Did you hear about Queen’s Wharf in 2024? Because to a casual observer it dominated restaurant news in 2024 (well, from August onwards anyway).

But there were other narratives around town. The big ones were the arrival of Supernormal Brisbane and the general further resuscitation of the CBD dining (including what was arguably the opening of the year).

More subtle was a wave of very, very good suburban neighbourhood diners, and a big (and arguably overdue) lean into a new, more casual style of French dining.

Here’s where you need to eat as we head into 2025.

Petite, Fortitude Valley

Brothers Cameron and Jordan Votan’s fifth permanent venue was a long time coming but proved worth the wait.

Petite retains the open feel of the brothers’ popular Happy Boy and Snack Man eateries, but with a more precise design.

It references a French bistro with a leather banquette, imported vintage chandeliers and bentwood chairs, but crosses it with an industrial touch.

Petite’s cleverly arranged menu is collection of 20 plates down one side and matching wines listed down the other. But it’s not intended to be dogmatic – a wine either side of the match will work just as well.

There’s also a longer bottle list for those eager to explore the restaurant’s collection of small-grower French drops, which includes a chunky selection of cremant and champagne.

The food is a continuation of what worked best at the Mini French pop-up that ran next door in the old Kid Curry space for the eight months.

For smaller plates you can order goat’s cheese croquettes, steak tartare with confit yolk and pommes gaufrettes, and a pork terrine with onion jam and cornichons, served with bread.

Larger plates include pan-fried gnocchi with a comte cream, pan-fried fish finished with a beurre blanc, confit duck with potato mash and a duck jus, and a chargrilled grass-fed eye fillet with pepper cognac sauce and frites.

Gum Bistro, West End

Gum opened in April in the Boundary Street premises previously occupied by Pasta Club.

The bones of the old timber shop remain much the same (including the charmingly wonky floor at the back of the restaurant), but owners Phil Poussart and Lachlan Matheson have installed a banquette and some new tabletops, and given the dining room a fresh coat of white paint, lending it a brighter, more airy feel.

Matheson is cooking a tight, menu of local produce designed to be shared. It changes seasonally, but dishes so far have included a duck liver parfait with mandarin jelly: fried The Falls Farm eggplant with tomato, shallot and herbs; and pipis with oyster mushrooms, young ginger and basil.

For larger plates, think pan-fried cobia with oyster cream, warrigal greens and lime leaf; kangaroo loin au poivre with spinach and saltbush; and Brisbane Valley quail served with king and oyster mushrooms.

For wines, Poussart has compiled a tight 60-bottle list with most drops going for less than $120 a pop. Expect local wines lined up against labels from France, Sicily, Slovenia and the US.

Supernormal Brisbane, Brisbane CBD

Trader House’s Supernormal Brisbane was the most anticipated restaurant opening of the year.

On first impression, it’s starkly different to its iconic Melbourne sister venue. Instead of a grungy CBD laneway, it has a prime spot overlooking the Brisbane River and the Story Bridge.

Instead of hard surfaces and lashings of neon, Supernormal Brisbane is all carpet, mirrors, rattan furniture and cushioned banquettes. The restaurant opened in July, with a shaded outside dining area opening a couple of months later.

Across appetisers, entrees and dumplings, you might order kimchi and spring onion flatbread, Moreton Bay bug toast, roasted Yamba prawns with shio koji, and vegetable dumplings with a red vinegar.

For mains, there’s slow-cooked Sichuan lamb shoulder with spiced chickpea and coriander; and whole steamed coral trout with aged soy, ginger and spring onion.

There are two signature dishes: the lobster roll, of course, but also a half crispy duck that’s been salt-cured, spiced and twice cooked, and served with steamed bread and condiments.

For drinks, there’s a 400-bottle wine list that favours aromatic drops that can converse with the spice of the food, and a Tiki-inflected menu of signature cocktails, alongside a collection of classics.

Central, CBD

From the team behind Rick Shores and Southside comes Central, which might just be the best restaurant opening of 2024.

Named after the frenetic heart of Hong Kong, much of the venue is informed by chef Benny Lam’s experiences of living and working in city as a chef and a designer.

Central is located right in the guts of the CBD beneath 340 Queen Street – once home to the historic Piccadilly Arcade and Primitif Cafe, a favoured ’50s hangout for Brisbane beatniks.

Designed by in-demand architect and designer Jared Webb of J.AR OFFICE, there’s absolutely nothing else like it in Brisbane – the tiered layout with its granite benches featuring counter seats that look directly down – stadium like – into the kitchen.

