Cafes
Miss Jones
Much ado has been made of the surge in popularity of ‘millennial pink’, but whether or not you are for or against the advent of this pastel prettiness you have to agree that Miss Jones in New Farm has made great use of the aesthetic. This charming cafe is simply adorable, with a minimalist and chic look complemented perfectly with an incredible menu of all-day breakfast bites. The eggs benedict with hash and cheddar waffles topped with avocado, chorizo, chipotle hollandaise and poached eggs is sure to get you excited, but the entire menu boasts enough goodies to have you tickled pink.

Camp
Before Camp owners Nick and Kristina opened up their dream cafe spot, they worked across the width and breadth of Brisbane’s best coffee haunts. Using their accumulated knowledge, the duo honed their experience and put it to good use with their stunning Albion eatery. Showing off their favourite Brisbane roasters and a menu of exciting and playful fare, Camp is a charming community-oriented locale that is well worth a visit if you are a fan of good coffee, tasty and seasonally focused food and a cool and timeless atmosphere.

Grown
Though many cafes in Brisbane are becoming increasingly dedicated to catering for dietary intolerances, until Grown few spots had been brave enough to dive head-first into an exclusively vegan offering. Sacha Muchall is spearheading the plant-based movement with his West End cafe, which aims to support community endeavour by using as much organic and sustainable produce, sourced from local suppliers. Coffee lovers will be able to sample a range of local roasts, as well as dishes such as grilled cos lettuce with watercress hummus and black garlic and pan-fried zucchini with caramelised celeriac puree and spicy veggie broth.

The Brunswick Project
Although named after one of our most iconic streets, The Brunswick Project brings a distinctly Melbourne flair to Brisbane. Jimmy Williams cut his teeth in Melbourne’s cafe scene, and decided to bring his ideas north, implementing them in a gorgeous Queenslander cottage in the heart of New Farm. The menu features delectable dishes including twice-cooked brioche French toast with poached seasonal fruit, kimchi pancakes with satay chicken, slow-roasted wild mushrooms with grilled asparagus and house made sodas with a spiked option if you want to turn your brunch into a boozy affair.

Bars
Jessie’s Girl
Petrie Terrace’s newest hideaway is so charming you’ll wish it was your local. Jessie’s Girl is the newest venture from Susannah Whitehouse and Candy Smith – the owners of immensely popular cafe Scout. Jessie’s Girl is a neighbourhood hangout that specialises in European-inspired bites and a curated selection of drinks. We’re talking craft beers, wines, killer cocktails and four (yes, four) kinds of spritz. Not only is Jessie’s Girl a hip night-time hotspot, but it also doubles as a boozy brunch destination on weekends.

Savile Row
Brisbane’s bar scene continues to go from strength to strength, and few watering holes bring as much to the table as Saville Row. This Fortitude Valley haunt comes from the minds behind the award-winning bar Cobbler, and continues the tradition of top-shelf service and an incredible selection of drinks. A hand-drawn cocktail menu will list a jaw-dropping array of concoctions to try, but a quick glimpse of the back bar will reveal 600 bottles of spirits – almost too many to try. If a sublime cocktail experience is on your list, then look for the orange door near the corner of Ann and Brunswick Streets.

Netherworld
The year that was 2017 started off with a bang, heralding the arrival of Netherworld, Brisbane’s first arcade-game bar. The team behind craft-oriented beer bar The Scratch is responsible for bringing Netherworld to life, with a monstrously fun theme, a huge selection of arcade machines and board games, and a bar stocked with some of the best brews around making it one of the year’s most beloved openings. That’s not all – Netherworld also serves up a range of vegan bites including crumbed cauliflower drumettes, crispy fried tofu burgers, barbecue jackfruit bowls, and Korean-style kimchi pancakes with beansprouts.

Doo-Bop Jazz Bar
Brisbane’s inner-city bar scene got a massive boost when this happenin’ nightspot opened to the public. Doo-bop Jazz Bar got mouths talking with its promise to host live music every night of the week. So far, Doo-Bop has kept true to its word, with live jazz lighting up the underground lounge bar while also dishing up quality restaurant fare upstairs and enticing late-night bites until close.

Restaurants
Detour
Damon Amos has never been afraid of breaking out of his comfort zone, especially where food is concerned. The acclaimed chef opened up Detour in the early days of 2017, quickly setting the scene alight with a predominantly gluten-free offering that caters to vegans, vegetarians and carnivorous types equally. A lover of curious ingredients, Damon has imbued Detour’s menu if a range of inventive twists involving the likes of black ants scattered over gunpowder salmon, Japanese pumpkin with maple honeycomb, mustard and pepitas, and scallops with wagyu pastrami, Campari and blood orange dressing.

Martha Street Kitchen
It’s been a big year for the suburbs, with eateries like Martha Street Kitchen redefining the standard of what a local can provide. Sitting pretty in the heart of Camp Hill, Martha Street Kitchen specialises in pizza and pasta, with a malleable menu of bites including roast pumpkin pizzas, pork sausage, mushroom and fennel ragu, smoked bacon carbonara, lamb ribs, popcorn chicken and more. Pair that with biodynamic and minimal intervention wines from the likes of Gentle Folk and Shobbrook and you’ve got yourself a venue you’d be proud to call your local.

King Tea
Paddington’s central strip boasts a great range of stellar eateries, but King Tea takes the cake as one of the most inventive outfits. The former King Tea snack bar was resurrected to house a stylish tapas bar that specialises in a range of shareable snacks and a a top-shelf drinks selection to boot. Patatas bravas, blood sausage, chargrilled vegetables, lamb ribs, crispy pork belly, and roasted cauliflower are just some of the plates you can tuck into, while on Friday evenings patrons can take advantage of pintxos hour, where free snacks are made available while you sip.

Neighbourhood Pizza
The local pizza parlour has also undergone a conceptual shift, with Kenmore’s Neighbourhood Pizza proving how cool copping a slice can really be. Owner Jordan Lomas has brought together his three key loves of pizza, beer and interiors to create a chilled-out space for locals to hang, with inspiration drawn from New York pizza parlours and hip-hop across the menu and aesthetics. Kick off your meal with pan-fried garlic bread covered in pecorino, with pizzas topped with the likes of eggplant, mozzarella, confit garlic and basil, or char-grilled pineapple, capocollo ham and chilli setting Neighbourhood Pizza a notch above your local delivery spot.