• Messmates brings inner-city wine bar vibes to a former church in Gippsland. And there are two chefs with Michelin-star cred running the kitchen.

• Madeleine de Proust, a boutique bakery from Attica’s former head pastry chef and her chef-partner, opens on Lygon Street.

• Pint-sized Banh Mi Stand sells some of the CBD’s best rolls.

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• A group of high-achieving hospo friends opens Maggie’s Snacks and Liquor on Lygon Street.

• Charming daytime diner Elster opens in a Tudor-style 1930s service station.

• Bar Tobala is the modern Mexican wine bar (with an ex-Romeo Lane bartender) you need in your life.

• The La Pinta crew launches Sardinas, a relaxed all-day eatery, bar and florist.

• Sandwich superstar Stefanino Panino rolls into Collingwood Yards.

• Collingwood’s new Latin American restaurant and bar Pincho Disco brings a menu that “goes all the way from Mexico to Argentina” to Melbourne’s north.

• Gary’s Meats transforms with a luxe new flagship, G McBean Family Butcher, at Prahran Market.

• Japanese cafe and lifestyle store Cibi expands with dedicated grocery and home sections.

• Melbourne’s obsession with Italian deli-style sandwiches continues at hot new Carlton North panini shop Spazio Paradiso.

• Beloved Red Hill American BBQ joint Red Gum opens a second location in Seaford.

• After a forced closure last year, pioneering wild fermentation bar La Sirene opens new a warehouse taproom in Reservoir.

• Italian restaurant Mister Bianco moves to a new glam Kew space.

• Miyama, a new Melbourne Central cafe with Japanese curry, oishi teishoku breakfast and lunch sets, and cakes such as a delicately layered strawberry shortcake with a “cloud-like” cream.

• Itinerant Spirits, a handsome distillery and cocktail bar in a 160-year-old goods shed, opens in Ballarat.

Don’t miss our list of the city’s best new bars of 2023.