Central bills itself as a dumpling bar first and foremost, so dim sum is at the heart of the menu, which features scallop and prawn dumplings with smoked salmon roe, king crab spring rolls, wild mushroom and water chestnut dumplings, and classic prawn har gow. But there’s also cold starters, a selection of share plates, and items cooked on the barbecue.

Accompanying the food is a 250(ish)-bottle wine list that mixes Old and New World drops and includes four wines from China. About 30 are available by the glass, half glass and half bottle via Coravin.

August, West End

August opened in November in an old church on Dornoch Terrace in West End. In the kitchen is Brad Cooper, regarded as one of the city’s best young chefs after his stint at the lauded Bar Francine just down the road; out front is his partner, Matilda Riek. It’s the couple’s first venue as owners.

This still very much feels like a church – just with a pre-fabricated kitchen where the altar would have been, and a bar with counter seating in the front right-hand corner. The digs themselves account for much of August’s charm, but the kitchen and bar are neatly designed additions, and works from local artists hang from the VJ-board walls.

Cooper’s food is anchored mostly in European techniques and focuses on meat and seafood. The bulk of the menu is split into snacks, smaller plates and three larger dishes to share. Standout dishes include a mud-crab omelette Arnold Bennett, foie gras-stuffed chicken crown with peas a la Francaise, and grilled flounder with vongole, butter beans and saffron butter.

For drinks, there’s a clutch of aperitif-style cocktails and a relatively compact wine list that focuses on smaller Australian and European makers.

Naldham House Brasserie and Terrace, CBD

Naldham House Brasserie and Terrace occupies the ground floor of the stunning 1888-built Naldham House in the CBD.

Inside you’ll find a 95-seat dining room that’s a complete contrast to this heritage-listed edifice’s sheer-white external walls.

Celebrated designer Anna Spiro has decked it out in a kaleidoscope of colours, patterns and textiles. Outside, there’s a shaded 120-seat terrace lined with greenery.

For food, executive chef Douglas Keyte (previously exec chef of two-hatted Grill Americano in Melbourne) has written a menu that has French cooking as its cornerstone.

Star dishes include a beef-cheek bourguignon pithivier; Margra lamb noisettes with du Puy lentils, speck and jus; and a roasted half Bannockburn free-range chicken with a romesco sauce.

There are also larger dishes to share such as an 800-gram cote de boeuf, and a market fish with a meunière sauce and capers.

For drinks, there’s an 90-bottle wine list, a cocktail list of signatures and classics, and 10 beers on tap.

Warisan, Fortitude Valley

Warisan opened in early November in the Hynes Street premises previously occupied by Ze Pickle.

Owners Nick Wigley and Alfan Musthafa’s approach to the fit-out was less-is-more. The old Ze Pickle bar with its 12 taps is still in place, as are the concrete tables, and the timber decking out front. But the furniture has been replaced with old-school metal fold-out chairs, and the team has added a liberal amount of yellow paint.

Warisan is about capturing the street food Musthafa used to eat in Bali on days off from working in hotel kitchens.

Food is split into small, medium and large plates. You might start with vegetable spring rolls served with a house sambal or salt-and-pepper fried chicken before moving on to fragrant salads and stir fries.

Larger plates include grilled half chicken marinated in Lombok red chilli paste and a Jimbaran-style grilled snapper fillet served with a sambal matah. There’s also a significant vegan and plant-based menu.

Drinks have been kept relatively simple with the 12 taps split over seven beers, three cocktails and two wines. Elsewhere, there’s bottled beer, a bunch of signature cocktails and a 25-bottle wine list.

Aloria, CBD

Before it opened in late October, The Star was talking up Aloria as the sky-high jewel in its Queen’s Wharf crown – and it looks the part with its glass brick, cabinets full of wine, and blush-pink furniture.

Michelin-trained chef Shayne Mansfield’s menu aims to present local produce at its best, whether via pickling, ferments, ageing, or the simple application of wood fire or smoke.

Aloria’s snack and entrée menu features dishes such as wood-roasted oysters with a white soy emulsion; fried barra collar with fermented chilli tamarind and smoked peanuts; and roasted tiger prawn with fermented chilli butter.

For mains, you might order miso-roasted cauliflower with burnt leek, toasted yeast cream, The Falls Farm radishes and chive oil; or hay-aged duck breast with beetroot, goat’s curd, fermented garlic honey and neck sauce.

There’s also a 270-bottle wine list compiled by sommelier Damian Danaher (formerly Bennelong and The Gidley in Sydney) that ranges from approachable local producers to some rare European bottles, including a 1982 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild bordeaux that clocks in at $20,599.

