The best pubs with fireplaces in Melbourne

Owner Phil Gijsbers and his team took over Bobbie Peels in mid-2022 and renovated the space to bring out the beauty of the 114-year-old building. Now featuring antique lighting, cosy booths and dark, intimate spaces to complement the open fireplace, here's a pub that's sure to warm up your winter-wearied bones. If the toasty environment isn't tempting enough, consider an epic wine list and elevated pub fare that out-classes many a restaurant as further incentives to visit. 

Melbourne's pub landscape is now awash with elevated offerings, harking back to the kitsch of old-school iterations – with cleaner plating and higher price tags. While there's certainly a time and place for ironic white tablecloths and fancy parmas, the Rochey is your spot if you're after a solid, no-frills pub experience. Excellent for winter, it's got three fireplaces. we like the one by the pool table best.

When that winter chill bites, the Orrong is oh-so right! The hotel has been pouring pints since 1875, so it's no surprise the team here know what they're doing. They've cranked up their open fireplaces and set the scene for a perfect pub day in. Pop in on Thursdays for $25 steak night or Sundays for a $28 roast with all the trimmings. 

The crowned winner of our Casual Drinking Venue of the Year Award in 2023, the Marquis of Lorne ticks every box. Stained glass windows, an excellent craft beer offering and soul-soothing atmosphere all make this the reigning pub in Fitzroy. Take a seat in the toasty dining room and enjoy the warmth of a roaring log fire – the noble Marquis has been thrumming away happily for years now and we trust it will continue to do so through all seasons.

Melbourne’s bitter wind tunnels may be rough on our spirits, but the merry warmth of the Courthouse proves a powerful escape. It’s buzzing with energy, stirring a sense of nostalgia for the old great pubs of Britain. The Art Deco building retains much of its original charm and wood panelling, with the added sparkle of fresh renovations across both storeys. It’s all curves and round edges, from the mirrors to the walls, the plants and the paintings – an exceptionally comfy space in which to dine and drink.  

The Royal Oak Hotel's website proudly proclaims that it has been serving Fitzroy since 1871, and we can see why it's stuck around. With great staff who know their stuff and tip-top pub fare that's definitely not playing second fiddle to the brews, this boozer may be a little off the beaten track but it's well worth the stroll from nearby Fitzroy North Village. Bring a friend, order the chicken schnitty or battered rockling with chips and make a night of it (the cosy fireplace makes it easy to stick around).

Next time you pop into the Auburn, you might barely even recognise the place. The local Hawthorn community has been gifted with a multi-million-dollar expansion to their favourite watering hole. Once home to horse stables and then a motorworks garage, the neighbouring site has transformed into a contemporary atrium-style dining and drinking area, featuring a retractable roof and cosy fireplace – perfect for the colder months.

This South Melbourne drinking den ticks every box in the chillier months. With craft beer, excellent food, a warming fireplace and plenty of big screens for watching the footy, there's nowhere else we'd rather be when the weather takes a turn. Oh, and did we mention the Happy Hour runs from Wednesday to Friday, 4-7pm? That means $11 Aperol Spritzes, $12 froffs and $9 house wines. Perfect!

This winter favourite has amazing food, but it’s not a pub that makes you feel like you're in a gastropub, per se. No, the Napier is a pub pub, and nothing is going to change that (mind you, you can get a pretty fancy-schmancy pepper-crusted kanga steak with bearnaise sauce, and the burgers here are elite). It’s festooned with memorabilia, gifted with a garden, and dishes up parmas, burgers and pies all built for winter – and built for two. Bring a merry flock of friends and sink a round of pints by the cosy fire. 

Here's one of Melbourne's true greats, undoubtedly. It takes a deft touch to update a pub without ruining it, but at the Lincoln, they slipped in an excellent wine list, exciting collection of craft brews and a bistro menu that wouldn’t look out of place on white linen with candlelight and surgically precise service. Nothing that people loved about this historic Carlton pub, which was established in 1854, has been disturbed, but the best bits have only improved over time. Hats off to the Lincoln.

A beloved watering hole for the Fitzroy community, the venerable Union Club (located on the corner of Gore and Webb Streets) nails the atmosphere of a warm, low-key local. Sink into a leather couch by the hearth with some bangers, mash, beer and a bass guitar backing track. The pool table has also seen some epic battles, if that's more your style.

There’s history aplenty behind these walls. O'Connell's in South Melbourne has been operating for more than 140 years, and has seen some of the city's renowned chefs pass through its doors. Currently, head chef Aaron Brodie is at the helm of the kitchen, and he's serving up produce-driven dishes with a focus on wood-fire cooking techniques. It’s a smart place that doesn’t ditch the pub brief in delivering aesthetics a cut above the average corner boozer and bonus points, its fireplace is one of the cosiest in town.

You feel like things could turn a bit gothic (or Scottish) as you sit before the flames and beneath the vaulted ceilings in this converted church. Generally though, things tick over in a convivial candlelit fashion while jazz bands play and the craft beers flow. If you're a trivia buff, head down on a Wednesday night, when there's tens of dollars worth of prizes, food and booze up for grabs.

Pubgoers of the west flock to this fireplace-equipped pub for its friendly and relaxed atmosphere, great craft beer, impressive wine lists and famous steaks. Locals and meat aficionados can select from a menu that offers premium grain- and grass-fed steaks – from 500g O'Connor rib eye to 200g full-blood Wagyu eye fillet. This place can get busy so you'll want to make a booking.

While it's not strictly a pub, we couldn't resist a mention of this plush CBD cocktail lounge and its romantic open fireplace. Though you do need to enter through the back of a secret wardrobe, you won't find icy Narnia in here but rather a snug lounge replete with velvet pews, moody cocktails and rustic pizzas. It's not easy to leave this place once you nab a seat.

Alright, so again, this Brunswick East spot fits 'bar' more than 'pub' but it's certainly just as cosy as all the pubbiest pubs you know. Styled with the '70s in mind, Old Palm Liquor is all wood panelling and warm lighting, with a carefully-curated vinyl soundtrack to top it all off. The menu is inspired by head chef Almay Jordaan’s South-African heritage, where coal-fired barbecuing is a the order of the day. Enjoy your fire-licked dishes in the ‘Garden Room’, where a warm crackling fireplace and pair of armchairs make all your toastiest date dreams come true.

The dark wood and carpets of the Middle Park Hotel give you the impression of an exclusive gentlemen’s club. But the bright, welcoming bar quickly puts paid to any notions of stuffiness. On the food front, you'll find pub classics every night, but the highlight of the week is the Sunday roast, where you can nab a tasty plate of the weekly-rotating offering, served with crispy roast potatoes, seasonal veggies, Yorkshire pudding, lashings of gravy and homemade sauces.