12 of Melbourne's hottest new restaurants, bars and beer gardens for summer

If you thought last summer was a bucketload of fun, look out – after months of pining for our favourite watering holes, neighbourhood parklets, fine-diners and everything in between, Melbourne's appetite for good times is about to reach a crescendo.

We have scoured the city to bring you a taste of an incoming deluge of new places and experiences to enjoy as you make this summer your best yet. On your marks.

Fresh on the scene

Promising everything from all-out culinary luxury to buzzy rooms with beautiful people, these spanking fresh restaurants are the perfect antidote to lockdown drudgery.

The bon vivants behind Melbourne's Frencher-than-French restaurant Entrecote have relocated from Domain Road to Greville Street – and they're ready to revive not just that strip but our social lives, too.

They're still serving up breakfast martinis, signature dishes and champagne from 7am each day, but the magic hour is when the jazz pianist starts, the trolley of caviar and vodka is wheeled out, and the candles on white-clothed tables are lit.

The new room, a nod to Parisian brasseries, is elegantly expansive, all the better for seeing and being seen. entrecote.com.au

Every city needs a great day-to-night restaurant, and Melbourne just scored another one in Lillian Terrace. Where its sister venue Society is all glimmer and glitz, Lillian offers more understated luxury with its earthy tones, natural fabrics and three-metre David Noonan tapestry.

Dishes by Thomas Woods (formerly at Prahran's Woodland House) suit everything from pre-show dinners to midshopping pit stops: think fillet steak with chicken salt chips and bearnaise, or crab linguine tossed in lobster oil. societyrestaurant.com.au

Di Stasio Pizzeria is the third venue for high-profile restaurateur couple Rinaldo Di Stasio and Mallory Wall (pictured right), and shares DNA with their seductive Spring Street space, Di Stasio Citta.

Sitting behind the King and Godfree complex on the corner of Lygon and Faraday streets in Carlton, the pizzeria has three separate areas inside and a courtyard bar centred around a fountain imported from the Roman countryside.

The menu will offer nine different pizzas baked in a gleaming wood-fired and gas rotary Marana Forni oven, and 13 main courses including a roast of the day and pasta. distasio.com.au

At Manze, Melbourne wine bar meets Mauritian flavours in a delicious package that's brand-new for our city. Here, Mauritian cooking, itself a hybrid of Indian, East African and French traditions, gets a contemporary update from chef Nagesh Seethiah.

Common Victorian vegetables, like beetroot or asparagus, are mixed with tropical ingredients including coconut and curry leaves. Chicken curry might involve pieces of smoked chicken with turmeric and saffron-laced yoghurt sauce.

The bright flavours are echoed by bold colours splashed across the 25-seater in North Melbourne, the first restaurant of Seethiah and his business pals who want to show there's more than one way to do a wine bar. Amen to that. manze.com.au

Beer gardens of delight

Owned by Torres Strait Islander woman Nornie Bero, Big Esso's big beer garden in Federation Square (it seats 130) is the spot for sunny days of snacking on crunchy saltbush and pepperberry crocodile or baby snapper baked in paperbark. "Our village has been growing and growing," says Bero. "And we just want people to come and hang out, have a yarn, enjoy yourselves and not feel like you have to leave."

Cocktails are just as proudly Australian. We like the Island Spiked Tea of wild hibiscus flowers, strawberry gum leaf, cinnamon myrtle and Axel vodka. mabumabu.com.au

Who knew you'd be gathering your brood at the old Philip Morris cigarette factory for celebrations and catch-ups? With a little help from Melbourne brewers Stomping Ground, the former plant room of the mid-century manufacturing complex in Moorabbin has become a high-ceilinged, light-filled beer hall, now called Morris Moor.

The 400-square-metre outdoor dining area is a parents' delight with plentiful tables, a playground and open space for children and fur babies. Eats include share-friendly pizzas, whitebait and beef brisket, while 30 taps pour dozens of Stomping Ground beers and six wines. stompingground.beer

Runner Up, the new rooftop bar at Collingwood Yards arts precinct, might have opened well after the star attraction that is Hope St Radio but it's a runner-up in name only. Built around the principle of good times for all, it offers a tidy list of $9 drinks plus a selection of Australian and Italian low-intervention wines alongside Melbourne-brewed beers.

Overseeing the fun is a group of friends including Liam Alexander, Carlo Colosimo and Benny Rausa of live music club Colour, who have converted a former caretaker's quarters into a retro indoor-outdoor space that includes a DJ booth built into the bar, with staff hitting the decks between pouring drinks. Snacks are simple for now, as the team find their feet. runnerup.net.au

Out-of-the-box experiences

What if you could have all your friends round for dinner or a night of cards without having to worry about shopping, cooking or cleaning up? That's the dream, and it's yours for the taking at a new members room at Thornbury restaurant Umberto Espresso Bar.

In the move from the original (and tiny) High Street location, Umberto co-owner Marco Finanzio brought his fantasy of a private members' space to life. The Rosarno Room features Victorian ash panelling, a chandelier from Italy, a record player, television and – the piece de resistance – a buzzer for service. To use the room, you'll need to buy a membership for $330, but the cred you'll get from your friends will be worth it. umberto.com.au

After five years of research, planning and building, architect Jake Hughes is ready to show us how to do day parties like the Europeans do – on a boat.

ATET, his events company, has acquired a barge that will be set up in Docklands' Victoria Harbour from December onwards, with DJs and live music for up to 550 people at weekends, and yoga classes, cinema screenings and private events during the week. atet.com.au

Solving the age-old dilemma of finding a place to eat that everyone will be happy with, Grazeland's 50 food stalls are a goldmine for group get-togethers. Situated across 10,000 square metres of vacant space in Spotswood are vendors such as Thornbury's Kustom Burgers, Pierogi Pierogi, Lucky Little Dumpling and several bars and dessert stalls including Toyoki Souff le Pancake. Having opened in March after several delays, this summer will be Grazeland's time to shine. grazeland.melbourne

Al fresco fiesta

Dining outside may not be a second-best option much longer as hospitality venues and the government pour cash and creativity into transforming our streets. A Victorian government package worth $54 million will help businesses set up outdoor trading; $20.5 million has been allocated for councils to invest in permanent outdoor precincts.

In the city, Crossley Street, Market Lane and Heffernan Lane are closed to traffic seven nights a week so traders can move outside, which means more tables will be available at venues such as Gingerboy and HuTong.

Expect many impressive outdoor venues to spring up across the city, including Pepe's Pavilion in front of Pepe's Italian & Liquor in Exhibition Street. Over summer the space will channel a Sicilian casa, with rattan chairs, patterned tiles and dwarf lemon trees in the light-filled space, and pizza alla Norma, baked ricotta and cannoli on the plates. The retractable glass roof is draped in hanging plants, and the space can be booked for functions for up to 60. pepesitalian.com.au

The annual spectacular that is Arbory Afloat returns this year with a Turkish Riviera theme. The barge beside Flinders Street Station is an Aegean scene of olive trees, tasselled umbrellas and tones of honey, pistachio and aqua across sunloungers, cabanas and more.

Food-wise, siblings Nada Thomas and Salim Gafayri will channel their memories of holidaying on the Turquoise Coast through adana kebabs, seafood and mezze such as zucchini flowers stuffed with tulum cheese, along with pizzas with Turkish toppings. arboryafloat.com.au