Australia’s dining scene is in the midst of a spirited green revolution. Restaurants are making conscious efforts to implement zero-waste policies and curating seasonal menus with a side of sustainability.
In Canberra, an urban farm cafe is equipped with beehives, fruit trees, herb gardens, and an industrial onsite composter. A “grain-to-glass” brewery in Queensland is almost entirely solar-powered and turns leftover spent grain into dog cookies. Locally foraged succulents and flowers play prominent roles on the menu at an Indigenous-inspired place in Byron Bay.
Every meal at these sustainable restaurants is a step towards a cleaner, greener future. Read on for a guide to the 12 most eco-friendly restaurants in Australia to book now.
Vue de monde – Melbourne, Victoria
Vue de monde is on a mission to become Australia’s first closed-loop, zero-waste restaurant, a directive initiated by acclaimed chef and founder Shannon Bennett. The ever-changing menu highlights the wonder of organic, homegrown produce and native Australian ingredients that appear in dishes such as macadamia and smoked eel tofu, kangaroo and nasturtium, and chocolate souffle with billy tea ice cream. The Australian landscape comes alive in the restaurant’s elegant dining room with tables and chairs made from humanely-sourced kangaroo skin.
Green Acre Pizza Bar – Melbourne, Victoria
As its name suggests, Green Acre is all about reducing environmental impact. The menu is heavy on plant-based pizzas topped with locally sourced ingredients such as vegan salami and caramelised onion and pumpkin. Drinks are all about a bottle-free experience with Victorian-brewed beer (and other beverages) served on tap. Even those taking their food to-go can rest easy knowing their pizza boxes are made from recycled cardboard. Green Acre incorporates salvaged and recycled materials into its interior design as part of its commitment to sustainability, including the lights and the stereo system.
Two Before Ten – Canberra, ACT
Two Before Ten is just as committed to sustainability as it is to pouring some of Canberra’s finest coffee. For starters, the cafe sources beans from fair trade farmers around the globe, ensuring every coffee bean, bag, and takeaway cup is reusable or compostable. The baristas don’t let anything go to waste and save leftover steamed milk, which is turned into whipped vanilla ricotta for pancakes or beetroot ricotta on salads and burgers. The cafe’s urban farm provides year-round produce to support seasonal menus for each of its eight cafes. The farm is equipped with mushroom-growing rooms, beehives, fruit trees, and an expansive vegetable garden. To create a closed-loop system, there’s also an industrial composter onsite for packaging materials, food scraps, garden waste, and coffee grounds.
Monster Kitchen & Bar – Canberra, ACT
Monster Bar + Kitchen is set in the Ovolo Nishi Hotel and part of the first hotel group in the world committed to plant-based dining across all its venues. Its cutting-edge vegetarian menu is steered by the seasons and supports producers in neighbouring regions. Current standouts include tempura-stuffed zucchini flowers, butternut squash katsu, and shiitake and sweet soy dumplings. The drinks list features organic and biodynamic Australian wines and house cocktails reflect the restaurant’s sustainability focus.
Crafted by Matt Moran – Sydney, NSW
Chef Matt Moran was the pioneer of “paddock to plate” dining in Australia and brings this approach to his newest restaurant in the Art Gallery of NSW. Every dish on the Mediterranean-inspired menu reflects the fourth-generation farmer’s passion for premium Australian produce, meat, and seafood with stand-out dishes such as fresh fig salad with pickled grapes and fennel flowers, porchetta with fregola sarda (round Sardinian pasta) and mustard fruit, and pineapple granita with whipped coconut cream and rum-soaked raisins. Moran’s involvement with Australia’s leading food rescue organisation, OzHarvest, is yet another example of his commitment to the zero-waste movement.
love.fish – Sydney, NSW
love.fish is known to regulars as a green-minded fish bar for its sustainably sourced seafood, produce-driven cocktails, and pioneering waste management practices. The spot gives offcuts a new life by transforming Moreton Bay bug shells into a bisque, then making shellfish oil from it. Fennel tops are fermented to make a chutney while excess produce makes appearances in staff meals. Even gherkin juice is upcycled to flavour martinis. Among a slew of pioneering efforts, love.fish uses Barangaroo’s wastewater recycling system (the precinct was awarded a 6 Green Star for its commitment to sustainability), converts organic waste into green energy and fertilisers, and serves takeaway in plant-based plastic containers.
