The guide · 01
The places we'd send a friend. Book the best tables early.
Photo: Gourmet Traveller
Burleigh Heads · Pan-Asian seafood · $$$
Right on the sand at Burleigh, with floor-to-ceiling ocean views. The menu is Pan-Asian and seafood-led, and the Moreton Bay bug roll is the dish everyone orders.
Photo: The Tropic
Burleigh Heads · Seafood & cocktails · $$$
A pastel, beachfront dining room inside Burleigh Pavilion, made for long lunches and sunset cocktails. Think oysters four ways, caviar and lobster frites, with a Tropic Bellini on the ocean-facing deck.
Photo: Google Maps
Burleigh Heads · European bistro · $$$
An intimate, dimly lit European bistro built around a charcoal grill (king prawns, Black Angus and wagyu), with a French-leaning wine list. Gourmet Traveller's Queensland Restaurant of the Year in 2024.
Photo: Jimmy Wah's
Burleigh Heads · Modern Vietnamese · $$$
A buzzy, playful modern Vietnamese canteen and a Burleigh long-lunch favourite. Share the crispy pancake with pork larb and prawns, and lean on the award-winning wine list.
Photo: Maman Bar & Kitchen
Burleigh Heads · Mediterranean share plates · $$
An intimate, cocktail-led bar and kitchen on James Street serving Mediterranean share plates. The Moreton Bay bug roll and sizzling garlic king prawns are the go-tos.
Photo: The Collective Palm Beach
Palm Beach · Food hall & rooftop bar · $
Five kitchens under one roof (wood-fired pizza, dumplings and bao, burgers, bowls and ice cream), plus a rooftop bar with sunset views over the hinterland. Casual, lively and easy for a crowd.
Photo: Tommy's Italian
Currumbin · Coastal Italian · $$
A relaxed trattoria in a heritage building on Currumbin Beach. Handmade pasta, wood-fired octopus and Tommy's original tiramisu, best enjoyed from the balcony over the water.
Photo: Time Out Brisbane
Kirra · Modern Australian seafood · $$$
A breezy beach pavilion on Kirra Beach from the family behind Edgewater Dining. Seafood leads the way: oysters, a prawn and bug risotto, and surf and turf to share. The cocktail list is made for sunset.
Photo: Cooly Breeze
Coolangatta · Mediterranean seafood & grill · $$$
A level-13 rooftop above Coolangatta with sweeping views down to the Tweed coast. Mediterranean seafood from the charcoal grill (the Di Mare platter for two is the showpiece) and cocktails timed for sunset.
Photo: Light Years
Burleigh Heads · Asian diner & cocktail bar · $$
Pink and plant-filled, this Asian diner and cocktail bar serves share-friendly street food. Order the bao buns, pickles and eggplant, then linger on the sunny patio.
Photo: Mr Hizola's
Burleigh Heads · Contemporary Cantonese · $$
Lit by paper lanterns, this contemporary Cantonese restaurant and bar is made for sharing. Order the sizzling steak and a kaffir lime margarita.
Photo: Haven
Burleigh Heads · Woodfire seafood at Mondrian · $$$
Up on level three of the Mondrian hotel, this coastal restaurant cooks line-caught seafood over woodfire, with the beach laid out below. Start with oysters and a cocktail.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Burleigh Heads · Pizza, pasta & rooftop bar · $$
Slinging sourdough pizza since 2011, this multi-level pizzeria and bar also makes its own pasta. Head up to the rooftop for sunset cocktails.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Burleigh Heads · Taqueria · $
Handmade tortillas set the tone at this sunny 110-seat taqueria. Dunk the quesabirria in its consommé and add beer-battered snapper tacos.
Photo: Must Do Gold Coast
Burleigh Heads · Greek taverna · $$
Strung with paper lanterns and shells, this Greek taverna is run by Manny, who greets guests himself. Share barbecued octopus, slow-cooked lamb and tempura snapper.
Photo: Must Do Gold Coast
Burleigh Heads · Italian bar & pizzeria · $
An Italian-run bar serving panini and coffee by day and wood-fired pizza at night. Share a half-metre pizza with friends.
Photo: Must Do Gold Coast
Burleigh Heads · Thai street food · $$
Thai street food with an elevated twist at this 100-seat restaurant, with craft cocktails to match.
