The Best Cocktail Bars in Melbourne, by the Record
The best cocktail bars in Melbourne, by the professional record: 50 Best, Spirited Awards, and Difford's Guide have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Caretaker's Cottage comes out on top.
Byrdi and Three Horses hold the next two places. Difford's Guide and Spirited Awards show up on more of this list than any other guide.
-
- 50 Best #19 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · International Bartender of the Year · Rob Libecans
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best International Bar Team
-
Tucked into a Melbourne shopping complex in a way that makes passersby do a double-take, Byrdi is a cocktail bar built around seasonality and local ingredients handled with the kind of precision that blurs the line between bar and kitchen lab. The team behind Singapore's Operation Dagger runs the show, and the drinks follow an almost culinary logic. It landed on the World's 50 Best Bars list, which tells you the curious head-twist is worth acting on.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- 50 Best #91 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Cocktail Bar – APAC
-
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · International Bartender of the Year · Rob Libecans
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best New International Cocktail Bar
-
-
-
Rank 6. Black Pearl
Cocktail Bar
Dark wood, mismatched velvet, and leather sofas in a muted-light room that invites you to arrive early and leave late. Black Pearl is a cocktail bar on Brunswick Street that most drinks people treat as the main reason to come to Fitzroy at all. The list is short and inventive, boutique beers cover the non-cocktail moods, and bar food handles the rest. Difford's Guide rates it five stars, which tells you where the serious drinkers end up.
-
Rank 7. Madame Brussels
Cocktail Bar
A cocktail bar on level three of a Bourke Street building, reached by a creaky elevator that fits seven at a push and opens onto a room dressed in full garden-party drag: wicker, pastel, and waitstaff in tennis whites. The drinks lean fruity and come in jugs, which is either charming or a warning depending on your afternoon. Melbourne's day-drinking set has been making the ascent for a long time.
-
Rank 7. Polly
Cocktail Bar
-
Rank 7. Sweatshop
Cocktail Bar