Here's our list of the best pubs and bars in St Kilda, so you can go grab a beer, sip a wine, eat some pub food or catch some live music in this Melbourne nightlife precinct.
Continuing our journey around the suburbs, today we’re having a look at the best bars and pubs in St Kilda, so you can enjoy a drink, catch up with some friends and enjoy this summer season.
There’s lots of different things for your different tastes, seafood bars, Mexican pubs, live music meccas, and lots more
In this detailed guide, we’ve got some classics you know and love, some fresh spots to check out, and some hidden gems you probably didn’t know about.
If you’re keen to journey on down to Richmond instead, check out our list of the best bars and pubs in Richmond.
Barkly St
Claypots Seafood Bar – 213 Barkly St
– Address: 213 Barkly St
– Vibe: Old school fancy eating.
– Live music: Classic
– Outdoor area: Laid back seating
– Dedicated menu: Seafood, seafood, seafood.
Starting off, we’re taking a journey into the ocean to Claypots, and this amazing seafood bar is bound to be up your alley.
They’ve got lots of amazing food on offer, but to name a few; a recent special menu included such cool stuff as a stingray, a roasted fish head, octopus’ leg, and of course pretty much every type of fish under the sun. They’ve also got a bunch of live music happening on a regular basis, which you can check out over on their Facebook page here.
Dive into some more info about Claypots and book in a visit here.
Village Belle Hotel – 202 Barkly St
– Address: 202 Barkly St
– Vibe: Old school, with a fresh spin
– Outdoor area: Classic pub outdoor spaces
– Dedicated menu: Pub classics
The Village Belle is yet another old school dig, opened since 1891. It’s a heritage listed spot, focused on bringing you high quality beer, wine and food.
Like all good Melbourne pubs, the Village Belle have a few different spaces around their venue; there’s a Garden restaurant for some chilled food, and a Balcony bar to enjoy a drink with a view. They’ve got some great food too; arancini, pizzas and Parmas, plus a heap more that you can check out here.
Book a table and check out some more info about the Village Belle here.
Acland St
Lona – 64 Acland St
– Address: 64 Acland St
– Vibe: Laid back, Sunday arvo vibes.
– Outdoor area: Only outdoor seating
– Dedicated menu: Snacks and Pizza
Lona really loves giving great deals to their customers, they’ve got some cool stuff happening if you become a member, one of the biggest things being you can get a half price meal every Wednesday. Checkout more info about that here. They’ve also got a bunch of special weekly deals, every Monday, they’ve got a massive ‘Mad Monday’, with $4 beer, wine and bubbles, $1 wings, and $13 large pizzas! You can enjoy a massive feed and enjoy a few beers for close to nothing! check out them all here.
Check out some more info on Lona here.
Dog’s Bar – 54 Acland St
– Address: 54 Acland St
– Vibe: Classic architecture, great food.
– Live music: Coming soon
– Outdoor area: Limited outdoor seating
– Dedicated menu: Share plates
The Dog’s Bar has been a staple of St Kilda scene since 1989, providing customers with some of the best food and drink in the region. After shutting down briefly post-pandemic, it’s now back (slightly controversially) with new owners, who hope to restore the icon to its former glories.
There’s lots of great food here, some awesome share plates and finger foods if you love that kind of thing, if not, there’s an aptly titled menu called I Ain’t Sharing – full of massive main meals to chow down on. Their massive wine list is means enough to head there, got some amazing bubbles, rose, white and red, check out the full list here.
Keep an eye on the link above, Dog’s Bar are aiming to incorporate live music into their venue sometime in the future. Check out some more info and book in Dog’s Bar here.
Jimmy O’Neill’s Whiskey & Alehouse – 154 Acland St
– Address: 154 Acland St
– Vibe: Loud, rocking, tradies favourite
– Live music: Acoustic / Irish
– Outdoor area: Few outdoor tables
– Dedicated menu: A Classic Irish feed.
This place is one of the few Acland Street venues that’s essentially always full. It may still be a while before any of us can confidently get on a plane and head to Ireland, so at the moment, the next best thing would be a visit to Jimmy O’Neill’s Whiskey & Alehouse.
Like all good Irish pubs, this spot is open from early with breakfast available. These are things like full Irish breakfasts (yes, with black pudding), and classic lunch and dinner items like parmas, curries and lots more, which you can check out here.
On top of amazing food, Jimmy O’Neill’s has got live music happening every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and a massive Happy Hour on Fridays; featuring $8 pints, $8 wines, and $8 spirits!
Check out some more info and book in a visit to Jimmy O’Neill’s here.
Fitzroy St
Freddie Wimpoles – 125 Fitzroy Street
– Address: 125 Fitzroy St
– Vibe: Classic English
– Outdoor area: Limited outdoor seating
– Dedicated menu: Great food, something for everyone.
Freddie Wimpoles is named after the iconic Frederick Wimpole, the mayor of St Kilda back in 1886, who was also the former director of the company that is now known as Carlton and United breweries.
After being named after an icon in the beer world, it makes sense that the main focus of Freddie Wimpoles is beer, they dedicate their time onto a limited number of beerstruly making sure less is more. They’ve usually got 12 beers on their roster, all tapped, and it’s a mix of international and local. But on top of that, they have over 100 types of spirits if you’d prefer. Check out the full drinks menu here.
They’ve also got music around the clock, on an ever-changing roster, check out what’s happening here and check out some more info about Freddie Wimpoles here.
Milk The Cow – 1/157 Fitzroy St
– Address: 1/57 Fitzroy St
– Vibe: The perfect mix of laid back and fancy
– Dedicated menu: Lots of cheese
– Live music: Occasionally on the street
Milk the Cow is one of the fanciest spots in St Kilda, focusing on bringing customers the best cheese and best wine.
