The recap: the Gold Coast’s best new restaurants and bars of the year (so far)

SHŌTŌ, Burleigh Heads
Etsu’s long-awaited sibling was never going to arrive quietly, and SHŌTŌ definitely did not disappoint. While the new venue carries the DNA of its Mermaid Beach counterpart, this is no carbon copy. Smaller, darker and more precise, the Burleigh Heads restaurant is built around two-to-three-bite dishes that encourage diners to order wide rather than heavy. The menu moves between robata skewers, hand rolls, tacos, sashimi and snacks, with early favourites including kingfish tacos with avocado mousse and jalapeno salsa, wagyu cigars with black garlic and truffle mayo, lobster katsu sandos and crispy rice with spicy tuna. The drinks follow the same rhythm, leaning into Japanese whisky, sake and half-sized signature cocktails known as shōtōs.

Fig ’n’ Fox, Surfers Paradise
Surfers Paradise has never been short on places to drink, but Fig ’n’ Fox brought something different to the strip – a proper British pub with enough atmosphere to make you forget the neon outside. Upstairs, the venue leans wholeheartedly into classic British pub culture, pairing dark timber and warm lighting with pints of Guinness and a menu built around the dishes that have kept pubs busy for generations. We’re talking bangers and mash, beef-and-Guinness pies, paper-wrapped fish and chips, gooey Scotch eggs, Yorkshire puddings and a proper Sunday roast. Downstairs, Timmy’s Tea Room loosens everything up with dive-bar energy, pool tables, live bands, electronic darts and late-night sessions. Together, the two levels give Surfers something it was missing – a venue that can do a pint, a roast, a long lunch and a night out without changing buildings.

Bar Ricci, Main Beach
When Shuck closed after 23 years, Tedder Avenue lost an institution. Bar Ricci has stepped into that corner site with enough confidence and polish to begin a completely new chapter rather than simply inherit the old one. Grounded in Italian dining culture, the venue unfolds across a bar, alfresco terrace and linen-set dining room, with warm textures, Mediterranean references and the kind of generous spacing that encourages people to settle in rather than shuffle through. Seafood leads the way, from oysters, tuna crudo, preserved mussels and scallops to larger plates built around whole fish and seasonal produce. Pasta is made in-house and treated with restraint, while the drinks list leans Italian without becoming intimidating. Polished without feeling pretentious, Bar Ricci has quickly established itself as one of Main Beach’s most sought-after tables.

Terronia, Burleigh Heads
The interesting thing about Terronia is that it does not behave like a typical Gold Coast cocktail bar. Hidden in a quiet Burleigh laneway, it trades noise and spectacle for warm light, soft jazz, travertine textures and a fountain bubbling in the middle of the room. Owner Mycol has built the venue around the idea of a modern meeting place, inspired by European town squares and shaped by a deep respect for bartending as craft. The cocktail menu unfolds slowly, with drinks designed to engage sight, smell, taste, texture and memory. Ingredients are infused, clarified and prepared in house, glassware is chosen with intention and each drink arrives with a story attached. It is intimate, quietly confident one of the most distinctive bars to open on the coast this year.

The Laneway, Burleigh Heads
Set back from the street, down an unassuming driveway in Burleigh Heads, the restaurant feels removed, in the best way possible. Owner Shonel Alloway has taken the former JFK Woodfire Kitchen & Bar site and turned it into a leafy, low-lit hideaway built around the romance of dining properly. There are no QR codes, no hurry and no sense that the table needs to be flipped before you have even settled in. The menu nods to Italian tradition through Neapolitan-style pizza, house-made gnocchi and pasta, but there are subtle shifts and elevations throughout – salmon crudo, slow-cooked pork belly, steak frites reimagined as a sandwich and desserts that feel considered rather than compulsory. Equally suited to date night, family dinners and the kind of evenings that feel better for being a little off the beaten path.

La Stradina, Coolangatta
Coolangatta’s old Clay Cantina laneway has come back to life as La Stradina, a small bar and kitchen from chef Marcondes Neto. The name translates to ‘the little street’, neatly reflecting both its location and its spirit – intimate, transportive and quietly assured. Rather than locking itself to one region, the menu draws from Marco’s Italian roots and time spent across Europe, with influences from Spain, Portugal and beyond. Oysters lead the opening act, followed by share plates such as soft-shell crab baos, truffle arancini, croquettes, tuna tartare, Moreton Bay bug skewers and bluefin tuna rice cakes with citrus and ponzu. Cocktails are named after European cities, letting guests drink their way through Barcelona, Paris, Lisbon and Rome without leaving Coolangatta. Add live blues, jazz and vinyl, and the laneway has found its pulse again.

Oro by Sogno Italiano, Broadbeach
Oro by Sogno Italiano feels like a natural progression for owners Sushil and Prajwol Maharjan. The Broadbeach restaurant carries the generous spirit of Sogno Italiano’s Mermaid Waters and Burleigh Waters venues, but with a more polished, protein-forward edge. Pizza has been deliberately left off the menu, making way for handmade pasta, seafood, premium cuts and classic secondi. Pasta is made fresh daily, from tableside carbonara finished in a pecorino wheel to gnocchi d’agnello built around eight-hour slow-cooked lamb shank. Seafood plays a larger role, with baked scallops, Mooloolaba king prawns, Moreton Bay bug spaghetti, rock-lobster spaghetti and a seafood platter built for indulgence.