The Keel – Sydney, NSW
The Keel is not your ordinary rum bar. With a maritime menu and respect for its surroundings, the restaurant supports environmental charities. Its seafood-focused menu is rich with bounty from local producers and small businesses who share similar eco-friendly ethoses and is filled with offerings such as prawn rolls, fish croquettes, and snapper ceviche. Historically themed cocktails are made with rum, gin, and whiskies from green-minded distilleries. The Keel goes the extra mile by dedicating 50 percent of its profits to the reforestation of the Daintree rainforest and initiatives that return custodianship to the region’s Indigenous people.
Karkalla – Byron Bay, NSW
Sustainability is a non-negotiable for Indigenous foods expert, gardening enthusiast, and ex-MasterChef contestant Mindy Woods. Karkalla is a nod to the chef’s Bundjalung heritage with a native-inspired menu showcasing locally foraged succulents, flowers, herbs, and other regional produce. Woods’s culinary creations balance Indigenous ingredients with modern flavours, best seen in dishes such as kangaroo tartare with pickled muntries, macadamia, and pepperberry, and crispy salt bush with bush tomato mayo and lemon. Locally rooted cocktails, Karkalla’s house spritz, and a succinct selection of Australian wines round out the inventive meal.
The Grounds of Alexandria Cafe – Sydney, NSW
One of Sydney’s finest farm-to-table dining experiences awaits at this thriving urban sanctuary. The pie factory is now decked with a lush garden filled with fresh vegetables, organic herbs, and edible flowers. That bounty is showcased daily on The Grounds’ seasonally driven menu, alongside eggs from on-site chickens. Whether you choose to dine inside or reconnect with nature in the rustic, farm-like surroundings, you’ll be treated to a homey spread.
Green Fields Bar + Restaurant – Gold Coast, Queensland
This environmentally conscious bar and restaurant is steered by the Gold Coast’s top hospitality students. Green Fields offers a sensory dining experience that’s in tune with the seasons on the TAFE Queensland’s Robina campus. The fledgling chefs are committed to sourcing fresh, free-range produce and work closely with local farmers who share their commitment to staying carbon negative and prioritising organic produce that’s free from synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Green Field’s drinks menu is just as locally focused, featuring brews and liquor from certified Gold Coast brewers and distillers.
Revel Brewing Co. – Brisbane, Queensland
‘Grain-to-glass’ is the motto at Bulimba’s Revel Brewing Co. The multi-award-winning independent craft brewery reduces and recycles waste in all aspects of its operation. The brewery is powered almost entirely by rooftop solar panels and sends any spent grain to BeefBank (a local food charity) or turns it into delicious dog biscuits. Revel also honours Bulimba’s rich brewing history with its locally crafted beers, full of personality and flavour. As an added bonus, the brewery serves wood-fired pizzas, plus vegan options topped with Bullimba-made dairy-free cheese.
Detour – Brisbane, Queensland
Detour offers a thought-provoking dining experience in a heritage-listed building that was once an old tyre factory. Chef Damon Amos’s inclusive and shareable menu is almost entirely gluten-free, split into an omnivore and herbivore selection. The former features sustainably-produced emu and edible black ants, while the latter showcases creative plant-based dishes such as beetroot tartare and “fossilised” carrots made with chia, dukkah, and cashew. The restaurant’s interiors are warm with recycled timber finishes, menus made of folded recycled paper, and reconditioned kitchen equipment. Detour pours recycled water and its wine list celebrates small, biodynamic Australian wine producers, proving the restaurant a bonafide sustainability star.
Three Blue Ducks – Brisbane, Queensland
This farm-to-table restaurant constantly reinvents sustainable and ethical practices. Like its other outposts, the Brisbane location is all about reducing its carbon footprint by sourcing seasonal produce locally and opting for free-range, GMO-free, and organic ingredients whenever possible.Three Blue Ducks offers alcohol and kombucha on tap to reduce bottle waste, along with ethically made beverages (non-alcoholic beer, gin) from the Brisbane River and its surrounding suburbs. There’s even housemade zero-waste limoncello, made with fresh peels from lemons that are juiced for cocktails.
Bocca Italian – Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Get a fresh take on Italian classics at this eco-friendly Bokarina Beach pizzeria. Executive chef Harry Lilai works with local and smallholder farms to feature their produce on antipasti and hand-stretched pastas. Beyond its commitment to local produce, Bocca Italian minimises waste by using fish bones for stock and vegetable trims in sauces and salsas.
Melissa Woodley is a passionate food writer who is currently eating her way through Sydney and exploring as many new cuisines as possible. Follow her on Instagram @sporkdiaries.
