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COFFEE & FOOD · BEST & FAVOURITES

Best old-school Italian shortlist: a tucked-away city dinner.

Waiters Restaurant · Meyers Place

The Waiters Restaurant exterior, in an archive photograph whose source dates it to August 2018.

Photo: Mattinbgn / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Display cropped. The Waiters Restaurant exterior, in an archive photograph whose source dates it to August 2018.

About this place

A long-running Italian dining room for an unfussy dinner. The City of Melbourne includes it in its Italian guide and traces its social-club origins to 1947.

The record

Comparison: Selected for a long-standing Italian dining tradition and a hidden city setting.

The 1947 date concerns its origins. This is a best-for shortlist choice, not a claim to be Melbourne’s oldest restaurant.

Visiting

Check the venue’s current menu, hours and booking arrangements before visiting.

Confirm access and dietary needs directly with the venue. Occasion tags are editorial suggestions. They do not certify accessibility or opening hours.

A dateWith friendsJust wandering

Sources

Sources checked 23 September 2026. A publisher’s claim is attributed; it is not a complete independent survey.