Bay Kebabs at 3am: still the post-pub Byron ritual

Bay Kebabs, 200m from Main Beach, has been Byron's post-pub ritual since at least 2003 (some sources say earlier). Open late, walls covered in customer Polaroids going back the better part of two decades, vegan falafel that's not just a token afterthought. $12-18 for a full meal that does the job.

Worth flagging because we got a reader email this week from a returning backpacker convinced it had closed — a venue-name confusion with a different Bay-area shop. Confirmed: Bay Kebabs still operating, still on Lawson Street, still open late, still has the Polaroids. The queue at midnight on a Saturday remains the strongest endorsement.

For the post-Woody's, post-Mez Club, post-Northern Hotel crowd: it's Bay Kebabs or the 24-hour Byron Bay Hotbread Kitchen. The Hotbread Kitchen is the savoury-pie alternative if the kebab queue is too long. Both work. Both are cheaper than ordering anything inside a bar.