A guide to Fitzroy, Melbourne’s charismatic creative heart

If you ask a Melburnian which neighbourhood to go to for art, culture and a quintessential Melbourne vibe, Fitzroy gets a reverential nod. It’s an inner-city suburb adjacent to the CBD that is a densely populated, vibrant home to art galleries, storied pubs and live music, alongside some of the city’s greatest restaurants.

Fitzroy was one of Melbourne’s first planned suburbs in 1839 and was once associated with underprivilege and poverty, attracting churches, charities and temperance movements. In the 20th century, Chinese, Italians and Greeks were among the migrant communities that helped to shape the neighbourhood. Native home to the Wurundjeri people, the area has been a meeting place for Indigenous Australians, marking its significance in the history of the Australian Aboriginal rights movement.

Long celebrated for its grass roots art and music scene and eclectic style, in more recent years the area has undergone urban renewal and gentrification, transforming into the cultural hub it is today. Along Gertrude Street, Brunswick Street and Smith Street, you’ll find artisan cafes next to consignment stores and independent art galleries, while Standard International chose to open its first Australian hotel in Fitzroy in 2024.

Melbourne’s charms reveal when you live it like a local. Here are our recommendations for restaurants, wine bars and boutique hotels.

The best hotels in Fitzroy

The StandardX Melbourne

Best for: Fitzroy’s best new boutique hotel 
Address: 62 Rose Street, Fitzroy

StandardX is the youthful sibling brand to The Standard, which launched in Melbourne in 2024. The boutique hotel is billed as The Standard’s ‘younger, wilder sibling,’ and is flourished with art by local creatives, including Sarah Smalltown, Dane Lovett and Jane Sinclair. Cut loose in BANG, the all-day Thai restaurant, or head to the guest-only rooftop bar for a birds-eye view of Fitzroy.

The best wine bars and restaurants in Fitzroy

Marion

Best for: a wine bar with stellar sharing places
Address: 53 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Marion is part of Andrew McConnell’s Trader House group, which encompasses many of Melbourne’s most popular restaurants. The ambient bar serves a well-curated list of global wines. Locals pile in for the mussels on fried bread, nduja and aioli, served in a laidback, contemporary setting. Snag a seat by the window or on the street to soak up the neighbourhood views.

Alta Trattoria

Best for: top-notch Italian fare
Address: Ground Floor Rear/274 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Head down Brunswick Street and turn into Victoria Street to find Alta Trattoria. Unlike most Italian restaurants in Melbourne, Alta focuses on the food from the region of Piedmont, celebrating dishes like tajarin (long, silky strands of tagliolini) stirred with a wild rabbit bianco ragu, and the ravioli del plin (pinched ravioli). The focaccia here is not the fluffy doorstop variety, but a crisp, flatbread that pairs perfectly with Alta’s antipasto.

Bar Liberty

Best for: Australian-Polish food
Address: 234 Johnston Street, Fitzroy 

This hip hangout is loved by locals for its charming service, considered wine list and frequently changing menu of Australian-Polish dishes, devised by chef Zack Furst. You may find potato dumplings, chicken pulpety (meatballs) or cabbage rolls on the menu. Like Marion and Alta Trattoria, it has its own house-made flatbread, which you’ll see on almost every table.

Gogyo

Best for: solo tavellers, Japanese ramen
Address: 413 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

For solo travellers and those on the go, Gogyo serves up steaming bowls of ramen in a heritage-listed building, hung with glowing lanterns. The service is fast, and the dishes are rich and rib-sticking. Order the kogashi (burnt) miso ramen, a speciality dish where miso is scorched in a wok until it flames, and then is extinguished with chicken broth. The result is a complex, multidimensional bowl with layers of salt, smoke and fat, garnished with chashu, cabbage and egg.

Sonido

Best for: South American flavours; gluten-free food; breakfast
Address: 69 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Begin your day with Sonido’s breakfast menu, which spans arepa flatbreads, rice bowls and baked goods, served in a bright, laidback cafe setting. The ropa vieja, which translates to ‘old clothes’, combines pulled beef on a corn arepa with guacamole and salsa, which can be punched up with picadillo or chimichurri salsas. The majority of the menu is also gluten-free.

