McLaren Vale restaurants: Our guide to the best spots to book now

With paddock-to-plate fine dining and coastal seafood meals with sweeping views, McLaren Vale’s dining scene delivers flavour, creativity and a true sense of place.

More than just a celebrated wine region, McLaren Vale has evolved into one of South Australia’s most exciting culinary destinations where chefs draw on the region’s abundant local produce to craft dishes for a long degustation lunch or a relaxed meal with friends – here are the unmissable McLaren Vale restaurants to try.

The shortlist

Best for large groups: The Kitchen at Bec Hardy
Casual eats: Pizzatecca
Best views: Silver Sands Beach Club
Great for special occasions: Star of Greece
Best wine list: The Salopian Inn

The Salopian Inn

Ask where to go for dinner in the McLaren Vale wine region and The Salopian Inn is the first restaurant to be mentioned.

The kitchen makes everything from scratch, using ingredients sourced straight from their garden, which supplies much of the fruit, vegetables and herbs. When it’s not homegrown, it’s sourced from nearby growers and producers who share their passion for ethical, sustainable food. The menu shifts with the seasons, from what’s harvested to what’s preserved or fermented, and every dish celebrates the region’s best pasture-fed meats and ethically sourced South Australian seafood.

Choose the ‘feed me’ menu or order à la carte with small plates like steamed pork buns with hoisin, ginger and chilli sauce, or Paroo kangaroo tartare with green olive and spring onion oil. Larger dishes such as grilled Coorong wild mullet or slow-cooked lamb shoulder with green olives, sumac onions and chickpeas are dishes to remember. Pair it with a choice from their award-winning drinks list – over 200 local and international gins, plus an extensive selection of local, Australian and international wines by the glass.

Cuisine: Asian and modern Australian
Average Price: $$
Atmosphere: Relaxed and comforting
Location: Corner Main Road & McMurtrie Road, McLaren Vale

Star of Greece

It’s hard to resist Star of Greece for a long lunch or elegant dinner overlooking the sea at Port Willunga. A South Australian icon for more than 20 years, this cliff-top restaurant delivers some of the most spectacular views on the Fleurieu Peninsula – best enjoyed with a glass of local wine in hand.

Whether you’re after classic fish and chips from the kiosk, drinks on the deck, or a three- or four-course feast in the restaurant, every experience is refined but welcoming. The menu isn’t Greek, but rather modern Australian with a Mediterranean influence where seafood gets a good run. Think: Kangaroo Island King George whiting (battered, crumbed or grilled) served with Greek salad and chips, or Szechuan pepper squid with green mango, apple and nahm jim.

Book ahead for special occasions and settle in to watch the sun dip into the water – it’s McLaren Vale wine region dining at its finest.

Cuisine: Mediterranean
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Coastal elegance
Location: 1 Esplanade, Port Willunga

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

Fiore

Down the Rabbit Hole has so much to offer, including Fiore, a bright and welcoming Italian restaurant set among the estate’s picture-perfect gardens. Headed by executive chef Nick Tadija, Fiore delivers nourishing, feel-good dishes crafted from seasonal and locally sourced produce.

The Feed Me option is perfect for long, relaxed lunches – simply share your preferences and dietary needs, then let the team surprise you with a curated feast. On Friday nights, the Nonna’s Table experience brings a touch of Italian warmth with a set menu of antipasti, handmade pasta, hearty sides and classic desserts.

For something more casual, settle into the garden for wood-fired pizza and wine on Thursdays, or enjoy live music under the stars every Friday night from November to April – it’s the kind of place that captures the easy-going spirit of McLaren Vale.

Cuisine: Italian
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Intimate
Location: 233 Binney Road, McLaren Vale

The Kitchen at Bec Hardy

Set beside the vines in a beautifully repurposed winemaking shed, The Kitchen at Bec Hardy does exceptional, share-style food that celebrates the best of the region. With its blend of rustic charm and refined touches – heritage oak vats, soft lighting and polished tableware – it’s a space designed to let the wine and food shine.

