The Best 9 Late-Night Bars in Melbourne

The Village Belle Hotel is another great daytime option thanks to its atrium and beer garden that has a retractable glass ceiling. However, at night the upstairs cocktail lounge and DJ floor get pretty wild.

The hotel is a heritage-listed St Kilda icon that has been around since 1891 and is now restored and renovated to include the addition of a double-storey venue that has four distinct areas suited to different atmospheres.

With DJs every Friday and Saturday night, this spot is open until 3am. We recommend starting your Friday session at 6pm to catch the last hour of Happy Hour (which starts at 3pm), where you’ll find tap beers for $6 and Espresso Martinis and cocktails from $12. We also recommend their staple cocktail, the ‘St Kilda Spritz’ which will refresh you at any point when you need a pick-up. What a great way to prime yourself for a long night of fun!

While the Imperial South Yarra is a great spot to visit while the sun is out, its late-night offerings are just as good (if not better). The DJs spin dance bangers well into the night, creating the soundtrack to your journey through their specialty cocktails (some of which are served in fishbowls to cover the whole group).

The team here make a very cool cocktail called the ‘Rue-Dimental’ which features Gin, Blue Curacao, Cranberry, Cinnamon, and Lemon Juice, and we strongly recommend it hits your lips when you visit.

If you are spending a night bar-hopping down Chapel Street, make the Imperial South Yarra your final destination to see out the evening.

The Hawthorn Hotel is known as a legendary party spot (especially for uni students), and after a slight closure, it has a brand-new refurbished look. Opting for the new-age pub feel, which includes loads of plants and exposed brick walls, the all-weather beer garden, late-night entertainment, and happy hour drinks make it even better than before!

You can start your night early, lining the stomach with pub classics like a beef pie with mushy peas and gravy, then work your way down the massive beer tap list, Aussie wine selection, or, wait for it, $15 cocktails. Whether you want a classic old-fashioned or something a little more experimental, like the Creamy Soda Highball, a sparkling cocktail made from Ned Whisky, peaches, sarsaparilla, and vanilla, the Hawthorn Hotel has you covered.

If you love your live music, this is the spot as you’ll see music – they have a solo artist every Friday and Saturday night from 5-8pm followed by full bands both nights from 9pm and a solo artist every Sunday from 2-5pm for the perfect Sunday sesh vibe. Sports lovers will also catch loads of games here, especially when it comes to the UFC!

For those of you who aren’t fussed by late evenings on a school night, Melbourne’s original student night is Tightarse Tuesdays at the Hawthorne Hotel, which features $5 vodkas, $7 basics, $6 Jager and Skittle Bombs, $15 selected jugs and much more. There will be a DJ on the decks until 1am, so you can dance your way over to hump day.

Where better to dance into the wee hours of the morning than a two-storey heritage Edwardian building that was once a bank? The vintage vault doors are still there, and you can drink until the sun comes up on the dancefloor or from the view of the alfresco courtyard that looks out over Richmond.

Fargo & Co has a comprehensive cocktail list that gets pretty inventive. We love the ‘Green With Envy which features Bombay dry gin, Midori, agave, fresh mint, and kiwi served by the venue’s tellers.’ Book one of their new ‘winter ski lodges’ to hang out in with your friends, or cut up the dancefloor. Either way, there is no closing time!

Formerly the institution that was Bimbo, Kewpie is Bimbo reborn, offering cheap pizzas, rotating weekly drink specials, and DJs that keep the night going. Hang out on the rooftop, or in the smaller upstairs rooms, or stay where the big party is on the booth-bordered dance floor.

Grab yourself a Kewpie Swizzle cocktail which mixes Chartreuse Yellow, Falernum, Pineapple and Lime for a traditional Caribbean flavour hit. Thursdays are for hip-hop, Fridays are disco house, electronic house and funk, and Saturday is the House Party, which is all about the good times.

There are plenty of late-night options on Brunswick Street, but Kewpie is the one that embodies the quirk of the area. Open to everyone, the mix of the crowd is what makes it so much fun. Everyone has a great night at Kewpie!

You have to show a lot of respect to a Brunswick Street bar that has been quenching thirsts since 1865. But, age is not a barrier for the Perseverance, which is still known for its wild dancefloor every weekend.

From 90s-themed music nights to dance-heavy electronica that requires the strobe lights and disco balls to work at full force, this is the spot to let the early hours of the morning tick over.

There is definitely an impressive collection of cocktails that can be enjoyed indoors or out in the giant beer garden. We think they make a great Dark N Stormy (rum, lime juice, and ginger beer) but feel free to get more adventurous, and as the neon lights on the wall state, let’s get weird!

Have you even seen the sun rise if it wasn’t from The Provincial rooftop? Enjoy a cocktail on high in another iconic Brunswick Street venue with the most stylish rooftop in all of the lands (it’s also huge).

The extensive wine and cocktail list will ensure your tastebuds never get bored over a long evening. Even though we are certainly on the Northside, the ‘Southside’ cocktail combines gin, mint, sugar and lime juice for a fun and refreshing tastebud treat.

If your late night leads into the next day, the relaxed and popular Sunday sessions in the sun on the rooftop are perfect for some recovery.

So you want somewhere to watch the footy on a Friday or Saturday night that also allows you to kick (pun intended) on afterwards? The Exchange in Port Melbourne has you covered. Watch the game by the fireplace as a warm-up (second intended pun) for a big night ahead.

Catch happy hour on Friday (and every other weekday) from 4-6pm to work through the beer and wine list, then shift over to the signature cocktails. We recommend the very popular Bay St. Mojito, which features Bacardi Carta Oro Rum, Lime, Mint, Brown Sugar, Crushed Ice, and Soda. Delicious!

Every Friday and Saturday, you’ll can also make use of the ‘Late Night Happy Hour,’ which runs from 10pm – 12am and offers $10 seltzers, espresso martinis and vodkas, and $12 vodka red bulls to energise you for the late DJ sets.

While this list is in no particular order, we’ve saved one of the best until last. The Newmarket Hotel is both retro and modern, capturing the essence of St Kilda and sticking it into a pub. The fairy lights in the beer garden twinkle late into the night while you work through the large selection of beers on tap.

While we recommend you leave your pets at home for the late-night partying (dogs love their sleep), this venue is usually very dog-friendly and even offers doggie parmas on Tuesdays (the accompanying ‘salad’ is dog treats and kibble).

There’s also plenty of delicious human food, and you can start your night early with Happy Hour between 4–7pm, which includes $5.50 draught beer, house wine and spirits, along with $12 cocktails. The music is also worth a mention as you’ll find an eclectic mix of every genre, from dance to jazz, R&B and rock. The sound system here is no joke, so get ready to groove.