The Best Restaurants in Preston
Preston’s restaurant scene is one of Melbourne’s most underrated. While food media obsesses over the latest opening in Collingwood or the revival of South Yarra, Preston has been quietly building a dining landscape that spans Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican, modern Australian, and everything in between — at prices that make the inner south look like highway robbery.
The backbone of Preston’s food identity is High Street. This single road, running east-west through the suburb, contains more restaurant seats per block than most Melbourne suburbs can dream of. But the real magic isn’t just on High Street — it’s in the side streets, the market stalls, and the random warehouse conversions that you’d never find unless someone told you where to look.
Here’s where to eat in Preston in 2026, and what to order.
Dexter — High Street
Best for: Fire-cooked meat and seasonal dishes that deserve a bigger postcode
Dexter is the kind of restaurant that would feel at home in Collingwood’s Smith Street or Brunswick’s Sydney Road. It does modern Australian cooking with a focus on fire — meat and vegetables kissed by flame, served with seasonal accompaniments that change regularly.
The menu is concise and confident. You won’t find 30 options competing for your attention — you’ll find a focused selection where everything on the plate has a purpose. The steak is excellent, cooked over coals with a char that’s smoky without being acrid. The seasonal vegetables are treated with the same care as the proteins, which tells you everything about the kitchen’s standards.
Dexter fills up on weekends. Book ahead for Friday and Saturday dinner, or aim for a weeknight when you’re more likely to get a walk-in table. The wine list is tight, well-chosen, and priced fairly — you won’t need a second mortgage to pair something decent with your meal.
Sister restaurant Takeaway Pizza is across the road. If you can’t get a table at Dexter, the pizza is a worthy consolation prize.
Takeaway Pizza — High Street
Best for: Wood-fired pizza that’s worth the trip on its own
Despite the deliberately underwhelming name, Takeaway Pizza does some of Melbourne’s best wood-fired pizza from its High Street location in Preston. The base is thin, blistered, and has that slightly chewy centre that tells you the oven is hot enough and the dough has been properly fermented.
The menu covers the classics — margherita, diavola, capricciosa — alongside seasonal specials that take advantage of what’s available. The toppings are generous without being overloaded, and the quality of the ingredients is obvious. This isn’t a $12 pizza joint; prices hover around $16–24 depending on what you order, which is genuinely competitive for the quality.
The restaurant does dine-in and takeaway, and the dine-in space is small but welcoming. If you’re eating in, grab a bottle of wine from the BYO list (check their policy — it may have changed) or choose from their curated wine and beer selection. The bottomless brunch option, shared with sister restaurant Tavolata, has become a weekend drawcard.
Tavolata — High Street
Best for: Pasta done properly in a casual, no-pretence setting
Tavolata is Dexter and Takeaway Pizza’s sibling, completing a trio of High Street restaurants that collectively cover most of what you’d want from a night out. Tavolata does pasta — handmade, seasonal, and served in a room that’s more casual than Dexter but more refined than a standard trattoria.
The pasta dishes rotate with the seasons, but expect combinations like cacio e pepe, ragu-based dishes, and seasonal specials that showcase whatever’s good at the market that week. The portions are generous, the prices are reasonable, and the atmosphere is the kind of relaxed that lets you linger over a second glass of wine without anyone giving you the look.
Tavolata’s bottomless brunch, run jointly with Takeaway Pizza, is one of Preston’s better-value weekend dining options. Check their social media for current details and pricing.
Chumanchu — Gilbert Road
Best for: Vietnamese and Thai food in an unassuming location
Chumanchu sits at the end of Gilbert Road on a small roundabout, surrounded by not much else. This unassuming location is part of its charm — you have to know it’s there, which means the crowd is almost entirely locals who’ve been coming for years.
The menu leans Vietnamese with Thai influences. Pho starts at around $14–15, which is reasonable for the portion size and quality. The lunch and dinner menus cover all the Vietnamese favourites — bun cha, rice paper rolls, com tam — alongside Thai curries and stir-fries that show real depth of flavour.
Chumanchu has been operating for over five years, and the consistency is what keeps regulars returning. The flavours are reliable, the portions are generous, and the prices don’t fluctuate with the seasons. It’s the kind of restaurant you can visit once a week for a year and never get bored.
Pho Hung — High Street
Best for: The original Preston pho experience
Pho Hung is one of Preston’s oldest Vietnamese restaurants and, some would argue, its most important. Located on the High Street strip near the Preston Market, it’s been serving pho to Melbourne’s north since before the suburb’s current wave of gentrification.
A bowl of rare beef pho runs about $14, and the broth is the real deal — deeply flavoured, clear, and served with a plate of fresh herbs, bean sprouts, chilli, and lime that lets you customise each bowl. The menu also does rice dishes, vermicelli bowls, and a solid selection of Vietnamese salads.
