For most of its lifetime spent attracting tourists like flies to a Christmas ham, Byron Bay has been a fertile ecosystem of Stone & Wood lager, “nourish” bowls and falafel kebabs. But with top hospitality talent increasingly lured to the region for its produce and footwear-optional lifestyle, Byron Bay and its hinterland are now home to Australia’s most delicious and innovative crop of restaurants outside our capital cities.

We’ve focused on Byron Bay itself for this guide, but fantastic weekends of eating and drinking can also be had in Brunswick Heads, Bangalow and Cabarita Beach. Even Murwillumbah now has a two-hatted restaurant worth building your day around.

For coffee

There are lots of cafes in Byron Bay, but many of them take their acai more seriously than their coffee. Sparrow, a friendly corner spot near the town centre, is not one of them. Staff pull precise Allpress espressos and steam killer flat whites, and the iced long black is about the best thing you can take to the beach for a morning swim apart from sunscreen and a towel.

Corner of Byron Street and Williams Lane, Byron Bay

For breakfast

Speaking of acai, there are plenty of healthy breakfast options at Top Shop Byron Bay, an old weatherboard milk bar just up the hill from Clarkes Beach. But there’s also a choice cinnamon bun and dulce de leche alfajore cookies, plus a heaving brekkie burger loaded with house-made relish, a hash brown, egg and avocado. Top Shop (no relation to the fast fashion brand) is a warm and colourful place to prime you for the day. Just wait an hour before surfing after eating the Ballina prawn roll.

65 Carlyle Street, Byron Bay, topshopbyronbay.com.au

For fish and chips

The menu at oceanside fine-diner Beach Byron Bay is made for long lunches and big wines. Barbecued squid; dry-aged scotch fillet; raspberry pavlova crowned with a shock of dehydrated rhubarb by celebrated pastry chef Katrina Kanetani. But if you’re not up for the full experience, the kiosk is also open daily for beetroot-loaded burgers and crunchy fish and chips starring local catch. There are a few umbrella-shaded picnic tables if you want those chips fryer-hot, otherwise grab your snack box and follow the signs to Cape Byron Lighthouse. Beach’s beer-battered fish sanger is a cracking takeaway lunch, too.

2 Massinger Street, Byron Bay, beachbyronbay.com.au

For cocktails

Moonlight is gold dust in a holiday town. There’s no outsized ambition – the team behind Byron’s Light Years (plus new Middle Eastern-focused Smoking Camel) has created a smart hideaway that peddles approachable small plates, a tight wine list and inventive cocktails. “The Natsu” teams jalapeno-infused vodka with shiso syrup and lime juice; something called the “Koufuku” translates to Campari, vermouth, grapefruit and yuzu soda. Food-wise, you’re here for anything coming off the hibachi grill, such as chicken wings with house-made togarashi spice. You’ll need to book ahead for dinner in peak season, but staff have sometimes been able to set us up at the bar if it’s just the one nightcap.

Bay Lane, Byron Bay, moonlightbar.com.au

For wine

Compiled by co-owners and booze importers James Audas and Tom Sheer, the wine list at slick newcomer Bar Heather runs deep with cult natural wines and well-priced new releases. Meanwhile, Ollie Wong-Hee leads the kitchen and cooks some of the most engaging, original food in NSW. Charcoal-grilled duck breast with a sauce of its own rendered fat, mead vinegar and star anise, say, and crackers topped with manchego custard and raw shiitake mushrooms. Staff always know the right grenache blend or gamay for the job, and if you want a bottle to take home, the team’s retail shop Luna Wine Store is across the street.

139 Jonson Lane, Byron Bay, barheather.com

Shop 2, 140-142 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, lunawinestore.com

For a bells-and-whistles-dinner

There’s a case to be mounted that sitting at two-hatted Raes overlooking the sweep of grass running down to Wategos Beach is as quintessential a Byron Bay experience as walking to the lighthouse or a beer at The Rails. The dining room – all climbing vines, rattan ceiling fans and vintage surfing photos – buzzes with sun-kissed staff urging you to have a white negroni to begin. Chef Jason Saxby knows his fishers by name, and this speaks volumes about the produce on the plate. It’s hard to imagine a squid-ink tagliolini with crab and champagne veloute receiving a more sprightly execution. The three-course menu is $115, but a more casual Raes experience can be had at the Cellar Bar and Terrace, open daily until sunset for gin spritzes, antipasto and tuna tartare.

6-8 Marine Parade, Byron Bay, raes.com.au

For a kid-friendly lunch

Three Blue Ducks has become such a heaving tourist draw, it could almost pass for a farm-themed Disney attraction. Except the food here remains the real deal. Charred Moreton Bay squid comes tempered by a luscious cream made from macadamias harvested in nearby Dunoon; hummus made with Goondiwindi-grown chickpeas is good enough to scoop up with a spoon. If the kids aren’t fussed about chicken glazed with fermented chilli, a “ducklings” menu includes tomato-braised meatballs with crushed spuds and greens, or that same hummus served with cucumber sticks instead of dukkah and pita. Surrounded by lush countryside and roaming animals, few places capture the pastoral dream like this family favourite.

11 Ewingsdale Road, Ewingsdale, threeblueducks.com/byron

For holiday-house supplies

Rented a house and keen to cook something that doesn’t involve too much slicing because holiday-home knives are always blunter than a baseball bat? Bay Grocer has you sorted for most seafood, organic meat and local vegetable needs, plus whole roast chooks and slabs of bake-yourself lasagne. Byron Bay Deli is a smaller port of call slightly closer to town, and well-stocked with olives, cheese and cured meats. Grab some Mount Warning ham and Bay of Fires cheddar for happy snacking.

63 Tennyson Street, Byron Bay, baygrocer.com

Shop 6, 27 Lawson Street, Byron Bay, byronbaydeli.com

For bread, cakes and pies

What’s a regional holiday without pastry flakes in the car or a sausage roll for brunch? Byron’s best baked goods can be found at The Bread Social, next door to Three Blue Ducks at The Farm in Ewingsdale. It’s a 10-minute drive from town, yes, but The Bread Social bakes all sorts of beautiful sourdoughs, baguettes, boules, croissants and cakes. We’re particularly big fans of the chicken and green lentil curry pie. (NB: Bay Grocer also stocks the same fresh sourdough.)

11 Ewingsdale Road, Ewingsdale, breadsocial.com.au

For lunch out of town

Choices, choices, choices. Birds of Paradise opened in Brunswick Heads in 2023, and specialises in glistening rotisserie chooks and vibrant salads for taking to the local river and eating under a tree. Essential stuff. You can find a pub lunch to rule them at The Eltham, about half an hour’s drive inland from Byron Bay, while Murwillumbah is home to Bistro Livi – the Good Food Guide 2024’s Regional Restaurant of the Year. It’s the kind of moody, European-influenced bistro you might expect to find in Melbourne – a place where you can tuck into Cantabrian anchovies with celtuce, or creamy whipped mullet roe with baby radishes. The tender slow-cooked goat is wonderfully scented with marsala, mandarin and star anise; the wine list is equally enticing.

2/19 Booyun Street, Brunswick Heads, boprotisserie.com.au

441 Eltham Road, Eltham, elthampub.com.au

Shop 1A, 1-3 Brisbane Street, Murwillumbah, bistrolivi.com