With more than 5000 restaurants and bars in WA, The Top 50 (A-Z) list represents the pinnacle of excellence in WA.
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Some of the most creative food in WA is coming from the casual dining sector. See our A-Z list of the best of WA’s casual dining.
WA’s best small bars are not only responsible for world-standard drinks programs, but many also bring their “A” Game when it comes to food.
This list is designed to show off the best new WA venues for 2020 (A-Z), and to help support them as they establish themselves.
WA’s best small bars are not only responsible for world-standard drinks programs, but many also bring their “A” Game when it comes to food. See our A-Z list of the best below.
With accomplished bartenders and a classic setting, Bar Lafayette remains one of Perth's finest cocktail spots.
Address 125 St Georges Terrace Perth
Open Wed-Thu: 4pm-midnight Fri: 2pm-late Sat: 7pm-late
Phone 0416 816 355
Website barlafayette.com
Part pub, part hub, part bottleshop, bar and restaurant, Besk excels in its role as a multitasker, making it a firm neighbourhood favourite.
Address 264 Railway Parade West Leederville
Open Mon-Wed: 4pm-late Thu-Sun: noon-late
Phone 08 6319 2290
Website besk.com.au
With Middle Eastern flavours, a rooftop setting and fruit-driven cocktails, Hadiqa keeps things fresh for the East End.
Address Hibernian Place 40 Irwin Street Perth
Open Wed & Sat: 4pm-late Thu-Fri: noon-late:
Phone 08 6277 0387
Website hadiqa.com.au
It’s all about the whiskey and whisky at Helvetica. But this is no hipster bourbon and rye joint.
Address Rear 101 St Georges Tce Perth Access through Howard Lane off Howard street
Open Tue-Thu: 3pm-late Fri: noon-1am Sat: 4pm-1am
Website helveticabar.com.au
Northbridge’s Henry Summer is part of the Lavish Habits group alongside Alabama Song, Joe’s Juice Joint, La Cholita and Sneaky Tony’s. Described as an “urban cocktail and wine garden”, it’s a more relaxed affair than its bustling and energetic siblings, and one of a few city bars open seven days for lunch and dinner.
Address 69 Aberdeen St Northbridge
Open Mon–Thu: Noon – Midnight Fri & Sat: Noon – 2am Sun: Noon – Midnight
Website lavishhabits.com.au/venues/henry-summer
King Somm is a wine shop with a bar and casual restaurant on the side. It gets very busy with eastern suburbs locals who, hitherto, have been starved of the diversity and excitement of cool and interesting bars found in the more established restaurant precincts closer to the CBD. Bayswater has arrived.
Address 13 King William Street Bayswater
Open Wed – Thu: 4:30pm - 9pm Fri: 4:30pm – Midnight Sat: Noon – Midnight Sun: Noon - 9pm
Website kingsomm.com.au
A crack chef and an accomplished bar team make Liberté a true destination in the deep south.
Address 160 Stirling Terrace Albany WA
Open Tue-Sat: 11.30-late
Phone 08 9847 4797
Website libertealbany.com.au
With food to match the restaurant, and a drinks list driven by adventure, Long Chim Bar stakes its claim as a destination in its own right.
Address The State Buildings Corner Barrack Street and St Georges Terrace Perth
Open Tue-Sat: noon-10.30pm; bar menu only from 2.30pm-5pm
Phone (08) 6168 7775
Website longchimperth.com
Make no bones about it, Madalena’s is hot, fuelled by buzz, a passionate team and no shortage of stellar seafood. Not bad for a relatively nondescript bar at the southern end of South Fremantle.
Address 406 South Terrace South Fremantle
Open Wed-Thu: 4pm-11pm Fri-Sat: noon-midnight Sun: noon-10pm
Website madalenasbar.com.au
Whiskey and whisky might be specialties, but Mechanics Institute still has fun around the edges.
Address Rear 222 William St Northbridge
Open Tue-Thu: 4pm-late Fri: 2pm-midnight Sat-Sun: noon-midnight
Phone 08 9228 4189
Website mechanicsinstitutebar.com.au
Crafted ice reaches other heights at Morries; not only does it come in spheres, but chunky cubes score bevelled edges. It says a lot about the attention to detail exhibited in this candle lit, Margaret River bar.
Address 2/149 Bussell Highway Margaret River WA
Open 7 Days: 7.30am – Midnight
Phone 08 9758 8280
Website morries.com.au
Mummucc is a bubbly, joyous neighbourhood trattoria without archness or affectation, cooking generous, superbly cooked pasta and small plates.
Address 46/56 Grantham Street Wembley
Open Walk ins only Wed - Thu: 5pm – 10pm Fri - Sat: 4pm – Late Sun: 4pm – 10pm
Website mummucc.com.au
Part of a trio of venues in the State Buildings, Petition Wine Bar and Merchant is nirvana for everyday wine lovers and serious oenophiles.
Address The State Buildings corner St Georges Terrace & Barrack Street Perth
Open Wed: 5pm – 10pm Thu: 5pm – 11pm Fri: 4pm – Midnight Sat: Noon – 11pm Sun: Noon – 9pm
Phone 08 6168 7772
Website petitionperth.com
It might not be the bar it once was when some of the best bar keeps were making their own syrups, mixers, bitters and fat-washed liquors, but it has maintained its reputation for fine drinks, made well.