Photo: Must Do Gold Coast
Burleigh Heads · Greek-Mediterranean steakhouse · $$
A small Greek-Mediterranean steakhouse cooking over charcoal. Share the hot mezedes, then order the signature steak or the mixed grill plate.
Photo: Frida Sol
Palm Beach · Modern Mexican · $$
Frida Kahlo inspires the décor at this modern Mexican eatery and bar on the highway, from the team behind Bonita Bonita. Order tacos for the table with margaritas or sangria.
Photo: Scout Magazine
Palm Beach · BYO pizza & pasta bar · $
A tiny Eighth Avenue pizza and pasta bar with hand-stretched bases proved for 72 hours.
Photo: Las Palmas
Palm Beach · Latin American share plates · $$
Head upstairs for Latin American share plates and cocktails with roots in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba.
Photo: Lucia Tapas
Tugun · Spanish tapas bar · $$
In one of Tugun's original buildings, this Spanish tapas bar has a sunny courtyard garden out back. Share the papas bravas and paella.
Photo: Must Do Gold Coast
Coolangatta · Pizza, pasta & natural wine · $$
Sourdough pizza, fresh pasta and seasonal antipasti with natural wines, on Coolangatta's beachfront strip. Try the vodka sauce rigatoni.
Photo: Must Do Gold Coast
Kirra · Pan-Asian diner · $$
Across from the beachfront park, this coastal pan-Asian diner makes its bao and dumplings in-house. Share the pork soup dumplings and the short rib banana chilli curry.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Kirra · Coastal European · $$
From the family behind Siblings, this streetside coastal European restaurant looks over the foreshore. Share burrata and fresh pasta, then work through the negronis.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Kirra · Beachfront pub · $
A pub has stood on this beachfront corner since 1956. The rebuilt hotel pairs a sunny beer garden opposite the surf with bistro pub classics and a bottle shop.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Kirra · Mediterranean terrace · $$
Upstairs above the Kirra Beach Hotel, with terrace views over the beach, cabanas and a Mediterranean-style menu.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Coolangatta · Modern Asian · $$
Thai and Vietnamese flavours drive this modern Asian kitchen, with a moody, tropical-styled dining room. Start with the rendang doughnuts and a papaya margarita.
Photo: OpenTable
Coolangatta · Roman kitchen & bar · $$
The owners left their restaurant in Rome to open this one, and honour Roman cooking rather than reinventing it. Order a signature pasta or a thin, crispy Roman-style pizza.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Kirra · Mexican-Japanese taqueria · $$
Opposite the beach, this Mexican-Japanese taqueria pours margaritas and tequila from a backlit bar. Try the tuna sashimi tostada.
Photo: Gourmet Traveller
Nobby Beach · Latin American · $$$
Latin American cooking over a wood-fired hearth in one of the coast's most striking dining rooms. Start with the spanner crab churro, linger at the agave bar, then head upstairs to rooftop bar Sueño.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Nobby Beach · Wood-fired steak & seafood · $$$
A polished neighbourhood grill of travertine, timber and an open kitchen, where steak and seafood meet the wood fire. Go for a dry-aged cut on the bone, wood-fired oysters and the crab rösti.
Photo: BSKT Cafe
Nobby Beach · Wholefood café · $
A relaxed wholefood café at The Oxley with all-day breakfast and a big gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan range. The Healthy Benny and the Nana Choc Nut pancakes are the favourites.
Photo: Google Maps
Mermaid Beach · Japanese izakaya · $$
Hidden behind an unmarked barn door, Etsu is a moody, lantern-lit izakaya with robata skewers, sashimi, a wagyu sando and one of the coast's biggest Japanese whisky collections. Buzzy and late.
Photo: The Glenelg Public House
Mermaid Beach · Steakhouse · $$$
A 1930s-styled steakhouse and bar for serious carnivores: wagyu tomahawks sold by weight, a one-kilo T-bone, oysters shucked to order and roast bone marrow. Dressy without being stuffy.
Photo: Google Maps
Mermaid Beach · Bakery & brunch café · $
A light-filled bakery-café overlooking Mermaid Park, famous for croissants that take three days to make (the twice-baked almond croissant is the one), plus cruffins, tarts and all-day brunch.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Mermaid Beach · Coastal European tasting menu · $$$
An intimate 20-seat room from owner-chef Tim Stewart, serving a seasonal, share-style tasting menu with coastal European flair (think spanner crab with a bone-marrow crumpet) and a thoughtful, mostly Australian wine list.
