Eat + drink
Where to eat + drink in Byron Bay
Cheap eats for the backpacker budget, the cafés worth the queue, the bars locals actually drink at, and the places that close at 3am. Independent — we don't take payment for placement. Pair this with our honest reviews of every Byron backpacker hostel, the directory of surf schools and tour operators, or our Schoolies survival guide if you're visiting in late November.
Showing 19 of 19 places
Cheap eats + late-night
Under $20, fast service, the post-pub staples and self-cater alternatives.
Bay Kebabs
$Lawson Street, Byron Bay · Daily until late
Post-pub institution. 200m from Main Beach, vegan falafel option, Polaroid-walls aesthetic. The Byron 3am ritual.
Bay Kebabs is the Byron post-pub ritual. Open late, 200m from Main Beach, walls covered in customer Polaroids going back years. The vegan falafel wrap is not just an afterthought. $12-18 for a full meal that absorbs four pints. The line at midnight on a Saturday tells you everything.
Byron Bay Hotbread Kitchen
$Byron Bay · 24 hours
Open 24 hours. Pies, sandwiches, end-of-night staple.
Byron Bay Hotbread Kitchen is the only 24-hour bakery in town — pies, sandwiches, the savoury end-of-night staple if Bay Kebabs has a queue. Cheap, fast, open whenever you need it.
Fishmongers
$Bay Lane, Byron Bay · Daily lunch + dinner
Hand-cut chips, fresh fish, all under $20. Cheap, fast, surprisingly good.
Fishmongers does the proper fish-and-chips Byron version — fresh local fish, hand-cut chips, sit on the steps outside or take it to the beach. Under $20. The locals' cheap-eat for seafood.
Cafés + brunch
Where Byron does the famous breakfast bowl + flat white morning ritual.
Bayleaf Café
$$2A Marvell Street, Byron Bay · Daily: takeaway from 6:30am, dine-in from 7am; closes 1pm weekdays, 2pm weekends
Long-standing local + visitor favourite. Seasonal local menu, Blackboard-roasted coffee.
Bayleaf is where the locals actually go for breakfast. The menu is seasonal and built on Northern Rivers produce. Coffee is among the best in town. Smaller than Top Shop, less Insta, better food.
Byron Bay General Store
$$Byron Bay · Daily
Café + general store hybrid. Decent breakfast, plus you can grab pantry items on the way out.
Byron Bay General Store is the café-plus-pantry hybrid — solid breakfast, decent coffee, and you walk out with sourdough and granola for the hostel kitchen. Less Insta, more useful.
Combi
$$21-25 Fletcher Street, Byron Bay · Daily 7am–3pm
Vegan/health café. Acai bowls, smoothie bowls, the Insta original.
Combi is the Insta-famous vegan/health café — bamboo-clad, hot-pink coffee counter, acai bowls that cost twice what they should but look right on camera. Founded in Byron, now a small chain. If you're here for the aesthetic, this is the spot. If you're here for value, Bayleaf or Folk are better.
Folk
$$Skinners Shoot Road, Byron Bay · Daily 7am–3pm
Garden café tacked onto a caravan park. Tree-stump seating, railway-sleeper veggie patch. Vegetarian-friendly.
Folk sits in the garden of a caravan park on Skinners Shoot Road — tree-stump seating, sleepers-built-into-veggie-patch aesthetic, mostly vegetarian/vegan menu. Slightly out of town (10 min walk) but worth it. The atmosphere does a lot of the work; food is solid not spectacular.
Naked Treaties
$$Byron Bay · Daily 7am–3pm
Raw vegan cakes, crepes. Sells out by afternoon — get there before 1pm.
Naked Treaties does raw vegan cakes and crepes that genuinely taste like dessert, not health food. The cake counter sells out by 2pm most days. Worth the price if vegan is your default; if not, still worth one visit.
Punch & Daisy
$Byron Street, Byron Bay · Daily 7am–3pm
Wraps + salads + smoothies. Fast, cheap, the "actually feed me without ceremony" lunch spot.
Punch & Daisy is the no-fuss lunch — wraps, salads, smoothies, all under $15. When Combi feels too much and Bayleaf has a queue, this is the answer. Quick service, good for grabbing-and-walking-to-the-beach.
Top Shop
$$65 Carlyle Street, Byron Bay · Daily 6:30am–4pm
Ex-1950s milk bar turned café. Picnic-on-the-lawn culture, arty crowd, brunch must-do.
