10 Best Airlie Beach Restaurants (2024)

Dine al fresco on fresh local seafood and drink in beautiful water views at these Airlie Beach cafes, bars and restaurants.

While this coastal town’s eateries won’t be vying for Melbourne’s culinary crown anytime soon, that’s not to say you can’t eat well (or drink well) in Airlie Beach. Whether you’re just passing through and looking for somewhere to enjoy coffee or dinner, or you’re spending a few nights in town and drawing up a full-blown eating itinerary, there’s a number of solid eateries to choose from – if you know where to look.

Here are 10 Airlie Beach restaurants you’re sure to love.

1. Eastwood’s Dining

All the best elements of South East Asia can be found in this tasty eatery – along with a quintessential North Queensland sea view. Located in the Airlie Esplanade in the heart of the town, you’ll look out through bi-fold doors across blue ocean to the islands of the Whitsunday Group.

Eastwoods dining Airlie Beach — The Penang curry with coconut braised beef is a must-try.

There’s also a big timber bar serving freshly made cocktails to enhance the mood of the place, but while it has an effortlessly chic appeal, you can still wear your thongs (this is North Queensland, remember!) Don’t even think about not ordering the Penang curry with coconut braised beef.

Cuisine: Asian

Price: $$$

Location: Shop 1&2, 6 Airlie Esplanade, Airlie Beach

2. Mika Airlie Beach

Forget Tex-Mex, this is Qld-Mex at its finest . Located across the length of the whole first floor at the Esplanade in downtown Airlie Beach, the views will blow you away long before the dishes will. You’ll be looking straight out at islands, yachts moored and that deep blue Coral Sea.

Consider a cocktail first to savour the view – they’re famous for them, especially their seven different kinds of margarita. Surrounded by Mexican-themed mural art in a space which fits 200, there’s a party element to the place. Try everything from premium steaks to burrito bowls.

Cuisine: Mexican

Price: $$-$$$

Location: 13/6 Airlie Esplanade, Airlie Beach

3. KC’s Bar & Grills

It’s as Airlie Beach as the national park above town, and almost as old too. While all manner of businesses have come and gone through good times and bad, Airlie Beach’s original steak house has survived 40 years and may go another 40 yet. Their secret? Keeping it simple. You’ll find great steaks – plus a range of local meats to try, from kangaroo to crocodile – and a bourbon bar serving 74 kinds of bourbon.

Take a seat outside and you’ll have a front row seat to the heart of Airlie Beach strolling by, or stay inside and catch live music every night of the week. This is where you’ll meet the real locals.

Cuisine: Steakhouse – modern Australian

Price: $$

Location: 382 Shute Harbour Road, Airlie Beach

4. Airlie Beach Treehouse

Just reopened with a new menu and cocktail list (in late August), Airlie Beach Treehouse lives up to its name – dining here feels like you’re up in the trees looking down on all the islands of the Whitsundays.

With amazing views out over Airlie Beach Lagoon to the ocean beyond, you’ll also get an up-close view of the town’s iconic and huge fig trees that have grown for a century or more along Airlie Beach’s foreshore. Don’t go beyond the corn fritters at breakfast, but lunch is special here amongst the trees with the blue of the Whitsundays sparkling beyond.

Cuisine: Tasty burgers and classics like fish and chips

Price: $$

Location: 6a/263 Shute Harbour Rd, Airlie Beach

5. Coral Sea Pavilion

Could there be a better location for a restaurant anywhere on Australia’s east coast? Located within the Coral Sea Resort (you don’t have to be a guest to dine here), your table at Coral Sea Pavilion is located on a headland between Airlie Beach and the Coral Sea Marina, where you’ll look straight down onto the ocean. \

Coral Sea Airlie Beach — you’ll be dining at seats set by a lawn beside a sprawling swimming pool.

There’s a touch of Great Gatsby about the place – you’ll be dining at seats set by a lawn beside a sprawling swimming pool, surrounded by coconut trees (okay, so a tropical take on Gatsby). The seafood’s great – sample the enormous seafood platter for a taste of everything. The cocktails alone are worth being here for.

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Price: $$$

Location: Ocean View Avenue, Airlie Beach

6. Whitsunday Sailing Club Bar & Restaurant

Secreted away in the Whitsunday Sailing Club, lies 20 Degrees South . With its whitewashed interior and a sizable balcony offering stellar views of the marina, this bar and restaurant is a plum spot for a relaxing sundowner, or a meal. Open for lunch and dinner, expect a mix of both surf and turf on the RSL-style menu, from seaside staples such as fish and chips to a bone-in ribeye steak with mushroom sauce. Or go all-out and order the seafood tower, complete with Sydney rock oysters, scallops, calamari, tiger prawns, mussels and more; you are on holiday after all.