Pho Hung is busy at peak times — expect a wait on Saturday lunch. But the turnover is fast, the service is efficient, and the food is consistently good. For first-time visitors to Preston, this is the pho spot that locals will recommend. For repeat visitors, it’s the spot you keep coming back to.
Benzina Cantina — High Street
Best for: Mexican food that goes way beyond burritos
Benzina Cantina brings a genuine Mexican dining experience to Preston — not the Tex-Mex, not the “Mexican-inspired” — actual Mexican street food elevated into a proper restaurant setting. The neon-lit space has cactus-lined interiors, a spacious dining hall, and a rooftop bar.
The tacos are the headline act: pork belly with pickled slaw, spiced chicken with chipotle, mixed veg with black beans. Each one is loaded, properly seasoned, and served on corn tortillas that taste handmade. The burritos are substantial enough to count as a main meal. The enchiladas and quesadillas round out a menu that covers Mexican street food comprehensively.
The rooftop is where Benzina earns its place in Preston’s dining landscape. On a warm evening, a plate of tacos and a properly made margarita in the rooftop sunshine is one of the suburb’s best low-key dining experiences.
Maharaja Tandoori Cuisine — High Street area
Best for: Authentic Indian food at honest prices
Maharaja Tandoori brings traditional Indian cooking to Preston with a menu that covers the classics: tandoori meats, curries, biryanis, and naan breads baked fresh. The space is simple and modern — no over-the-top decor, just clean tables and friendly service.
The tandoori chicken is the standout — smoky, well-spiced, and cooked properly in a tandoor oven that gives it the char and flavour that oven-baked versions can’t match. The butter chicken is rich and well-balanced, and the biryanis are fragrant and generously portioned.
Prices are reasonable — mains typically run $16–22, and the naan breads are some of the best in Melbourne’s north. If you’re in the mood for Indian food and you’re in Preston, Maharaja is the reliable choice.
The Olympic Hotel Bistro — Bell Street
Best for: Classic pub dining at bistro prices
We’re including the Olympic Hotel’s bistro because it serves a function that none of the “proper” restaurants do: classic Aussie pub food at prices that acknowledge you’re in Preston, not South Yarra. A chicken parma for $18–22, a steak with chips and salad for $20–25, and a fish and chips that’s better than it has any right to be.
The bistro has a dedicated following among locals who want a reliable meal in a no-nonsense setting. The servings are generous, the food arrives quickly, and the atmosphere is unpretentious. It’s not a restaurant you’d write a blog post about — it’s a restaurant you’d eat at three times a week without complaint.
This Borderland — High Street area
Best for: American diner comfort food with a vegan option
This Borderland is an old-school diner doing three-cheese poutine, beef brisket burgers, deep-fried pickles, and slices of classic cherry pie. Every item on the menu can be made vegan, which is a rare and welcome touch in the comfort-food space.
The vibe is deliberately retro — think American road trip diner transplanted to Melbourne’s northern suburbs. The portions are generous, the prices are fair, and the food is the kind of unpretentious comfort eating that hits differently at 11pm on a Friday than it does at noon on a Tuesday (both are valid).
How Preston’s Dining Compares to the Inner North
Preston offers something that most inner-north suburbs don’t: genuine depth across multiple cuisines at accessible prices. Brunswick does brunch better. Carlton does Italian better. Footscray does Vietnamese better. But Preston does all of them — and does each one well enough to be worth the trip.
The other advantage is the Preston Market, which acts as a daily food court showcasing the suburb’s multicultural dining DNA. You can have Turkish gözleme for breakfast, Vietnamese pho for lunch, and Italian pasta for dinner, all within a 500-metre radius. Try doing that in Northcote or Thornbury.
For higher-end dining, Northcote has more chef-driven restaurants. For pure cheap-eat density, Reservoir edges ahead. For bar-food culture, Thornbury has some excellent options. But for overall dining variety at reasonable prices, Preston is hard to beat.
What We Skipped and Why
We focused on restaurants that define Preston’s identity — the places a local would recommend, not the ones that rank highest on Google. We left out chain restaurants, hotel dining rooms, and the dozens of smaller takeaway shops that serve the community but don’t fit a “best restaurants” format.
We also skipped newer openings that haven’t been operating long enough to properly assess. Several Preston spots have launched in late 2025 and early 2026, and we’ll add them to future guides once we’ve had time to form real opinions.
More Preston dining guides: → Cheap Eats in Preston — budget-friendly dining → Date Night in Preston — romantic dining options → Restaurants in Northcote — 20 min walk south → Restaurants in Thornbury — 10 min walk
This guide was researched and written by the MELBZ team. Prices and hours are accurate as of March 2026 but should be confirmed before visiting. MELBZ is an independent Melbourne guide — we don’t accept payment for listings.