Jade Room, Robina
Jade Room arrived at Robina Town Centre with serious pedigree. From siblings Jackie and May Cheng, the team behind Dragon Cove, Jasmine Room and Canton Rd, the restaurant brings refined Cantonese dining into a striking, contemporary room inspired by 1950s Shanghai. Glossy marble tables, cane-backed chairs, green leather banquettes, warm timber panelling and oversized artworks set the scene for yum cha, live seafood and traditional technique viewed through a modern lens. Dumplings, xiao long bao, custard buns and reworked pastry classics are made in house, while live tanks house premium seafood such as lobster, coral trout and crab. It is rooted in Hong Kong tradition, but polished for Robina – a room built for long lunches, family gatherings and the kind of yum cha that deserves more than a quick stop.

Seoul Garden, Broadbeach
Seoul Garden’s arrival at Pacific Fair gave the Gold Coast a full-scale Korean dining experience built around interaction, appetite and second rounds. The all-you-can-eat format is the point here. Meat hits the built-in grills, banchan fills the table and the meal becomes something shared, cooked and stretched out over time. Diners have 90 minutes to work through more than 25 meat options, with beef, chicken and seafood joined by Korean favourites such as tteokbokki, japchae and trays of crispy Korean fried chicken. Those chasing hot pot can choose from broths and soup bases instead, while weekday lunch offers a quicker way in. In a dining culture often geared towards speed, Seoul Garden gives people permission to slow down, pass the tongs and order one more round.

Rowdy Ranch Steakhouse, Surfers Paradise
Subtlety was never going to be part of the brief at Rowdy Ranch Steakhouse. The Surfers Paradise honky-tonk bar and restaurant took over the former The Avenue site and filled it with timber walls, vintage licence plates, neon slogans, Coors bunting, country music and a mechanical bull that has quickly become less a feature than a dare. The menu sticks to the promise of an American steakhouse, with burgers, steaks, wings, schnitzels, Southern fried chicken and a tomahawk that lands with a solid thud on the table. Tuesday nights bring line dancing, live music regularly fills the room and the whole place operates with the slightly chaotic confidence Surfers Paradise has always understood. It is loud, theatrical and exactly what it says it is.

Zum Schilling, Robina
Zum Schilling is the kind of restaurant that reminds you generosity is still a virtue. Owned by the long-standing Australian German Club and operated by Blandina Kobler and Chris Raines, the Robina restaurant brings nearly five decades of club cooking into a smaller, more intimate setting. The menu is unmistakably German and built for serious appetites. Schnitzels are fried crisp, sausages arrive with the proper accompaniments, leberkäse is treated with respect and the pork knuckle lands with crackling, tender meat and enough presence to make sharing the sensible option. Beer matters too, with Weihenstephan pouring on tap alongside steins and bottled German classics. Before the Australian German Club opens its larger Mudgeeraba beer hall in 2027, Zum Schilling is keeping the flame burning.

Sicily by Fratello, Mudgeeraba
From the team behind Fratello Italian in Labrador, the Mudgeeraba restaurant is tucked beside a service station, but step inside and that detail disappears quickly. The space has been rebuilt with exposed brick, timber shelving, a polished dark ceiling and an unexpectedly leafy alfresco area. The kitchen makes its own pasta, dough and sauces, with the menu moving between woodfired pizza, house-made gnocchi, slow-cooked ragu, rigatoni Sicily and familiar Italian classics. It’s the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that quickly earns a place in the regular rotation – reliable, welcoming and built around food people genuinely want to come back for.

Heading south? Don’t miss …

Bar Bruto, Casuarina
The Casuarina neighbourhood bar from Mark Wilson, Lee Middendorf and Emily Wilson is built around fundamentals – sharp service, detail, considered drinks and small plates designed to keep an evening moving. The seasonal menu is grounded in local produce, while the wine list keeps things tight with natural and low-intervention producers. Vermouth is a focus at the bar, poured properly over ice with citrus and something salty on the side. With two compact rooms, a small guest count and a music program that gives the place the feel of a late-night European bar, Bar Bruto is proof that restraint can be far more interesting than spectacle.

Attaboy Pizza, Byron Bay
Attaboy Pizza sits in Byron’s industrial estate between an IGA and a laundrette, which somehow makes perfect sense. The latest from the Mosey On Inn team is casual, stripped back and entirely focused on the pizza. Head chef Rob Pearson developed an American-inspired dough that ferments slowly over three days, resulting in New York-style rounds and Detroit-style deep dish pies with chew, flavour and structure. By day, slices are served over the counter. Later, whole pizzas take over. The Original New York Cheese keeps things simple, while the Byron Hawaiian makes a convincing case for smoked Bangalow ham, jalapenos, ricotta and pineapple saffron drizzle. It is unpretentious, non-traditional and very much worth the drive.