Photo: Gemelli Italian
Broadbeach · Italian trattoria · $$
A buzzy Broadbeach favourite since 2013, packed most nights for pasta made in-house, wood-fired pizza and the baked gnocchi al forno. Save room for the Nutella Bomba.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Broadbeach · Modern Australian share plates · $$$
A sleek, New York-style dining room at The Oracle serving modern Australian share plates with Asian and Mediterranean twists: tempura bugs, 12-hour lamb shoulder, a savoury doughnut with caviar. Lively and open late.
Photo: Kōst Bar & Grill
Broadbeach · Coastal Mediterranean grill · $$$$
Relaxed luxury on Oracle Boulevard: seafood, steaks and vegetables cooked over embers on a two-metre charcoal grill, a caviar service and a dry-ageing room on show. Long lunches drift into golden hour here.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Broadbeach · Japanese fine dining · $$$$
A moody, low-lit Japanese dining room at The Star Gold Coast, known for its tuna crispy rice, miso-glazed toothfish and wagyu from the robata. Book the omakase for the full experience.
Photo: Mamasan
Broadbeach · East Asian kitchen & bar · $$$
Moody and luxe, this East Asian kitchen draws on flavours from Seoul, Chengdu and Tokyo. Share the bao buns and spanner crab dumplings, then settle in with a cocktail or sake.
Photo: Moo Moo
Broadbeach · Steakhouse · $$$
Overlooking Victoria Park, this steakhouse has been grilling since 2005. Choose from about 20 cuts of beef, Japanese wagyu included, with a list of more than 900 wines.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Broadbeach · Modern Australian & seafood · $$
On a busy Surf Parade corner since 2007, this alfresco favourite serves modern Australian food with a seafood focus.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Broadbeach · Asian street food · $$
Neon lights and cherry blossoms set the scene for Asian street food inspired by the hawker markets of Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. Order the cheeseburger roti and a cocktail.
Photo: Lucente Hospitality
Broadbeach · Italian · $$
Whitewashed walls and hanging greenery bring coastal Europe to The Oasis. Watch the cacio e pepe finished tableside in a 40kg parmesan wheel, with wood-fired bread on the side.
Photo: Experience Gold Coast
Broadbeach · Rooftop grill at The Star · $$$$
Ride the lift to level 19 for skyline views, wood-fired Moreton Bay bugs and prime steaks. Come early for a drink in the rooftop lounge bar.
Photo: Style Magazines
Broadbeach · Cantonese at The Star · $$$
Live seafood, Peking duck and handmade lunchtime yum cha are the draws at this Cantonese dining room, under a golden money tree.
Photo: OpenTable
Broadbeach · Italian café & bar · $$
An Italian café, cucina and bar in Pacific Fair's resort-style dining precinct. Stop in for a casual meal, a cold drink or a catch-up after shopping.
Photo: Nude Amigos
Broadbeach · Mexican cantina · $$
A Mexican cantina and margarita bar opposite Victoria Park, with 20 signature margaritas. Order the crispy calamari and fish tacos with a coconut margarita.
Photo: The Urban List
Broadbeach · New York-style deli · $
A New York-style deli at Pacific Fair, stacking oversized sandwiches made to order, with craft beer and natural wine. Try the Original Deli, piled with mortadella, salami and ham.
Photo: Carmen Laezza / Unsplash
Mermaid Beach · Pasta & aperitivo bar · $$
An intimate, dimly lit 16-seater from the Pearce family, serving handmade pasta and aperitif-style cocktails. Grab a bar seat and a limoncello spritz.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Mermaid Beach · Spanish tapas bar · $$
A 30-seat Spanish-style tapas bar with an open kitchen, next door to Piatto, and a mostly Spanish wine list. Grab a bar seat and order the fried mortadella sando.
Photo: The Urban List
Mermaid Beach · Modern Mexican · $$
A sultry, candle-lit ode to Frida Kahlo, serving modern Mexican tacos and share feasts with agave cocktails.
Photo: Temple of Spices
Mermaid Beach · Indian · $$
Contemporary and street-style Indian cooking with a separate, fully vegan menu, plus Australian craft beer on tap and cocktails.
Photo: Mermaid Beach Tavern
Mermaid Beach · Pub & bistro · $
A family-friendly local with a bistro serving schnitzels, steaks, burgers and pizzas, plus sport on the big screens.