This wine bar features 180 types of cheese from all corners of the earth, pairing up with a slew of different wines. It’s not that expensive either, you can grab a 3 Cheese Board for only $30 – or a flight of wines and cheeses to match starting from around $40.
Check out Milk the Cow’s online store and more here.
Prince of Wales Hotel – 29 Fitzroy St
– Address: 29 Fitzroy St
– Vibe: Classic pub vibes
– Live music: Prince Bandroom is a versatile institution.
– Outdoor area: Beer garden style seats out the front
– Dedicated menu: Classic pub food
Nestled on the corner of Fitzroy and Acland St, the Prince of Wales is a staple of the St Kilda pub scene. Their menu has all the classics you know and love; opening pretty early every day, they offer breakfast staples like the Melbourne classic Avo on toast, and in terms of main food – they’ve got a wood fired grill ready for cooking sirloin, rump, lamb, chicken, and more that you can check out here.
They’ve got some awesome local beers on tap too, to name a few, they feature brews from Bertie, Byron Bay Brewing and Nagambie Brewery.
Check out some more info on the Prince here.
The best of the rest
Hotel Esplanade – 11 The Esplanade
– Address: 11 The Esplanade
– Vibe: Live music mecca
– Live music: The biggest and best acts from Australia and abroad
– Outdoor area: Few bar tables out the front
– Dedicated menu: Modern Australian dining
Also known as The Espy, they are one of the biggest staples in the live music scene, and they’ve got some of Melbourne’s best food, the pizzas they’ve got feature things like potato, cheese and even summer greens.
They’ve got a massive live music stage where massive names have graced the stage over recent years. In the next few weeks, they’ve got Aussie performers hitting the stage like Kingswood, Daryl Braithwaite, Didirri and lots more that you can check out here.
Book in a visit and check out some more info about The Espy here.
The Dick Whittington Tavern – 32 Chapel St
– Address: 32 Chapel St
– Vibe: Classic country style pub
– Live music: Pub music
– Outdoor area: Beer garden
– Dedicated menu: Standard pub meals
The Dick Whittington tavern is one of the longest running pubs, trading since 1861. They have always been dedicated to bringing high class service and high quality drinks.
They’ve got some great food there too, these include things like Nachos, Fish and Chips, Parmas and lots more.
Also, if you’re not keen on heading here for food, band up your mates for a weekly Poker Night, every Wednesday, Dick Whittington’s opens up their tables for a $25 buy in for a fun poker night. – You have to book in, though, do that here.
Book in a table and check out some more info here.
Inkerman Hotel – 375 Inkerman St
– Address: 375 Inkerman St
– Vibe: Classic pub life
– Live music: Local rock
– Outdoor area: Beer garden
– Dedicated menu: Huge pub meals
A visit here will be like taking a journey to a country town, fully stocked with a bunch of pool tables, you’ll truly feel like you’re a local. As seems to be the case with many pubs on this list, the Inkerman’s always got some stuff happening – there’s bands, live music, and always live sports on tv, they’ve even got a timetable for what’s on here, and lots more that can be dived into here.
They’ve got huge pub meals too, so there’s not a chance you’ll leave hungry. Dive into their menu here, and check out some more info about the Inkerman over on their website here.
Captain Baxter – 10/10-18 Jacka Blvd
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXQFHactyIS/
– Address: 10/10-18 Jacka Blvd
– Vibe: Summery, laid back.
– Live music: Acoustic
– Outdoor area: Few outdoor seats with a great view
– Dedicated menu: Predominately seafood
This is the perfect spot for summer events and catchups. Their rooftop bar allows you to have a breathtaking view of the St Kilda beach.
They’ve got a great fresh seafood menu, featuring all the favourites we know and love like Oysters, Potato cakes, and lots more.
There’s also the perfect thing for summer weekend – the boujee brunch, for $69 a head, you can enjoy 2 hours of ‘spritz, sparkling, wine & beer’. + some great food, that can be checked out here.
Check out some more info about Captain Baxter and book in a visit here.
Land of Plenty – 188 Carlisle Rd
– Address: 188 Carlisle Rd
– Vibe: Summery
– Outdoor area: Chilled laid back tables out the back, and rooftop.
– Dedicated menu: Something for everyone
Land of Plenty is a great rooftop spot for these warmer summer months, ideal for those long-awaited catchups that you’ve missed out on over
They’ve got one of the best bar menus across Victoria, their ‘tucker’ menu features all the good stuff like sausage rolls, calamari and burgers. Whereas on the drink’s menu – or ‘bevvies menu’ as they call it, features a bunch of great local wine – from Aussie spots like McLaren Vale, Tamar Valley and Riverland, plus some great beers from Atomic Brewing and Moondog.
Dive into more info about Land of Plenty on their website here.
High Road Cantina Pub – 304 St Kilda Rd
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVHOOr0FVTa/
– Address: 304 St Kilda Rd
– Vibe: Spread out, great food.
– Outdoor area: Limited outdoor seating.
– Dedicated menu: Mexican feasts
This is one of the most iconic pubs on this list, having been around for 150 years.
Make sure you head there on a Tuesday for the aptly titled Taco Tuesday, where you can enjoy $5 tacos and dirt-cheap pizzas!
A great way to get through the week. On the drinks side, they’ve got some great pair ups for Mexican food, like some citrus hard seltzers, Pacifico’s, and lots more that you can dive into here.
Check out some more info on High Road Cantina here and book in a visit now.