Top Shop is the original Byron lawn-picnic café — kiosk window, takeaway burgers and acai bowls, then everyone eats on the grass out front. The arty crowd morning ritual. Not the cheapest brunch but iconic enough that you go once.
Restaurants
Splurge tier when the budget allows — paddock-to-plate, late-night Asian, the Beachie.
Bang Bang
$$4/1 Byron Street, Byron Bay · Mon–Fri 5pm–11pm, Sat 12pm–11pm, Sun 5pm–10pm
Late-night Asian. Share plates + cocktails, open until 11pm most nights. The sit-down option after the pub when Bay Kebabs won't do.
Bang Bang is the late-night Asian — share plates and cocktails, open until 11pm most nights. Where people go after the pub when they don't want a kebab. Pricier than Bay Kebabs but actual food.
The Mez Club
$$$4/85-87 Jonson Street, Byron Bay · Book via the website; bottomless brunch Sat–Sun from 12pm
Mediterranean share-plate restaurant on Jonson Street, with an upstairs space, The Souk, for groups and cocktails. Open since 2016.
The Mez Club is a Mediterranean restaurant styled on Moroccan architecture and the Greek Islands, open since September 2016. The menu mixes Moroccan, French, Italian and Spanish flavours as share plates and mains. Upstairs, The Souk takes groups and functions, and there's a bottomless brunch on weekends. It's a sit-down splurge dinner, not a late-night club, so book ahead.
Three Blue Ducks at The Farm
$$$11 Ewingsdale Road, Ewingsdale · Daily breakfast + lunch
Paddock-to-plate restaurant on a working farm. Splurge tier. Where the balloon flight breakfast lands.
Three Blue Ducks at The Farm is paddock-to-plate at a working farm 5 min west of Byron — the breakfast destination for the hot-air-balloon crowd. $25-40 a plate. Worth doing once if your budget allows. Walk the farm afterwards.
Treehouse on Belongil
$$25 Childe Street, Byron Bay · Daily 7am–late
Cocktails + pizza at sunset. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with live music.
Treehouse on Belongil is a sunset cocktails + pizza institution at the Belongil end. It's open daily from breakfast until late, with wood-fired pizzas, cocktails and live music. Wake Up! is right next door if you want a backup spot.
Bars + pubs
Beachfront, locals' pubs, and the late-night options.
The Beach Hotel
$$$1 Bay Street, Byron Bay · Daily 11am–late
Iconic beachfront pub. Family lunch venue by day, live music + crowds at night. Pricier — the view is what you pay for.
"The Beachie" is the classic Byron beach pub — beachfront, big lawn area, sunset crowds. Pricier than backpacker spots (most mains $26-40 on the June 2026 menu), live music most nights, family-friendly by day. The lawn at sunset is the Byron postcard. Skip the food if budget is tight, come for one drink at golden hour.
The Northern Hotel
$$35 Jonson Street, Byron Bay · Daily — sport, pool, live music weekends
"The Nort" — pub mainstay with pool tables, sport on the screens, live music weekends.
"The Nort" is the standard pub — pool tables, sport, schnitty-and-pint pricing, live music at weekends. Less Insta than the Beachie, less party than Woody's, more reliable than both for a normal evening.
The Rails (Railway Friendly Bar)
$$86 Jonson Street, Byron Bay · Daily 11am–midnight, music nightly
Old railway station turned pub. Live music every night, no cover, locals' favourite.
The Rails is the locals' pub — live music every night of the year, no cover charge, an old converted railway building right in the centre of town. Cheaper than the Beachie, more atmosphere than most. The first place locals point tourists to when asked "where's good?" Hostel staff included.
Clubs + late-night
Where the post-Beachie crowd ends up.
Woody's Surf Shack
$$Shop 9-10, The Plaza, 90-96 Jonson Street, Byron Bay · Closed
Late-night surf-themed bar. 1960s-70s surf culture aesthetic. Now closed.
Woody's Surf Shack has closed. Its website thanks customers for 13 years and points them to its sister bar, Saltwater Social Club, at 32 Jonson Street. Woody's was a late-night bar with vintage surf decor, DJs and dancing.
Cheeky Monkeys
$$115 Jonson Street, Byron Bay · Verify before visiting
The iconic backpacker bar — on Jonson Street, across from the former Holiday Village Backpackers site. We could not confirm what is trading here now, so check before you go.
Cheeky Monkeys is the OG Byron backpacker bar — beer pong, dancing on tables, the whole catalogue. We could not confirm what is trading at 115 Jonson Street now, and the venue's website no longer works, so check before you walk in. If it's closed when you read this, check our other late-night venues.