Photo: Surf Life Saving Queensland
Mermaid Beach · Surf club restaurant · $
Merlina's, the surf club's upstairs restaurant, looks over the sand from its balcony: lunch and dinner daily, and breakfast Friday to Sunday.
Photo: Travis Palma / Unsplash
Miami · Japanese dining bar · $$
A cosy neighbourhood dining bar from the team behind Itoshin, serving modern Japanese comfort food on a seasonal menu. Order temaki hand rolls with sake or Japanese whisky.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Nobby Beach · French bistro · $$$
From the Lars Bar & Grill team, this Parisian-style bistro pairs tiger-print banquettes with an all-French wine list. Order the cheese soufflé and the escargots.
Photo: OpenTable
Nobby Beach · California-style Mexican · $$
Head upstairs for California-style Mexican. Share birria quesatacos and chilli-salt squid, then order a jug of margaritas for the table.
Photo: JuJu
Mermaid Beach · Share plates & rooftop bar · $$$
Two levels on the Nobby Beach strip: modern Australian share plates downstairs and an open-air rooftop cocktail bar above.
Photo: The Weekend Edition
Nobby Beach · Detroit-style pizza · $
Detroit-style deep-dish pizza with crisp, caramelised edges, served in maroon leather booths. Try the Red Stripe or the Beesting.
Photo: Gemellini
Nobby Beach · Italian · $$
The intimate little sibling of Broadbeach's Gemelli, with pizza from a wood-fired oven imported from Italy. Add handmade pasta and a glass from the Italian wine list.
Photo: The Oxley 1823
Nobby Beach · Dining village · $
A boutique dining and lifestyle village around a breezy open-air atrium with communal seating. Grab focaccia from Giuseppe's Deli or lamb ribs from Village Char and Bar.
Photo: Eska Sea Merchants
Nobby Beach · Seafood & sushi · $$
Sashimi and sushi platters star at this seafood restaurant inside The Oxley, with yellowfin tuna, hiramasa kingfish and Hokkaido scallops.
Photo: Bar Monte
Miami · Neighbourhood Italian · $$
A modern neighbourhood Italian with a dog-friendly outdoor area and a sommelier-curated wine list. Start with a mortadella bun or burrata, then share the cacio e pepe.
Photo: Palette
Surfers Paradise · Modern Australian fine dining · $$$
Fine dining inside HOTA Gallery, with tasting menus reimagined for each major exhibition and a soufflé baked to order. Refined but never stuffy, and ideal before a show.
Photo: QT Hotels
Surfers Paradise · Modern Japanese izakaya · $$$
A neon-lit, Tokyo-style izakaya inside QT Gold Coast. Robata skewers, Hokkaido scallop sashimi and spanner crab on crispy rice, backed by an enormous Japanese whisky collection.
Photo: The Urban List
Southport · Japanese-fusion café · $
A bright, minimalist café in Southport's Queen Street Village, turning out wobbly soufflé pancakes made to order (matcha, caramel banana or savoury), plus Japanese-fusion pastas and matcha lattes.
Photo: Bar Leo
Bundall · Seafood & wine bar · $$
A neighbourhood seafood and wine bar with Mediterranean share plates, much of the menu gluten-free, focaccia included.
Photo: Milan on Main
Main Beach · Italian · $$
A Tedder Avenue fixture since 2010, serving generous Italian classics inspired by Naples and Tuscany. Try the garlic prawn pizza or the amatriciana penne.
Photo: Christopher Chung / Unsplash
Main Beach · Thai · $
A family-run Thai kitchen, open for dinner every night. Start with tom yum or spicy minced pork salad, then try the fried clams with curry powder.
Photo: Xenia Main Beach
Main Beach · Greek · $$
Named for the Greek word for hospitality, this family-owned restaurant serves meze, souvlaki and slow-cooked lamb shoulder. Order the flaming saganaki and a Greek wine.
Photo: Jason Thomas Events
Main Beach · Café, restaurant & bar · $$
A relaxed café, restaurant and bar on the corner of Tedder and Woodroffe avenues, with alfresco tables and a cocktail bar inside.
Photo: Anekawa
Mudgeeraba · Japanese omakase · $$$
A tiny, candlelit chef's room in the hinterland town of Mudgeeraba, where Koki Anekawa serves a seasonal eight-course omakase (sashimi from the day's catch, clay-pot rice) with an optional sake pairing.
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