The menu focuses on fresh, seasonal and sustainably sourced local produce, much of it grown at the Tipsy Hill Estate gardens. Go simple with a charcuterie board from Ellis Butchers, paired with cheese, house-made arancini and a garden pear and greens salad. Or share one of the showstoppers – the 12-hour slow-cooked lamb shoulder on labneh with pearl couscous, preserved lemon and herbs, or the pomegranate-glazed spring chicken with dukkah, green romesco and orange-fennel salad.

Round out a meal with a tasting from the estate’s three wine ranges, choosing from the Pertaringa, Bec Hardy and Lot 94 BSR ranges, each showcasing a different side of this family’s 45-year winemaking legacy.

Cuisine: Italian
Average price: $$$
Atmosphere: Warm and welcoming
Location: 327 Hunt Rd, McLaren Vale SA 5171

Little Rickshaw

Located within a warm tin shed – once a blacksmith’s workshop – The Little Rickshaw is a modern South-East Asian kitchen and bar that’s built a well established reputation with visitors to the area.

Owner Trinh Richards and her mother take inspiration from their Vietnamese heritage, blending traditional flavours with local, seasonal produce to create inventive, beautifully balanced dishes.

The restaurant offers a set menu only ($92 per person), featuring the chef’s weekly selection of dishes that might include bluefin tuna sashimi with daikon, kalamansi ponzu and sake capers, duck and kombu potstickers with bush tomato and soy dashi, or chargrilled wagyu striploin with honey, tamarind chilli sauce and cracked rice.

Open for lunch and dinner, the dining space includes a sheltered courtyard (with heaters in cooler months).

Cuisine: South-east Asian
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Trendy and refined
Location: 24 Old Coach Road, Aldinga

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Pizzatecca

At Pizzateca, generations of pizza-making tradition meet the best of South Australia’s local produce. Techniques have been passed down through the family, with every pizza made in Neapolitan style with a thin base, a perfectly puffed crust and just the right amount of char from the wood oven.

Start with their signature hand-stretched ball of mozzarella, filled with stracciatella and cream, served with seasonal sides and house-made crostini. Then move on to the 35cm wood-fired pizzas that let the ingredients shine including the deceptively simple Starita with sliced garlic, baby tomatoes and pecorino, to the fiery Diablo with salami, asiago cheese and house-made chilli honey, or the indulgent Bianco topped with portobello mushrooms, fior di latte, basil, parmesan and a drizzle of truffle oil.

It’s rustic Italian food done right – generous, honest and full of soul and designed to share with large groups of family and friends.

Cuisine: Italian
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Fun
Location: 319 Chalk Hill Rd, McLaren Vale

Silver Sands Beach Club

Nothing beats a meal at the local surf club – particularly one as good as Silver Sands. Situated in front of the Aldinga Life Saving Club, the venue makes the most of the sea views with floor-to-ceiling windows. With plenty of space inside and out, it’s easy to spend a long lunch here with friends or feed the family after a morning at the beach.

Portions are generous, starting with the surf club puffy break freshly baked to order and coming with a variety of toppings including whipped woodside goat’s curd and hot Bush Organics honey.

There are Gazander oysters with apple and seaweed dressing, Nomad chicken coq au vin, a butcher’s cut of the day and beer-battered Coorong mullet with spring slaw.

Wash it down with a local beer or wine while marvelling again at the view.

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Average price: $$
Atmosphere: Elevated surf club
Location: The very end of Norman Road, Aldinga Beach

Makers, bakers, artists, chefs, crafters – Ballarat and its surrounds are overflowing with creative spirits. All dedicated to keeping traditional skills alive for a city that is humming with artful energy.

Modern makers: a new generation of artists and artisans

“Keeping craft alive is a noble cause,” says Jess Cameron-Wootten, a charming and passionate master leathercrafter and cordwainer, who handmakes traditional leather boots and shoes in Ballarat’s old Gun Cotton Goods Store.