Whitsunday's Sailing Club — 20 degrees south is located inside the Whitsunday’s Sailing Club

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Price: $$$

Location: 11 Ocean Rd, Airlie Beach, Qld 4802

7. Paradiso Rooftop Bar & Restaurant

From hearty breakfasts to more refined tapas-style dishes come lunch and sundown, Paradiso delivers. There’s more of a Mediterranean flavour here than at most other local options. Share jamon croquettes, marinated olives, wagyu bresaola, and mushroom and gorgonzola arancini with friends while sipping on an espresso martini and soaking up the lagoon views from the tables that spill onto the street. Those seeking a more substantial feed can order one of the stone-baked pizzas, a pasta dish (might we suggest the chilli prawn and chorizo linguine), or a seafood paella for two.

Paradiso Airlie Beach — There’s more of a Mediterranean flavour at Paradiso

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Price: $$$

Location: 287 Shute Harbour Rd, Airlie Beach, Qld 4802

8. Anchor Bar

Located high above Airlie Beach, this bar and restaurant promises panoramic views and plenty of decadent ‘dude food’: burgers, chicken wings, racks of ribs and tacos, to name a few. But the menu does also feature a smattering of other, slightly less indulgent dishes, should you so choose (a jackfruit curry, a roasted beetroot salad, or some steamed mussels, perhaps). And if you can’t quite make up your mind, then go for Anchor Bar’s ‘can’t decide’ platter, which features a little of both. Grab a chilled glass of rose, pull up a pew under one of the deck’s parasols, and relax to the sound of live music at this convivial, laid-back spot.

Anchor Bar Airlie Beach — Anchor Bar promises panoramic views and plenty of decadent ‘dude food’.

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Price: $$$

Location: 5 Golden Orchid Dr, Airlie Beach

9. Sorrento Restaurant & Bar

Pasta, pizza, risotto, bruschetta, antipasti: when only Italian fare will do, book a table at Sorrento Restaurant & Bar. This kid-friendly, seafood-leaning Italian restaurant overlooks the Coral Sea Marina (book ahead for a table on the breezy balcony). Those in the market for cheap eats should stop by between 3pm and 4pm, when Sorrento offers a two-for-one special on pizzas. And if you’re here for dinner leave space for the house-made tiramisu, which wins rave reviews.

Sorrento overlooks the Coral Sea Marina.

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Price: $$$

Location: 22 Shingley Dr, Airlie Beach, Qld 4802

10. The Garden Bar Bistro

Slinging seasonal, fruit-driven cocktails made with locally grown fruit, The Garden Bar Bistro is your best bet for a refreshing drink in town. Try the bar’s signature Mother of Dragons – a vivid fuchsia concoction made with rum, chambord, sugar syrup, fresh lime, and local dragon fruit. If you fancy something a little more low-key then opt for this marina bar’s ‘teaser boards’ that feature either four different gin and tonics, or four different espresso martinis. The food menu here is refreshingly light too, featuring fresh fish tacos, ceviche, a seafood platter and a Mediterranean vegetable pasta, among other dishes.

Garden Bar airlie bistro — Alfresco scenes at Garden Bar.

Cuisine: Modern Australian

Price: $$$

Location: Coral Sea Marina, Shingley Dr, Airlie Beach

For more great travel tips read our ultimate guide to Airlie Beach.

Under wide-open outback skies, discover a fossicking gem that’s managed to slip under the radar.

While the name Clermont may feel new to even the most intrepid traveller, its gilded history stretches back centuries. You’ll find it just off the highway, humming quietly under the hazy veil of Queensland’s outback sun. It’s here, hemmed in by mountains and perched atop soil heavy with the earth’s treasures, that one of Australia’s most accessible outback adventures awaits.

Thanks to deposits of gold, copper and gemstones – souvenirs left by exploding supernovas and the heave of tectonic plates – Clermont became a centre point of Queensland’s Gold Rush. And now? Australia’s fossicking capital is yours to discover.

Getting there

car driving along Capricorn Way in queensland — Take a drive through Queensland’s Mackay Isaac region. (Image: Sean Scott/ TEQ)

You’ll find Clermont in Queensland’s Mackay Isaac region. To get here, it’s an easy three-hour drive over sealed roads from Mackay. Or, if you’re heading from the Sapphire Fields of Emerald, the drive will carve out just over an hour from your day.

Whether you’re road-tripping through outback Queensland or just tracing your way through all that Australia has to offer, Clermont is remote but easily accessible.

Best accommodation in Clermont

Theresa CreekDam in clermont — Camp by Theresa Creek Dam. (Image: Riptide Creative/ TEQ)

All accommodation comes with a generous helping of country hospitality here. The choice is yours between modern hotels, parking up the camper or pitching a tent.