The best bakeries and coffee in Fitzroy

A1 Bakery

Best for: Affordable Lebanese baking
Address: 295 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

When this longstanding family-run Lebanese bakery from Brunswick opened a branch in Fitzroy, it was one of the biggest food stories that year. A1 draws crowds for its house-baked flatbreads smothered in zaatar, hand-shaped pides filled with shanklish (yogurt-based cheese), Lebanese-style pizzas topped with labneh and tubs of dip. You can secure yourself a feast here for under 20 AUD.

Calere

Best for: Excellent coffee
Address: Shop 1/166 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Melburnians take coffee very seriously. This blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nook in the wall serves some of the best brews in Fitzroy. Beans are from Ona roastery, alongside a rotating guest roaster. There may be beans from the Yunnan region in China or Geisha from Ethiopia available to purchase for home. If there are canelés on the counter, you’re in for a treat.

Bars and nightlife

Napier Quarter

Best for: A multi-functional community hub
Address: 359 Napier Street, Fitzroy

Positioned on a quiet backstreet, this all-day, quintessentially Melbourne venue is billed as a wine bar, but is also open from 9am for coffee. It additionally operates as a guesthouse with one spacious bedroom on offer. There is a serious in-house bread programme with a smart, seasonal menu despite the cupboard-sized kitchen. The limited outdoor seating is hot property when Melbourne’s weather is agreeable.

Marquis of Lorne

Best for: Local beers and upmarket pub grub; rooftop drinks
Address: 411 George Street, Fitzroy

For a taste of a true Aussie pub, Marquis of Lorne is one of the state’s finest. Enjoy refined pub grub like a chicken schnitzel or a steak with duck fat potatoes, in a building that dates back to 1873. The drinks on offer are smarter than most pubs, with high-quality small production wine, interesting local beers on tap and cocktails that aren’t an afterthought. The potato cake (an Australian side to fish and chips comprising a battered slice of potato) is consistently championed as the best in Melbourne. The three-level pub has plenty of outdoor seating, including a rooftop terrace.

Tamura Sake Bar

Best for: New-wave sake and Japanese dining
Address: 1/43 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy 

Tamura Sake Bar is based on a Japanese izakaya. Guests perch at a 16-seater, U-shaped bar and sip third-wave sake from young producers, with a focus on unfiltered and unpasteurised bottles. It is owned and operated by sake master Fumi Tamura and his wife Takako. Snack on karaage, sashimi and yakitori, or opt for the oft-changing otsumami set if you’re struck with decision paralysis.

The Elysian Whisky Bar

Best for: A late-night dram
Address: 13 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

The natural pipeline from Tamura to home features a stop at The Elysian Whisky Bar. Order a nightcap from its library of rare-bottled whiskies from around the world. Owners Kelvin Low and Yao Wong can offer a recommendation, or order cocktails including a seasonal high ball or Milo-spiked espresso martini. With a closing time of 1am, night-owls flock here to finish the night.

The best things to do in Fitzroy

Fitzroy Mills Market

Best for: Vintage finds
Address: 75 Rose Street, Fitzroy
When: 9am – 2pm every Saturday

The Fitzroy Mills Market takes place every weekend from morning to early afternoon, bringing together some 70 stalls selling artisan, handcrafted and vintage wares. You’ll find everything from fruit and veg to vinyl, clothing and books, as well as hot food to keep you sustained while rummaging.

Northside Records

Best for: Vinyl
Address: 236 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

A stalwart of Melbourne’s music scene, Northside Records has been operating since 2002. It sells predominantly vinyl, with a focus on local hip-hop, soul, electronica and Australian jazz. There is a listening station and regular gigs in-store, while staff are always quick with a recommendation for an emerging artist.

Sutton Gallery

Best for: Contemporary art
Address: 236 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

For a taste of Australian and New Zealand contemporary art, the longstanding Sutton Gallery holds monthly group and solo exhibitions. As one of the more established galleries in the suburb, you can expect an exciting roster of modern and experimental art. Wander to Gertrude Street to Oigall Projects to observe the works from a small, independent gallery, imbued with a playful and explorative spirit.