Best Cocktail Bars in the Melbourne CBD
Sometimes, beer and wine just don't cut it. In those times, you need cocktails. Be it a well-made Negroni, or a complex, multi-layered sipper, Melbourne has a wealth of places to partake.
These are our favourites, ranging from casual spots, to table service venues where the staff wear waistcoats. But without fail, they all know their spirits.
Bar
1806
1806: the year the word "cocktail" was first defined in print.
Bar
Berlin Bar
Opulence meets wartime misery at this bar with two faces.
Restaurant
Bomba
Most people come for the Spanish food. But you could just as easily come for the drinks alone.
Bar
Double Happiness
The sister bar to Lily Black's has a cheeky Chairman Mao theme, but sacrifices none of the skill.
Bar
Eau De Vie
Before the EDV team opened Boilermaker House, this classy bar was the focal point for its whisky obsession.
Bar
Gin Palace
The name says it all.
Bar
Heartbreaker
Bottled cocktails waiting by the jukebox in Chinatown.
Bar
Lily Blacks
A connoisseur's dream.
Bar
Lui Bar at Vue de Monde
What would you expect from a bar run by Vue de Monde?
Restaurant
Mesa Verde
Climb to the top of Curtin House, and you're in another tequila heaven.
Bar
New Gold Mountain
Another skilful, Asian-themed member of the Lily Blacks family.
Bar
Seamstress Cocktail Bar
The high-class counterpart of downstairs bar Sweatshop.
Bar
Siglo
The Melbourne Supper Club's casual rooftop counterpart.
Bar
Sweatshop
It's a themed bar, but the drinks are far from gimmicky.
Bar
Union Electric Bar
More fresh fruit and veg than a green grocer.
Bar
Whisky and Alement
Melbourne's first great whisky bar.
Bar
Yarra Falls
Evoking a lost piece of Melbourne’s pre-colonial landscape, this tiny bar inside an ornate, heritage-listed space has a striking indoor waterfall that doubles as a back-bar. Come for vibrant cocktails and a seasonal menu of snacks celebrating native ingredients.
Bar
Jayda
Shane Delia’s cocktail bar, right next to his flagship Maha restaurant. Enter for classic cocktails turned on their head by a world-class bartender and a cracking bar menu of beefy borek buns, taramasalata tarts and a saucy lamb sanga.
Bar
One or Two
This tranquil bolthole amid the bustle of Chinatown is built on the motto “drink less, drink better”. It’s pouring small-batch whiskies and a tight list of cocktails. Why not stay for just one – or two?
Bar
Three Horses
Enter for whipped sorbet cocktails, vinyl albums played end to end and a sherry thread that spools through a room stamped with galloping horses.