Sokyo Brisbane, CBD

Sokyo was one of the first restaurants to open at the blockbuster Queen’s Wharf complex.

Design wise this is a different beast to the dark and moody original Sokyo in Sydney, the 160-seat restaurant given a lighter, brighter treatment that makes the most of its floor-to-ceiling windows that look across the expressway to the river and South Bank beyond.

In the kitchen is Alex Yu, who became known for his artistry with sushi and sashimi during stints at Sokyo Sydney and later at Melbourne’s Yugen, which he helped earn two chef hats.

Yu’s menu is split into starters, tempura and items cooked on the robata grill on the one hand, and traditional sushi items on the other, including nigiri, sashimi, and signature nigiri and sushi rolls.

The go-to play, though, is a chef’s selection 24-piece sashimi platter, artfully presented in a style befitting Yu’s moniker as the “sashimi florist”.

For drinks, there’s a signature cocktail list, and a sake menu that includes sparkling sake. The wine list runs to about 110 bottles and favours local producers, but includes a lengthy selection of champagne.

Azteca, CBD

Azteca opened at Queen’s Wharf in October and is Potentia Solutions Leisure’s (Lina Rooftop, Soko et al) best realised venue to date. The 126-seat design, with its breeze blocks, mosaic tiles, heavy timber features and live hanging greenery, is striking and precise, the food and drinks menus detailed and well-realised.

Azteca’s menu draws inspiration from various parts of Latin America.

For starters and entrees there’s yellowfin tuna tacos with kimchi carrot and Yarra Valley salmon roe; bone marrow with braised kangaroo tail, yuca hash browns and a shiso chimichurri; and coral trout ceviche with buttermilk, cucumber, a lemon and yuzu puree, and dill oil.

Larger plates include 24-hour S. Kidman and Co four-score wagyu short rib served with sake, mirin, soy and Asian leaves, and line-caught coral trout with baby corn, spring onion, pickled onion and huitlacoche.

There are also plates to share such as butterflied 900-gram Rocky Point blue speckled grouper, and pot-roasted South Australian lobster with chipotle, lime and coriander.

For drinks, Jared Thibault (ex-Talisman Group, Ovolo and QT Hotels) has written a cocktail list with cachaca (a Brazilian spirit made from fermented sugar cane juice) as its cornerstone. The wine list is a tight 60 bottles that dedicates plenty of space to drops from Argentina and Chile and Coravin by-the glass selections.

Byblos, Portside Wharf

Ghanem Group launched Luc Lac in October at Queen’s Wharf, but arguably more impressive was its November reinvention of its classic Byblos restaurant at Portside Wharf, which originally opened back in 2005.

Gone is the dark and flashy treatment of the old venue, replaced instead by a light, bright interior that better communes with the river outside. It’s all arched travertine features, marble surfaces and subtle lighting.

On group exec chef Jake Nicolson’s revised menu you’ll find fried eggplant fatteh with cow’s milk tahini yoghurt sauce, fresh mint and toasted flatbread, Lebanese spiced pork and lamb sausages with lemon and butter, grilled butterflied quail with orange blossom honey, and grilled black tiger prawn skewers with chilli shatta butter.

Larger plates to share include roasted cauliflower with spiced butter, toasted walnuts and soft herbs, and slow-cooked lamb shoulder with Lebanese lamb rice.

Drinks remain cocktail-forward, with group beverage director Aaron Clark creating an imaginative list of signatures.

There’s also a trio of shared cocktails, Arak (a triple-distilled drink made from Lebanese grapes and flavoured with aniseed), and a relatively focused wine list of around 100 bottles that includes plenty of champagne and sparkling plus a clutch of drops from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Pompette, CBD

The second opening at Queen’s Wharf for prolific restaurateur Michael Tassis in as many weeks (after Dark Shepherd), and his fourth this year (after Fatcow and Longwang), French restaurant Pompette is a contender for his best yet.

Pompette has scored Queen’s Wharf’s prime spot right next to the Neville Bonner pedestrian bridge and features an al fresco dining area that looks up the river towards the CBD.

Tassis Group’s go-to designer company Clui has produced a restaurant with flashes of French inspiration. There’s fluted glass and timber-edged tables, mosaic-tile flooring and a lengthy marble comptoir, and a series of interlocking banquettes have been cut low to capture a sense of intimacy without losing the buzz.