Ballarat was recognised in 2019 as a UNESCO Creative City of Craft and Folk Art, and today it’s a place where craft traditions converge with contemporary needs. Nothing quite captures this convergence as a visit to Wootten, the workshop and store of Jess Cameron-Wootten and his partner Krystina Menegazzo.

heritage buildings in Ballarat — Ballarat’s streets are lined with heritage buildings. (Image: Matt Dunne)

Jess’s father was an artisan bootmaker, or cordwainer. Now Jess and Krys and their small team of artisans continue the tradition, but with a modern spin. The company’s boots and shoes, made completely from scratch, are renowned for their quality and longevity. Wootten also craft shoes, bags, belts, leather aprons, wallets and more.

Cosy beanies, gloves, alpaca socks, “unbreakable” shoelaces and various other goods – many from local craftspeople and small-scale makers – fill the shop’s shelves. “We’re always happy to support a mate,” says Jess. “People love to see the workshop and where things are made. Our clients care about quality and sustainability,” Krys comments. The company slogan ‘Made for generations’ says it all.

Ruby Pilven’s ceramics at Ross Creek Gallery. (Image: Tara Moore)

For Ruby Pilven, craft is also in the DNA – both her parents were potters and with her latest porcelain ceramics, Ruby’s young daughter has been helping add colour to the glazes. “I grew up watching my parents in the workshop – I’ve always been doing ceramics,” she says, although her Visual Arts degree was in printmaking. That printmaking training comes through particularly in the rich layering of pattern. Her audacious colour, unexpected shapes and sudden pops of 12-carat gold are contemporary, quirky – and joyful.

You can see Ruby’s handcrafted ceramics, and work by other local and regional artists, at Ross Creek Gallery, a light-filled space surrounded by serene bushland, across from the mudbrick house her parents built in the 1980s. A 10-minute drive from Ballarat, it’s a tangible link to the region’s well-established craft traditions.

How Ballarat is preserving the past

artisans making crafts at the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades, Ballarat — The Centre for Rare Arts & Forgotten Trades holds workshops to preserve crafts and skills.

While tradition is ongoing, there’s a danger that many of these specific type of skills and knowledge are fading as an older generation passes on. Step forward the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades.

The seven purpose-built studios occupy a fabulous modern building adjacent to Sovereign Hill, with state-of-the-art facilities, enormous windows and landscape views across to Warrenheip and Wadawurrung Country.

artisanal works at the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades, Ballarat — Check out artisanal works at the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades.

Practising artisans run hands-on workshops. Fancy making your own medieval armour? Or trying your hand at blacksmithing, spinning wool, plaiting leather, weaving cane or craft a knife? Book a class and learn how. “It’s about creating awareness and also sharing knowledge and skills before they are lost,” explains Deborah Klein, the centre manager.

A city steeped in food and flavours

Chef José Fernandez preparing American streetfood at Pancho — Chef José Fernandez creates vibrant South American street food at Pancho. (Image: Ballarat Tourism)

One skill that hasn’t been lost is that of cooking. Ballarat’s burgeoning gastronomy scene runs the gamut from an artisan bakery (the atmospheric 1816 Bakehouse) to cool coffee shops, speakeasy cocktail bars and distilleries to fine-dining venues. But I’m still surprised to find Pancho, José Fernandez’s South American street food restaurant, serving fried cheese tequeños, fiery fish tacos, Argentinian grilled chicken.

The room is as lively as the food – a whirl of colour filled with gifted and thrifted paintings, photos, tchotchkes (trinkets), plants. There’s a Mexican abuela aesthetic going on here. Even before the music and mezcal kick in, it’s fun. Heads up on the drinks menu – an authentic selection of mezcal, tequila, South American wines and Mexican cerveza.

a cocktail at Itinerant Spirits, Ballarat — Enjoy a cocktail at Itinerant Spirits. (Image: Ballarat Tourism)

The spirit is willing, so after lunch we head towards the gold rush-era Ballarat train station and across the line to the old 1860s Goods Shed for Itinerant Spirits. At one end, a massive German copper still looms behind a wall of glass. The fit-out embraces deep olive-green tones, original bluestone walls, steamer trunks as coffee tables, heritage timber floors, oversized lamp shades and cognac-hued modernist leather seating.

