It’s always such a joy that the release of our best new bars lists coincides with the weather heating up. This year a number of old pubs like the North Fitzroy Arms got revived, restaurants including Scopri and Askal opened outstanding sibling bars and Joey Jones brought his slick cocktails back to the city with Purple Pit. If you’ve not visited all of these spots yet, these long summer days offer the perfect excuse. Here are the best new bars of the year (and some that opened at the very end of 2023)

The Albion is what pub dreams are made of. There’s outdoor seating, great bar food and dogs are allowed. The historic venue, originally opened in 1847, has a welcoming mustard-yellow facade. Inside, the U-shaped bar, green tiles and dark timber walls give classic pub charm.

The venue was re-opened by the Bodriggy Brewing Co team at the tail end of 2023 so, naturally, Bodriggy taps make up a big part of the drinks selection. But I never opt for a beer. Instead, pour me the Jaunt Bunches chilled red (a pinot and cabernet franc blend) to be enjoyed out the front, in the sun, along with the elevated pub food the kitchen is turning out. – Camille Allen, social video producer

If, like me, you have a thing for warm, softly lit wine bars with wood-panelled walls, exceptional food, great little record nooks and a team that makes you feel like family, then you have a very specific set of needs. But I promise you, Bar Olo will meet every single one of them.

The 40-seater by Anthony Scutella and Alison Foley of Scopri is – like its sibling – an ode to the north-western Italian region of Piedmont. The menu features Piedmontese staples: bitter vermouths, vibrant Campari-based drinks and an extensive wine list. This is a place where you need to sit at the bar because chatting about your drink choice with the team is part of the magic. – Simone Crick, operations director

Unless you’re a devoted metalhead, you probably didn’t drink at the Bendi before. By design or otherwise, it was less welcoming than The Tote and Nighthawks, two similarly grungy options nearby. No longer – the good folks at The Mill Brewery have shut down their Sackville Street warehouse and moved here, bringing some of Melbourne’s best beers, plus long-time collaborators Dingo Ate My Taco (hellooo birria). A light refresh has made the front bar more inviting, but this isn’t a great-old-pub-gets-ruined story. The opposite, actually. The bandroom got a new sound system and the gigs will continue. – Nick Connellan, Australia editor

Joe Vargetto’s Bianchetto, which you enter through the curtain from his restaurant, Mister Bianco, has everything I need in a bar: soft lighting, old-school leather-booth seating, classic Italian drinks with a local twist and simple Sicilian snacks. Go and enjoy the theatre of the Americano mixed “al tavolo” – tableside – from a dedicated trolley, and eat olives ascolana (stuffed with ’nduja, crumbed and fried) and scaccia (flatbread) filled with mortadella while watching 1960s Italian films projected on the wall. – Jo Rittey, contributor

A bar and restaurant. A venue and wine producer. Earth Angels is a lot of things, and it masters them all, but the food is what keeps drawing me back. It’s thoughtful and unapologetic, drawing on head chef Narit Kimsat’s Thai roots and his most memorable dining experiences (which he documents on his Instagram page @hotnoodlecoldwine), and is made using whatever produce he can get his hands on within a small radius of the restaurant. The dishes show serious expertise but aren’t fussy – chicken wings on star-shaped white bread and chips with gravy are two of the most popular items. – Quincy Malesovas, contributor

This new venue from the Entrecote team feels like a secret, and I love secrets. Tucked away upstairs through a door off Greville Street, the eclectic mix of velvet banquettes, glowing chandeliers and French oil paintings exude Frenchiness. I want to wear my favourite red lipstick and glide up the stairs with a glass of Taittinger or the signature cocktail of sweet green pea syrup with elderflower and gin. And I’ll whisper in French, shrug like a Parisian and eat silky Brillat-Savarin with crusty baguette and potato rosti with caviar while I’m at it. – Jo Rittey, contributor

It takes guts to open an intimate, lived-in type of bar on High Street. From Buck Mulligan’s to Joe’s Shoe Store, the stretch has possibly Melbourne’s highest concentration of the genre. But Goodwater, being owned by a bunch of the city’s most experienced bartenders, predictably nails it. The looming backbar is a treat to look at and drink your way through. The service is friendly, knowledgeable and attentive, but unobtrusive. And the bar snacks – the fried pickles and duck taquitos in particular – really hit the spot after a few bevs. – Nick Connellan, Australia editor

When I think of Filipino booze, my mind goes back to what I drank as a uni student in Manila: cheap San Miguel Light or Red Horse beer, jugs of strong spirits masked by a fruity powdered juice mix, whatever we could take from our parents’ liquor cabinets and bring to house parties. Inuman, the new rooftop bar above Askal in the CBD, isn’t like that at all. I’ve grown up, and so have my booze preferences – this is exactly what I want to be drinking right now.