Address Crown Resort Perth, Great Eastern Highway Burswood
Open Mon – Fri: Noon – 3pm & 6pm – 11pm Sat: 6 – 11pm; Sun: Noon – 3 & 6pm-10pm
Phone 08 6252 1900
Website rockpoolbarandgrill.com.au
The name suggests it’s a bait shop and the entry looks nicely dodgy, but once inside Rodney's Bait ‘n’ Tackle it’s clear this clever nautical themed boozer is serious about its business. The aaargh-me-hearties theme certainly wasn't just a way of skimping on the decor. How on earth did they get that boat indoors?
Address 598 Stirling Highway Mosman Park
Open Tue - Thu: 4pm – 11pm Fri: 4pm – Midnight Sat: 2pm – Midnight Sun: 2pm – 9pm
Website rodneysbar.com.au
There’s a lot to unpack with Si Paradiso. Opened late last year on the Highgate site that was previously home to the cult nightspots Late Night Valentine and Luxe Bar, you could, as they have, call its tongue-in-cheek, pleasingly camp mix of mood lighting, glitter balls and vintage black and white portraits, ‘nuovo Italian-Australian’.
Address 1/446 Beaufort St Highgate WA 6003
Open Wed – Thu: 4pm – Midnight Fri: 4pm – 2am Sat: Noon – 2am Sun: Noon – Midnight
Website www.si-paradiso.com
Top chef turned bar entrepreneuer Clint Nolan knows customers. We can say this with some certainty because most of his bar and pub venues are highly successful.
Address Contact and entry password on the Sneaky Tony’s Facebook page.
Open Mon – Sun: 4pm – Midnight
Website facebook/sneakytony’s
Strange company has built itself in to one of the finest bars in Fremantle and Perth by dint of a quiet, unrelenting determination by its owners.
Address 5 Nairn Street Fremantle WA
Open 7 days: Noon – Midnight
Phone 0416 350 491
Website strangecompany.com.au
Small in stature but big in character, Swallow Bar has been a quiet achiever in Maylands before Perth even knew what a small bar was. Art deco style oozes from every corner with old train seats for booths, golden oldies flowing from the speakers and a bar keep that knows a damn good martini.
Address 198 Whatley Crescent Maylands
Open Wed: 5pm - 10pm Thu: 5pm - 11pm Fri: 4pm - Midnight Sat: Noon - 11pm Sun: Noon - 9pm
Phone 08 9272 4428
Website swallowbar.com.au
TWR stands for The Waiting Room but it could just as easily have been named OTT, because this blingy, rococo, shiny jewel of a bar is about as subtle as Trump. Over the Top it is. Somehow, just somehow, the decor all comes together in a sort of tasteful Casino melange of styles, which is at once welcoming and awesome.
Address Crown Towers Great Eastern Hwy Burswood
Open Sun - Wed: 8am - 10pm Thu: 8am - 11pm Fri - Sat: 8am - 1am
Phone 1800 556 688
Website crownperth.com.au/bars-nightclubs/bars/twr/info
Take a ride to the 18th floor of the QT hotel and when the lift doors open, you’ll be hit in the face with a potent cocktail of sophistication, ambience and high octane cool.
Address 18th Floor 133 Murray Street Perth
Open Mon – Wed: 3pm - 10pm; Thu: Noon – 10pm Fri – Sat: Noon – late Sun: Noon – 10pm
Website santinibarandgrill.com.au
It’s an easy cliché, but The Standard truly does set the, well, standard. It is a much awarded, much written about standard bearer for the new booze movement in Perth since Melbourne expat John Parker opened its doors some years ago.
Address 28 Roe St Northbridge WA
Open Mon – Thu: 4pm – Midnight Fri – Sat: Noon – Midnight Sun: Noon – 10pm
Phone 08 9228 1331
Website thestandardperth.com.au
Restaurant. Enoteca. Stylish West End watering hole. Tiny's is many things to a loving crowd, and one of the best casual venues in the CBD.
Address QV1 250 St Georges Terrace Perth
Open Mon – Fri: 11.30am – late Sat: 4pm - late
Phone 08 6166 9188
Website tinysbar.com.au
With huge growth in Perth’s bar scene, it’s difficult to remember the time – just a few short years ago - when proper small bars were rare and good ones were rarer. Then along came Andy Freeman and the city’s first proper whisky bar, Varnish on King.
Address 75 King Street Perth WA
Open Mon – Fri: 11.30am-late Sat: 4pm - late
Phone 08 9324 2237
Website varnishonking.com
Those that believe wine bars should be romantic and candle-lit might struggle with the cool approach taken by Wines of While. A pared-back Northbridge bottle shop with tables and a short daily-changing blackboard of Mediterranean-inspired snacks and dishes.
Address 458 William Street Northbridge
Open Tues - Sat: Noon - Midnight Sun: Noon - 10pm
Phone 0400 749 118
Website facebook.com/winesofwhile