the Itinerant Spirits Distillery & Cocktail Bar, Ballarat — The distillery operates from an old goods shed. (Image: Ballarat Tourism)

Gallivanter Gin, Vansetter Vodka and Wayfarer Whiskey – the key spirits distilled – star at the bar. The spirits are crafted using grains from the Wimmera Mallee region, and native botanicals foraged in the Grampians. Seasonal cocktails are inspired by local people and places (I loved The Headland, inspired by Sovereign Hill and flavoured with old-fashioned raspberry drops). Sample the spirits, and join a cocktail masterclass or a distillery tour. It’s a seductive setting – you’ll likely find yourself ordering a charcuterie platter or pizza as the evening progresses.

The Ballarat stay combining history and luxury

one of the rooms at Hotel Vera, Ballarat — The rooms at Hotel Vera have a contemporary style. (Image: Ballarat Tourism)

New lives for old buildings keeps history alive. Vera, Ballarat’s boutique five-star hotel, has taken it to the next level: it’s a palimpsest, a subtle layering of early 1900s and 1930s Art Deco architecture with a sleek new wing. There are seven spacious suites, each a dramatically different colour, with designer chairs, blissful bathrooms. High-end pottery and hand-picked artworks imbue the spaces with personality.

Vera’s intimate, award-winning restaurant, Babae, is subtly theatrical with sheer drapes and gallery lighting, its bespoke timber furniture and brass-edged marble bench setting the stage for food with a sharp regional focus. “We have goat’s cheese from a local supplier, handmade granola from local Vegas & Rose, truffles from nearby Black Cat Truffles, fresh food from our garden, and regional wines,” says joint owner David Cook-Doulton.

Celebrating the local makers, bakers, growers and producers, and the master chefs who work their magic is all part of the rich tapestry that links Ballarat’s history to its vibrant present.

A traveller’s checklist

Getting there

It’s 90 minutes from Melbourne, either on the Western Freeway, or hop on a V/Line train from Southern Cross Station.

Staying there

Hotel Vera is a centrally located Art Deco boutique hotel. Consider Hotel Provincial, which feels like a sleek country house, but with its own restaurant, Lola.

a contemporary room at Hotel Provincial, Ballarat — Hotel Provincial has country house vibes.

Eating there

dining at Mr Jones, Ballarat — The table is set at Mr Jones. (Image: Tony Evans/ Visit Victoria)

Culinary whiz Damien Jones helms Chef’s Hat winner Mr Jones Dining with quiet assurance. His modern Asian food is deceptively simple with deep, intense flavours. Low-key, laid-back ambience, lovely staff, thoughtful wine list.

Cocktails are definitely a thing in Ballarat. Reynard (fox in French) is foxy indeed, a clubby space with top-notch cocktails and small bites. Grainery Lane is extravagantly OTT with its massive 1880s bar, myriad chandeliers, brass gin still, Asian-inspired food and lavish cocktails.

dining at Grainery Lane, Ballarat — Dining at Grainery Lane.

Playing there

a laneway filled with artworks in Ballarat — An artful laneway in the city. (Image: Ballarat Tourism)

Check out local design legend Travis Price’s wall murals in Hop Lane with its colourful canopy of brollies, or in Main Street. The Art Gallery of Ballarat’s off-site Backspace Gallery showcases early-career artists in a stylish, contemporary space. First Nations-owned and run Perridak Arts connects people to place, bringing together art and crafts in this gallery/shop.

a woman admiring artworks at Perridak Arts Gallery — Perridak Arts is a First Nations-run gallery. (Image: Tony Evans)

The wineries of the Pyrenees are close at hand with their welcoming cellar doors and robust reds. Join a behind-the-scenes tour at the Centre for Gold Rush Collections.

Don’t forget the giant bluestone Kryal Castle, ‘the land of adventure’, for a little medieval magic, and not just for the kids: get ready for Highland-style feasting, jousting, even overnight stays.

Our guide to the best McLaren Vale restaurants to book now