Da Bepi: Venice on Sydney Road
There is a moment, standing at the bar at Da Bepi with a glass of skin-contact something-or-other and a plate of salt cod crostini, where Sydney Road disappears. The traffic noise fades. The tram bells stop. For a minute you are in a bacaro on a Venice side street, elbow to elbow with strangers who are all there for the same reason: good wine, good food, no fuss.
Da Bepi opened on Sydney Road in Brunswick with a clear brief – bring the Venetian bacaro to Melbourne. A bacaro is not a wine bar in the Australian sense. There are no share plates designed for Instagram. No degustation menu. No bookings. You walk in, you stand at the bar, you point at what looks good behind the glass, and you drink whatever the person pouring recommends. That is the format, and Da Bepi has committed to it without compromise.
The space is small and deliberately so. Dark timber, low lighting, and a bar that dominates the room. The kitchen is an arm’s reach from where you stand. On weekends there are DJs. On quieter nights there are Italian card games happening in the corner. It is the kind of place that rewards regulars – the staff remember what you drank last time and steer you towards something new.
What to Expect
Walking in on a Friday night, the first thing you notice is the noise. Not loud music, just conversation. People talking over wine, arguing about whether the mortadella or the bresaola is better, calling out to the bartender for another pour. The room holds maybe 40 people standing and it fills early.
There is no table service in the traditional sense. You order at the bar, carry your plates to wherever you have found a spot, and go back when you want more. This is not a bug in the system – it is how a bacaro works. It keeps the energy up and removes the formality that drags down so many wine bars. You are not there for a three-hour dinner. You are there for an hour or two of excellent wine and cicchetti before heading home or moving on to somewhere else.
The wine list changes regularly and is curated by region rather than by grape variety. Expect natural and low-intervention wines from Veneto, Friuli, Sicily, and a rotating selection from smaller Italian producers most Melburnians will not have encountered. Glasses start around $14 and the staff are genuinely knowledgeable – not performatively so, but in the way that matters: they can match a wine to what you are eating without making it a lecture.
What to Order
The cicchetti board is the centrepiece. These are Venetian bar snacks – small, punchy, designed to be eaten in two or three bites between sips of wine.
- Baccala crostini ($12) – salt cod whipped smooth on crisp bread, a classic Venetian bite that Da Bepi executes cleanly
- Cicchetti selection plate ($18) – a rotating board of 5 to 6 small bites, good for a first visit when you want to try a range
- Mortadella with pistachio ($14) – thick-cut, quality deli meat, nothing fancy but done properly
- Fried seafood ($16) – whatever is fresh, lightly battered, served with lemon and nothing else
- Marinated artichoke hearts ($10) – sharp, acidic, the ideal wine pairing bite
- Charcuterie board ($24) – a larger format for two or three people, featuring cured meats and pickled vegetables
Do not skip the house-made focaccia if it is available. It comes and goes depending on the day.
The Details
- Address: 391 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Price range: $15-45 per person
- Best for: Late-night wine and snacks after dinner elsewhere
- Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm to late
- Bookings: Walk-in only – no reservations
- Dietary notes: Several naturally gluten-free cicchetti options; ask staff for guidance
Why We Rate It
Da Bepi fills a gap that Brunswick did not know it had. Sydney Road has plenty of bars and plenty of restaurants, but nothing that combined wine and food in this specific, focused way. The bacaro format works because it strips away the overhead – no table service means lower prices, faster turnover, and a room that stays energised all night.
The honest assessment: it is not for everyone. If you want a sit-down dinner with courses and a waiter who checks on you, this is the wrong venue. If you want somewhere that treats wine seriously without being precious about it, where the food is good enough to build an evening around but casual enough to eat standing up, Da Bepi is one of the best additions to Brunswick in years.
The natural wine list alone is worth the visit. The staff rotation of pours means you will rarely drink the same thing twice across multiple visits. And at $15 to $45 per person depending on appetite, it is one of the better value wine experiences on this side of the city.
Getting There
Da Bepi is on Sydney Road, Brunswick’s main strip. Tram routes 19 and 58 stop within a two-minute walk. Jewell Station on the Upfield line is 600 metres south. Street parking on Sydney Road is metered until 7:30pm; side streets are unrestricted after 6pm. If you are coming from the city, the 19 tram drops you almost at the door.
Related
Information compiled from venue websites, Google Maps, and public review sources. Prices and hours may change – check with the venue before visiting.