Bartender Ralph Libo-on’s cocktail list highlights Filipino ingredients like calamansi, gumamela (hibiscus), tapuy (rice wine) and lambanog (fermented tree sap), alongside organic and biodynamic wines, craft beers and non-alcoholic options. And there’s also San Mig Light, for when I want to embrace what my past self was drinking. With good drinks, fun Filipino snacks from chef John Rivera – the chicken “skinato” sandwich and duck liver parfait on toasted Binondo doughnut are my early favourites – and a sunny balcony that offers a different view from other rooftop bars in the city. – Chynna Santos, branded content editor

France Soir’s sibling bar might be small in size, but it’s big in personality with its plush velvet curtains, Persian rugs, gold detail and soft lamplight. Perched up at the old-school zinc bar and watching bar staff in ash pink moleskin jackets shaking, stirring, dipping antique glassware in sugar and pouring one of the 20-plus glasses of wine on offer is my happy place. And when they start speaking French … heaven. – Jo Rittey, contributor

Sitting by the window in this Gold Rush-era building, overlooking the outdoor seating on a sunny afternoon, is a perfect way to round out the week. It’s a great place to drop in for a cocktail, wine and a small cheeseboard before heading home (or out for the night). And if you’re nerdy about rum, the knowledgeable team will happily talk you through the bar’s extensive collection – from Barbados, Mauritius, Australia and beyond – or whip you up a Hemingway Daiquiri. – Audrey Payne, Melbourne food and drink editor

The revamped North Fitzroy Arms celebrates everything great about the good old Aussie pub. AFL fans roar in the public bar clad in memorabilia (a snap of Alex Jesaulenko and Peter Jones holding Carlton’s 1979 Premiership Cup takes pride of place). In the candlelit dining room, cheers are muffled by the plush carpet and whir of waitstaff ferrying pub classics from the pass to the tables. Start with a crisp Appletini (yes, really). Then order the retired dairy cow cheeseburger (with a gravy boat sidekick). – Stephanie Vigilante, head of social media

I feel cooler than I am when I take people to Purple Pit. My walk turns into a swagger when I head through the easy-to-miss door at the base of the gothic Melbourne Stock Exchange building, down the red-carpet stairs and past the Marty Baptist artwork.

It also helps that the acclaimed co-owners, Maurice Terzini and Joe Jones, look like cover stars of a tattoo magazine. I’ve never ordered the same thing twice at Purple Pit, and I’m yet to be disappointed with what arrives on my table – whether that’s a Big Mac calzone, a One-Sip Martini or the bartender’s special. – James Williams, creative solutions manager

The journey from Brunswick, where I live, to St Kilda is not brief. So believe me when I say this bar is worth crossing town for.

It’s the work of life partners Marty Webster and Amy McGouldrick, who have both worked for the Diggin’ in the Cellars and Trader House hospo groups, and who have brought the sort of breezy neighbourhood wine bar the area’s been crying out for (they’re locals, they know).

Webster, who’s also a chef, keeps the food snacky and briny, like daily changing pintxos scrawled on a mirror, signature oyster platters and lots of tinned seafood. But good luck going past the creamy sea urchin orecchiette with egg yolk and salty guanciale if it’s there. The wines are equally suited to being consumed by the sea – many of them from coastal or lesser-known regions.

There’s a selection of smart cocktails, and the couple has an eclectic record collection (from Bill Withers and The Beatles, to J Dilla and MF Doom). There are also some fancy Japanese toilets. – Daniela Frangos, contributor

Three of our favourite sibling bars that opened this year were Morena Barra, the companion to Alejandro Saravia’s Latin American diner Morena; Enoteca Zingara, a casual drop-in just down the road from the team’s Nigella Lawson-approved spot Alta Trattoria; and Rumi companion Rocket Society. We also saw Footscray’s old Baby Snakes turn into the exceptional Misfits, which celebrates art and music while pouring local drinks.