Frugal and festive don’t often go hand in hand. But it’s possible to tick off all those end-of-year catch-ups without blowing your Christmas budget. Read on for a dozen of the best dining deals suitable for groups – at reborn pubs, hatted neighbourhood restaurants, hot new rooftop bars and more.

$55 set-menu lunch at Alta Trattoria, Fitzroy

You can splash out at hatted Fitzroy trattoria Alta. But you don’t have to. The lunchtime lure – from Thursday to Sunday – is a multi-course set menu, with your choice of antipasto and pasta, for a ridiculously affordable $55 a head. Bonus: you can BYO.

Ground floor rear, 274 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, altatrattoria.com

$20 carbonara and $14 garibaldis at Bar Carolina, South Yarra

If you and your mates like to go big on cheesy plates of pasta and bittersweet cocktails – without spending big – mark Bar Carolina’s La Bella Vita offer in your diary. Before 2pm at weekends, there are big bowls of spaghetti carbonara for $20 and garibaldis (Campari and freshly squeezed orange juice) for $14. Boozy brunch? Hair of the dog? You decide.

44 Toorak Road, South Yarra, barcarolina.com.au

$25 chicken night at Firebird, Prahran

Behold: a winning dinner deal worth crossing the road – or even the city – for. Every Wednesday from 5.30pm, Prahran’s flame-throwing Vietnamese restaurant Firebird is dishing up its signature wood-fired free-range chicken with burnt-chilli nuoc mam and your choice of two sides (wok-tossed greens, papaya salad, grilled corn, rice) for $25.

223 High Street, Prahran, firebirdmelbourne.com.au

$15 burgers, negronis and margaritas at the Punters Club, Fitzroy

Recently crowned the inaugural Pub of the Year in The Age Good Food Guide 2025, the Punters Club has something great going on every night of the week. On Mondays, that means $15 burgers (with fries, of course), as well as $15 negronis and Tommy’s Margs, $10 pints of Punters Draught, and free live gigs. “Our weekends end on Mondays!”

376 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, puntersclubfitzroy.com

$18 noodle bar nights at Kata Kita, CBD

Two city diners – the Indonesian Kata Kita and the Malaysian Jojo Little Kitchen – have teamed up for a new late-night dining series, running from 8.30pm every Thursday until December 12. Expect $18 noodles bowls, including dry-aged duck with vermicelli, garlic oil and spring onion; fun, fruity specialty cocktails; and live DJ sets all night long.

266 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, katakita.com.au

$29 steak night at the North Fitzroy Arms, Fitzroy North

Steaks usually start about $42 at rebooted backstreet boozer, the North Fitzroy Arms. But thanks to its brand-new Monday special, you get steak au poivre, swimming in peppercorn sauce, for $29, with a handful of hot chips and a tangle of leafy greens.

296 Rae Street, Fitzroy North, northfitzroyarms.com.au

$35 paella and cocktail at Bar Lourinha, CBD

The hatted Bar Lourinha is a temple of tapas, but Sundays are all about paella, cooked at the bar from 1pm and almost impossible not to order as its scent fills the room. It’s $35 with a tinto de verano cocktail, combining rosé with Spain’s fruit-forward Licor 43, lemonade and fresh fruit. Walk-ins are welcome, but bookings are recommended if you’re going with a group.

37 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, barlourinha.com.au

$49 two-course set menu at Omnia, South Yarra

A lunchtime booking is your ticket to experience south-side bistro Omnia for less. Thursday to Saturday – from noon to 2.30pm – $49 gets you a two-course seasonal set menu that could include McIvor Farm pork cotoletta or confit marlin with charred peas. And if you don’t mind pushing the boat out a little more, there’s a three-course set menu for $64.

625 Chapel Street, South Yarra, omniabistro.com.au

$15 margheritas and $14 margaritas at Wolf & Swill, Thornbury

If you can coax the group chat into an early dinner at Thornbury pizza palace Wolf & Swill, you’ll save some cash. Thursday to Monday, 4pm to 6pm, the happy-hour promise is $15 margherita pizzas, $14 margarita cocktails (classic or blood orange) and $8 pints.

826 High Street, Thornbury, wolfandswill.com

$8-$14 happy hour at Barra, CBD

Chef Alejandro Saravia’s new restaurant Morena and its sibling Barra are ushering in a new era for Melbourne’s Latin American dining scene. The latter recently launched a happy hour, so you can treat yourself to cheap drinks ($8 Estrella Damm, $10 pineapple spritzes, $14 palomas) before hitting the signature ox tongue anticuchos (skewers).

73 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, morenarestaurant.com.au/barra

$20 Detroit-style pizza at Square Slice, Windsor

Detroit-style, deep-pan pizza is the point of difference at the south’s new Square Slice. And Tuesday is the most economical day to visit, when two of the most popular slices – the margherita and the Buzzbomb, with pepperoni and hot honey – are $20 a pop.

242 High Street, Windsor, squareslicewindsor.com.au