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.
Some of the most creative food in WA is coming from the casual dining sector. See below our A-Z list of the best of WA’s casual dining.
The Asian street food trend is hardly a new thing, but Perth got on board the minute it arrived. Many have tried, some have come and gone, but Apple Daily has been a stayer.
Address Brookfield Place 1/125 St Georges Tce Perth
Open Mon - Thu: 12pm - 3pm, 5.30pm – 10pm Fri: 12pm - late Sat: 5.30pm-late
Phone 08 6282 0088
Website printhall.com.au/apple-daily
Busy, noisy, closely seated and a pasta and pizza joint that oozes Italian-ness and a low-key sophistication. Automatic is bullseye accurate in its pursuit of a casual dining ethos that is neither expensive nor pretentious. Service is agile and prompt and, mid-week, you can bring your own booze.
Address 35 Mends Street South Perth
Open Tue -Thu: 5:30pm – 10-:30pm Fri - Sun: Noon - late
Phone 6180 9181
Website automaticperth.com.au
If you hanker after good taramasalata – and god knows there are enough bad (fluro-pink) versions around - logic suggests a Greek restaurant might be your first port of call.
Address 3/177 Stirling St Perth
Open Mon - Thu: 5pm – late Fri – Sun: Noon - late
Phone 0455 321 321
Website brika.com.au
Brother of Mine is a suburban surprise in Baldivis that has cemented its reputation as a top player in a cutthroat game. A coffee roastery tucked away in the corner is the first clue that brothers Ben and Jos Whettingsteel are more than just your average café hash slingers.
Address Shop 10/61 Makybe Drive Baldivis WA
Open Mon – Sun: 5:30am – 4pm Kitchen: 6am – 3pm
Phone 08 9557 6437
Website brotherofmine.com.au
A beautifully-positioned, sand-in-the-toes ocean side café of little distinction – has undergone a stunning transformation this year. Chef Guy Jeffreys, a former WA Good Food Guide Chef Of The Year, has taken over responsibility for its cooking (as part of his new culinary director roll with owners The Fogarty Group) and the changes have been immediate, far reaching and highly popular.
Address Farm Break Lane (off Bunker Bay Road) Bunker Bay
Open 7 Days: Lunch Weekends: Breakfast Public holidays: from 8:30am
Phone 08 9756 8284
Website bunkersbeachhouse.com.au
Canteen Pizza, the Neapolitan pizzeria packing them in on the Cottesloe beach front, was one of the more lauded openings of 2018. It remains at the top of its game for many reasons, but primarily its cracking good Neapolitin style pizza.
Address 110 Marine Parade Cottesloe WA
Open Mon – Sun: Noon – midnight
Phone 08 6555 7766
Website canteen.pizza
Glenarty Road’s rise within the southwest dining ranks has been both swift and well-deserved. Ben and Sasha McDonald built their rustic cellar door and restaurant on the family farm just east of Karridale.
Address 70 Glenarty Road Karridale
Open Thu – Mon: 10am – 5pm
Phone 0420 836 634
Website glenartyroad.com.au
Any closer to the ocean and you’d be in the surf sipping your Bellini. Island Market is easy to like. The Shorehouse’s little sister is as cool as the summer breezes which air condition the crowds in summer. The dining room has a pastel fit-out and pink neon lights; shades of Don Johnson and Miami Vice.
Address 364 West Coast Drive Trigg
Open 7 days: 8am - late
Phone 08 9447 0077
Website islandmarkettrigg.com
Lady of Ro sits plump in the middle of Subiaco's boho block - next to languorous Juanita's Bar. New owners, the Zammit family, have kept the kitsch grotto feel, with eclectic furniture spilling onto the sidewalk.
Address 345 Rokeby Road Subiaco
Open Tue – Sat: 6pm – 11pm
Phone 0417 185 671
Website facebook.com/LadyofRo/
We’re not sure what to make of Lions & Tigers. That’s not to say it’s missing the mark. In fact its quirky take on Indian flavours attached to modern ingredients and techniques, is refreshingly off beat. One thing’s for sure, we’ve never seen anything like it before in this town.
Address 8 Bannister St Fremantle
Open Tue: 4.30pm - 10pm Wed - Sun: 11.30am - late
Phone 08 9433 1479
Website lionsandtigers.com.au
Lupolab opened its doors in July 2019 and was immediately bowled over by the crowds. They roast their own beans on the premises and one suspects the splendid coffees – there are different varieties and roasts to choose from - are the big attraction for the morning crowds.
Address 153 Scarborough Beach Rd Mount Hawthorn
Open Tue – Fri: 6:30am - 4pm Thu – Sat: 5pm – 10pm Sat -Sun: 7am - 4pm
Phone 08 9242 4426
Website lupolab.com.au
First there was one, in Highgate, its flagship store. Then a second opened on the outskirts of Leederville, then three, St Georges Terrace, then a fourth in City Beach, then another one in the city then . . .wait . . . we think that’s it. Phew!
