The best rooftop bars in Melbourne

Undeniably the most exciting part of the QT Melbourne development has to be the huge new indoor-outdoor split rooftop bar, appropriately named 'The Rooftop'. It’s a sleek, elegant new addition to Melbourne’s bar scene that has a reputation for milk crates and astro-turf. You’ll want to knock back some serious sunset cocktails in some vintage threads to match the understated mid-century vibes of the deck. 

Brought to you by the folks behind Fancy Hank's, Good Heavens is serving cocktails and casual bar food all summer: think cheeseburgers, spicy Southern fried chicken, and chilli nachos with brisket mole from Fancy Hanks’ giant smoker downstairs. The cocktails, while made with primo ingredients, are inspired by the 80s, before nitro taps were a thing and drinks in 50 shades of neon were de rigeur. This is the place to be on balmy summer nights when you want to feel like you’re in Palm Springs.

Once you ascend the seemingly endless flight of stairs to the Rooftop Bar (passing Cookie and the Toff in Town along the way), catch your breath and quench your thirst while taking in the heart and soul of Melbourne from above. Kick back on the fake grass, or huddle under the heating and lose yourself in the spectacular view. 

One of Richmond’s best rooftops has reopened in time for summer gigs, cold pints and pub meals in the sun. The renovated Corner Hotel rooftop is serving the pub’s new menu that now feature share dishes, pub classics, and a late-night bar food menu, if you don’t feel like a kebab for your post-gig bite. Big ups to Therefore Studio for making the rooftop wheelchair accessible and for adding more seating area for those long summer nights.

Tucked just off the unlikely corner of Carlisle and Balaclava, the Taphouse greets you with the comforting smell of heritage wood paneling. Warmly lit by tiny lamps ensconced in the walls, it feels like an old-fashioned gentlemen's club that just happens to have one of the best craft beer lists in the city. The rooftop here is packed even during cold weather, but in summer it's truly delightful. It's one of the easiest pubs to find something you want to drink, the offering always carefully balanced and covering the whole gamut of styles. 

Up on the rooftop, rainbow plastic furniture and coloured fluoro tubes reflecting off high white walls give the space the air of an adult crèche. This three-level bar from the clever clogs behind Fancy Hank's and Good Heavens is smack-dab in the middle of the city, so it's a primo spot for people watching. And if you get tired of the views, head downstairs for Asian-inspired snacks and karaoke. 

Don't hold us to it, but we think beers are better when consumed in a Hitachi train plonked on top of a Collingwood office block. Easey's is best known for insane burgers and fried snacks that'll make your arteries threaten to give way, but there's a decent craft brew line-up on tap and the sweeping views of Collingwood isn't so bad either. Just come early to score a seat on the trains. 

This rooftop incarnation sits two floors above King & Godfree, Carlton’s best known Italian-style grocer (it's been around since 1884). Up this high, Johnny’s gets unparalleled views over Melbourne; you can spy CBD high-rises, Melbourne Museum’s roof blades, Collingwood church spires and over in the distance, a parabola-like outline of the Dandenong Ranges.  There is a nice collection of classic cocktails, local and imported beer and wines, but Johnny’s own cocktails are worth a shot. Named like little Carlton in-jokes, there’s the 8 Ball, the Northside and Johnny’s house Rossato. To eat, there are croquettes, beef crostini, and pork and veal polpetti as bar snacks. Larger dishes will come around during lunch and dinner service – expect pork-and-fennel sausage rolls, a hefty Angus beef burger and a rigatoni pomodoro, which makes a triumphant return from the original Johnny’s Green Room menu. 

Say “rooftop bar” these days, and folks will start throwing money at you before you can show them the stairs. The rooftop here on the corner of Brunswick and Johnston streets has managed to stay classy without being aloof, providing a lovely spot to soak up the inner-north from on high. Up here, the surrounding redbrick buildings block the view of the city skyline, but they create an old Melbourne industrial feel that’s just as nice.