For food, chef Jean Luc Morcellet is cooking a bunch of classics given a modern twist: think a sand crab salad with espelette mayonnaise and a saffron rouille, scallops with blue cheese and creamed quinoa, gnocchi a la Parisienne with wild mushrooms, comte and parmesan crisp, and a wagyu beef burger with foie gras, tomato, fries and a blue-cheese dipping sauce.

There are also larger plates to share such as a nine-score wagyu cote de boeuf served with two sides of your choice, live rock lobster thermidor, and a half or full duck a l’orange.

For drinks there’s a lengthy, French-focused wine list that includes 40 champagnes and close to 40 wines by the glass. There are also signature cocktails alongside a bunch of spritzes and featured classics.

Emme, Fortitude Valley

Emme opened in late April in the old Spoon Deli space at James Street Market. It’s former Greca head chef Tze Lian’s first restaurant as co-owner.

The other partners in the business are brothers Sultan and Sam Amesheh, with much of the menu inspired by the Amesheh family’s Moroccan and Jordanian heritage.

Emme offers all-day service, with the menu split into breakfast, and then lunch and dinner.

In the morning, you might order poached eggs with pickled eggplant, walnuts, labneh, chilli and sourdough; an avo on toast with harissa and a native dukkah; or a crab omelette with chives, Aleppo chilli and sourdough.

Later in the day there’s a char-grilled baby squid salad with ’nduja, herbs and shallot; a swordfish kofta; pipis with harissa butter and black lime; barbecue chicken with garlic yoghurt and shishitos; and a 300-gram wagyu sirloin with spiced mustard.

For drinks, there’s a relatively brief 50-bottle wine list designed not to be too deferential to the food.

The restaurant’s 40-seat dining room (there are 40 more seats outside during the day around an espresso machine that punches out Five Senses coffee) is an understated looker defined by an enormous stone dining counter, an eye-catching textured concrete wall, and cross-hatched acoustic panelling on the ceiling.

Taking pride of place in the open kitchen is a wood-fired oven and hearth produced by Melbourne’s The Brick Chef – it handles much of the cooking.

Ach, Hamilton

You’ll find Ach in an oddly isolated location, on Hamilton’s MacArthur Avenue surrounded by empty lots. But that hasn’t stopped it from turning heads this year, both with locals from the eastern end of the North Shore precinct, and restaurant diehards making the trek out to see what all the fuss is about.

There’s a real Middle Eastern bent here courtesy of co-owner Noam Lissner’s Israeli background, with the majority of the food prepped using a wood-fire hearth custom-made by Sumner’s Bullockhead Creek.

The menu changes regularly according to what’s in season, but dishes so far have included baked Hokkaido scallops with fermented chilli butter and lamb bacon; cabbage skewers with borani and an eggplant glaze; Margra lamb ribs with harira, kibbeh and chermoula; and market fish shashlik with preserved lemon labneh, grape and black lime.

The wine list is full of interesting drops, from a Mersel Phoenix skin contact white made with merwah (a light-skinned grape genetically similar to semillon and chardonnay), to a Suertes del Marques 7 Fuentes listán negro and tintilla blend from the Canary Islands. The rest of the cellar comprises mostly Australian producers.

The design of the venue was largely handled by the team themselves. They’ve kept the space simple and open to the elements, the walls painted a cool green to match the lush garden beds that surround the restaurant.

Honourable Mentions

Bar Miette – Trader House’s “other Brisbane venue” is a thriller in its own right, serving refined Euro-inspired small plates on a brilliant riverside terrace.

Dumbo – The Red Hook crew build on their New York street food concept at this casual Portside spot.

Fatcow – Tassis Group’s popular steak joint is finally reborn in a moody James Street dining room.

Dark Shepherd – Michael Tassis does for lamb what steakhouses have done for beef in a slick Queen’s Wharf space.

Monal Dining – An ex-Honto chef and his cousin offer a new interpretation of “modern Australian” in an intimate Newstead spot.

Bar Rocco – Gun chef Ashley-Maree Kent uses a stackable custom-made grill to anchor a menu of approachable Italian comfort food.

Black Hide – The Gambaro family’s steakhouse gets a brightly designed, seafood-inflected makeover at Queen’s Wharf.

Montrachet – a French classic reopens with celebrated Canberra-based chef Clement Chauvin in charge.

Luc Lac – Ghanem Group take on elevated Vietnamese and Thai at Queen’s Wharf.

Fair Play Kitchen – Method to the Madness’ Reagan Nongkhlaw and Urvik Bhalani transform the Sherwood Magpies Football Club into a slick gastropub.