The Flinders Ranges may be remote, but you’ll still find memorable meals. These are the restaurants, pubs and cafés to book.

One thing to know before visiting the Flinders Ranges: you need to plan your meals. This isn’t a destination where you’ll wander through town scouting dinner options. Many restaurants in the Flinders Ranges have limited opening hours, and some require advanced bookings. But that’s also what makes eating here fun. Dinner might mean pulling up a chair at a historic pub, stopping at a country café, or sitting down to a lamb dinner on a station.

The shortlist

Best farm-to-table: The Woolshed
Family-friendly spot: Prairie Hotel
Best outdoor dining: Mount Little Tavern and Pizza Bar
Hidden gem: Farina Underground Bakery

Prairie Hotel

The Prairie Hotel has been feeding road trippers since 1876 and, more so, is where you’ll find the locals on a Friday and Saturday night. The menu is famous for its “feral food" (kangaroo, emu and goat) and Fargher Lager beer bread, as well as quandong-inspired dishes and regional produce that showcase the flavours of the outback without turning them into a gimmick. I’d make a booking if you’re travelling through on a busy weekend because this small pub fills quickly. Even if you’re not hungry, stop in for a drink in the beer garden and to see the memorabilia-covered walls.

Cuisine: Globally-inspired pub food

Price: $

Atmosphere: Casual pub where most patrons wear R.M. Williams

Location: Parachilna

The Woolshed

There’s no hiding what the Woolshed Restaurant does best: lamb. The menu at Rawnsley Park Station features lamb shanks, sausages, ragu and a generous two-person lamb platter that has become a favourite with guests. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a working sheep station. The dining room is inside a converted stone shearing shed, dressed with fairy lights and a handful of tables spilling onto the verandah. The meals are generous and unfussy, while the atmosphere depends on the night of the week.

Cuisine: Lamb

Price: $$

Atmosphere: Casual and sociable

Location: Hawker

Quandong Cafe

The Quandong Café is one of Quorn’s best-known stops for travellers heading into the southern Flinders Ranges. The menu is straightforward, covering breakfast, light lunches and coffee, while the cake cabinet is the real temptation. Grab something sweet before exploring Pichi Richi Railway, Mount Remarkable or the surrounding national parks.

Cuisine: Bakery

Price: $

Atmosphere: Casual

Location: Quorn

Mount Little Tavern and Pizza Bar

Fancy a dinner with donkeys? At this pizza night experience, guests gather around the fire at a working property, share stories over wood-fired pizzas, and watch the sun set over the Elder Range. There’s plenty to explore before dinner, from the shearing shed and on-site museum to meeting the resident donkeys. It’s casual, social and a good option for families.

Cuisine: Italian

Price: $

Atmosphere: Casual and lively

Location: Hawker

Jacka Brothers Brewery

After a day walking Mount Remarkable, there are few better ways to finish than with a cold beer and a wood-fired pizza at Jacka Brothers Brewery. The 1877 building has been carefully restored, keeping its original character while adding a modern taphouse downstairs. The brewery pours its own beers, including Remarkable Ale and Melrose Bitters, alongside a menu built around simple, shareable pizzas.

Cuisine: Italian

Price: $

Atmosphere: Casual and lively

Location: Melrose

Farina Underground Bakery

Deep in the Flinders Ranges, the tiny ghost town of Farina wakes up for just eight weeks each year. During that time, volunteers fire up a 130-year-old underground oven to run one of Australia’s most remote bakeries. The pies, bread and vanilla slices are reason enough to visit, but the bigger story is that every sale helps restore Farina’s historic sandstone buildings. Though it’s only open eight weeks per year, so it requires some planning.

Cuisine: Pies and pastries

Price: $

Atmosphere: Casual

Location: Mulgaria Rd, Farina

Flinders Food Co

The Flinders Food Co uses native ingredients throughout its modern Australian menu, from native dukkah on cornbread to pepperberry in its Korean BBQ sauce. You can stop by for breakfast, lunch or dinner, with a dedicated brunch menu of chicken and waffles and lemon myrtle French toast. While you’re here, try a craft beer or cold-pressed juice.

Cuisine: Australian with an international twist

Price: $

Atmosphere: Casual

Location: Hawker

Over the Edge Cafe

You’ll likely see cyclists out the front of this cafe—partly because it’s a bicycle shop and partly because the coffee machine is always working. Whether you’re heading out on the bike trails or need an emergency caffeine fix, Over the Edge’s tiny cafe has a cabinet stocked with homemade sweet treats, fresh salads, wraps, and smoothies.

Cuisine: Bakery and simple breakfast staples

Price: $

Atmosphere: Sporty and casual

Location: Melrose

The North Blinman Hotel

Dating back to 1869, the North Blinman Hotel, also known as the “pub in the scrub," is a Flinders Ranges institution. Expect classic counter meals, cold beers and a bar filled with decades of traveller mementoes, from business cards to photos and souvenirs left behind by past visitors. If you walk in on a Friday night, chances are you’ll be having pizza with everyone else.

Cuisine: Pub food

Price: $

Atmosphere: Fun and friendly

Location: Blinman

Planning a trip to the Flinders Ranges? Check out more of our recommendations here:

Best Flinders Ranges accommodation | The essential guide to the Flinders Ranges | Best camping spots in the Flinders Ranges | Best Flinders Ranges hikes