Theresa Creek Dam lies just outside town. Begin each day with crisp country air and bright outback sunrises. Spend the night under the sparkling country stars and your days out on the dam fishing or kayaking. Even if you aren’t camping, be sure to save space in your itinerary for an afternoon on the red dirt shore.

To stay closer to town, opt for a central hotel to base yourself between exploring and fossicking, like Smart Stayzzz Inn and Clermont Country Motor Inn .

Things to do in Clermont

three people on a tour with Golden Prospecting — Join a tour with Golden Prospecting.

One does not visit Clermont without trying their hand at fossicking. There are strict rules when it comes to fossicking, so stick to areas dedicated for general permission and make sure you obtain your license beforehand. Try your luck at McMasters , Four Mile , Town Desert, McDonald Flat and Flat Diggings . To increase your odds, sign on for a tour with the expert team at Golden Prospecting . They’ll give you access to exclusive plots and expert advice along the way.

Once you’ve tried your luck on the gold fields, head to the Clermont Township and Historical Museum . Each exhibit works like an archaeologist’s brush to dust away the layers of Clermont’s history. Like the steam engine that painstakingly relocated the entire town inch by inch to higher ground after it was decimated by flooding in 1916. See the tools that helped build the Blair Athol mine, historic fire engines, shearing sheds and all sorts of relics that make up Clermont’s story.

The historic Copperfield Chimney offers a change of pace. Legend has it that fossickers found a solid wall of copper here, over three metres high, kick-starting Queensland’s first-ever copper mine.

Bush Heli Services flying over clermont queensland — See Clermont from above with Bush Heli Services. (Image: Riptide Creative/ TEQ)

For hiking, nearby Dysart is the best place to access Peak Range National Park. Here, mountainous horizons stretch across the outback as if plucked from another world. Set off for a scenic drive along the Peak Downs Highway for access to countless geological wonders. Like the slanting rockface of Wolfang Peak. Summit it, and you’ll find yourself looking out across a scene surely conjured up by Banjo Paterson. Dry scrub dancing in the warm breeze, grazing cattle, eucalypts and the gentle creak of windmills. Don’t miss visiting Gemini Peaks, either, for one of the park’s best vistas, and a blanket of wild flowers after rain.

Then, take to the skies with a scenic helicopter tour with Bush Heli-Services . Shift your perspective and cruise above all the sights from your trip. Spots like Lords Table Mountain and Campbell’s Peak are best viewed from the skies.

Before you head home, be sure to explore the neighbouring townships. Spend a lazy afternoon in the shade of Nebo Hotel’s wrap-around verandahs . The hotel’s 1900s dance hall has since been replaced with one of the area’s biggest rodeo arenas, so consider timing your trip to line up with a boot scootin’ rodeo. Or, stop by a ghost town. Mount Britton was once a thriving town during the 1880s Gold Rush. It’s been totally abandoned and now lies untouched, a perfect relic of the Gold Rush.

Best restaurants and cafes in Clermont

meal at Commercial Hotel — Stop into the Commercial Hotel Clermont.

Days spent fossicking, bushwalking and cramming on history call for excellent coffee and hearty country meals. Luckily, Clermont delivers in spades.

Lotta Lattes Cafe is beloved by locals for a reason. Start your days here for the best caffeine fix in town and an impeccable brunch menu.

For a real country meal, an icy cold beer and that famed country hospitality, head straight to the town’s iconic hotel: the Commercial Hotel (known endearingly to locals as ‘The Commie’). It’s been a staple in Clermont since 1877. The hotel even survived the flood of 1916 when it was sawn in two and moved to higher ground.

Naturally, time spent in the outback must include calling into the local bakery. For delicious pies and a tantalising array of sweet treats, make Bluemac Bakehouse your go-to while in town.

Discover more of The Mackay Isaac region, and start planning your trip at mackayisaac.com.

10 of best restaurants in Airlie Beach

Dine al fresco on fresh local seafood and drink in beautiful water views at these Airlie Beach cafes, bars and restaurants.

1. Eastwood’s Dining

2. Mika Airlie Beach

3. KC’s Bar & Grills

4. Airlie Beach Treehouse

5. Coral Sea Pavilion

6. Whitsunday Sailing Club Bar & Restaurant

7. Paradiso Rooftop Bar & Restaurant

8. Anchor Bar

9. Sorrento Restaurant & Bar

10. The Garden Bar Bistro

The Whitsundays is getting 40 kilometres of mountain bike trails

11 of the best things to do in Airlie Beach

The best places to camp in Airlie Beach

The best tours in Airlie Beach for your next getaway

You haven’t heard of this Qld outback town, but history buffs can’t miss it

Under wide-open outback skies, discover a fossicking gem that’s managed to slip under the radar.

Getting there

Best accommodation in Clermont

Things to do in Clermont

Best restaurants and cafes in Clermont