! Book a group tour online today, or get in touch about a private tour.
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Wed-Thurs: 5pm-1am | Fri: 5pm-3am | Sat: 6pm-3am
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