Address 507 Beaufort St Highgate WA
Open 7 days: 7am–4pm
Phone 0499 509 300
Website marystreetbakery.com.au
Part of Eamon Sullivan’s expanding hospo empire, May Street Larder and its polished crew consitently pull off one of Perth’s best brunches on the South Side. (There’s also a recently opened branch in Mount Hawthorn).
Address 23/155 Canning Hwy East Fremantle WA
Open 7 Days: 6.30am – 3pm
Phone 08 6161 0371
Website maystreetlarder.com.au
Backing-up Monsterella’s main pizza game - the charred and bubbled crusts – are renowned handmade pastas, Mediterranean salads and arrosticini that hold their own. The latter - tightly trimmed lamb skewers – are a nod to co-owner Tania Nicolo’s heritage.
Address 46 Grantham St Wembley WA
Open 7 Days: 4.30pm - 9pm
Phone 08 9287 2949
Website monsterella.com.au
Views don’t get much better than the one at Odyssea. Its sweeping vista of Indian Ocean blue is a major draw card but Odyssea doesn’t subscribe to the old saw that restaurants with a view are almost always rubbish.
Address 187 Challenger Parade City Beach WA
Open 7 Days: 7am - Late
Phone 08 9385 7979
Website odysseabeachcafe.com.au
Late last year Perth hospo over-achievers - and the trio behind Mary Street Bakery and Tiny’s Bar Michael Forde, Paul Aron and Brett Robinson - dropped a Latin American bombshell in to Northbridge. With a vibe, a drinks program and dishes which span central and South America, Panama Social launched as a colourful, fun and genuine venue.
Address 245 William Street Northbridge
Open Tue - Thu: 4pm - Midnight Fri: 4pm – 1am Sat: 12pm – 1am
Website panamasocial.com.au
If you have a love of nosh-able Italian food and fun, famiglia style with a sound track of noise and bustle and the ocassional shout “Grazie… Prego!” you’ve found your restaurant.
Address 250 Oxford Street Leederville
Open Mon – Sat: Lunch: 11:30am – 3pm Dinner: 5pm - late
Phone 08 9444 0889
Website pappagallo.com.au
Pinchos is the very epitome of the best in casual dining. It’s casual, inexpensive but manages no compromise on the journey toward its Spain-forward bites.
Address 112-124 Oxford St Leederville WA
Open 7 Days: 8am - Late
Phone 08 9228 3008
Website pinchos.me
Chef Peter Morgan’s Rusty Pig is an inviting back-to-bricks dining room with a long bar made for eating and a firey wood-powered grill directly behind the bar and in full sight of customers. On it, Morgan cooks almost all of his small menu.
Address 226 Oxford Street Leederville
Open Tue – Sat: Dinner Thu – Sat: Lunch
Sweetwater is no backwater. It’s a pumping, high energy rooftop bar with outdoor decks, bar areas, a restaurant offering and those epic, eternally sunny views of the Swan River.
Address Level 6 1 Silas Street East Fremantle WA
Open Wed - Sun: Noon - late
Phone 08 9460 9988
Website sweetwaterbar.com.au
Securing the talents of former New Normal head chef Charlie Vargas this year has paid off in spades for Andy Freeman’s The Flour Factory. The Flour Factory’s vibe has always been that of a hip inner-city bar with good food, a great vibe and fun with a capital F. And then the food got better.
Address 16 Queen St Perth WA
Open Mon – Fri: Noon – midnight Sat: 4pm – midnight
Phone 08 9485 1711
Website theflourfactory.com
Tacos with sushi? You can have both at Tsukaya, where Japanese meets Peruvian meet in the happiest of marriages that’s given the world Nikkei cuisine.
Address 167 Scarborough Beach Road Mount Hawthorn
Open Tue – Thu: 6pm – 9.30pm Fri – Sat: 5:30pm – 10pm
Phone 08 9443 2989
Website tsukaya-restaurant.business.site
Odd, we know, but some of us like to start our day with caramelised beef ribs or dang dang beef. Then there are those, more traditional souls, who want their buttermilk pancakes or Bircher muesli in the afternoon. This is the Typika thing.
Address 331 Stirling Highway Claremont
Open Mon – Thu: 7am – 2pm Fri – Sun: 7am – 2.30pm
Phone 08 9284 6088
Website typika.com.au
The name says café, the food and service say high end restaurant. Vans is super casual and so is its food. But the techniques, inventiveness and weapons-grade flavours of its dishes make it one of the finest restaurants in Perth.
Address 1 Napoleon Street Cottesloe WA
Open Sun - Wed: 6:30am - 10pm Thu - Sat: 6:30am - 10:30pm
Phone 08 9384 0696
Website vanscafe.com.au
Yes Please Perth is a bracing addition to our sparse late-night eating and drinking scene. It loosens up in the early hours, when the idle masses and weary hospo crowd flock for a tight, high-quality homely menu that isn’t an afterthought.
Address 182 James Street Northbridge
Open Mon-Thu: 5pm-2am Fri-Sat: noon-3am Sun: noon-2am
Phone 08 6444 9172
Website yespleaseperth.com.au
