Adelaide’s 20 most powerful restaurants – ranked
Words: Claudia Dichiera and Helen Karakulak
If it wasn’t obvious, CityMag loves to dine.
Given food is a pivotal part of cultural influence and dining culture shapes the identity of a city, there is great power in being a purveyor of food and drink in a capital city.
Here we reveal Adelaide’s top 20 restaurants based on their contribution to Adelaide’s diverse dining landscape.
We often wax lyrical about the best of Adelaide – hot chocolates, dumplings, negronis, and plenty more – but we looked beyond ‘best’ for this, instead looking at the venues that have true influence on Adelaide’s hospitality scene.
These are not necessarily the best restaurants, but they are the most powerful.
To determine power, we thought about values, longevity, consistency, culinary and design influence and of course, if it’s actually any good. We’ve started counting them down from 20–11, but to see the top 10 you’ll have to pick up the magazine from our stand on Grenfell Street or at various locations around town.
Beginning with a shortlist of 50 spots, we whittled it down using a judging matrix considering word of mouth, appeal across age groups, traditional media coverage, critical acclaim, social media influence and our own gut reactions (pun intended).
Read on to see which ones made the cut.
#20 Enoteca
Enoteca is a newer player in Adelaide’s hospo scene, having only opened in 2023. However, it inherits legacy power from Enzo’s Ristorante. Natalie, the daughter of Enzo, and her Milan-born fiancé Alessandro opened Enoteca with the same values, but with a contemporary flair.
When CityMag visited Enoteca ahead of its opening in August last year, Natalie told us that while their new generation is different, they still want to emulate Enzo’s legacy of making guests “feel like they were VIP”.
Enoteca focuses on shared meals, the inclusion of charcoal dishes and a contemporary take on Italian cuisine. The restaurant is located on Rundle Street, but stretches all the way back to Vardon Avenue, where a casual bar overlooks the Ebenezer/Vardon thoroughfare.
CityMag is known to enjoy their negroni, one of the best we’ve found, while people-watching in the powerful location.
281–283 Rundle Street, Adelaide 5000. Connect with Enoteca on Instagram.
#19 One Sneaky Cheetah
This picture: Claudia Dichiera/CityMag
When One Sneaky Cheetah opened in 2022, they told us they were going to break those traditional Italian pizza rules. This means they’re happy to have fun with their flavours and use ingredients like barbecue sauce. These non-traditional tropes are nowhere to be found in this hospitality group’s original restaurant, Pizzateca (which couldn’t qualify for our Restaurant Power Rankings as it’s not a part of metropolitan Adelaide).
Luckily for the Pizzateca group, their name is synonymous with good quality – which is part of the reason for their inclusion in our top 20 most powerful restaurants in Adelaide. So no one was too worried when a bit of pineapple was purposely placed on their pizzas. One Sneaky Cheetah now has three locations and continues to enhance their brand name.
73 Magill Rd, Stepney 5069
Connect with One Sneaky Cheetah on Instagram.
#18 Press Food & Wine
This picture: Lewis Potter
In 2022, Press took a new direction when it was taken over by a hospo group that also covers Leigh Street Wine Room and Peel Street Restaurant.
The tone shift was marked by a more relaxed dining room and a huge bar in the centre, with CityMag told it was a place “you could wear a suit or walk in high heels, or you can just wear your denim and whatever and that will be completely fine”.
The revamp marked a change for the venue opened in 2011, spearheaded by notable restaurateur Simon Kardachi. Kardachi is also behind Osteria Oggi, Shobosho and was, for good reason, a big part of our conversation about what constitutes power in Adelaide’s hospitality scene.
Despite a change in ownership, Press’ reputation is rock-solid, with the modern European restaurant winning votes from within our office as a hot spot to dine, whatever you’re wearing.
40 Waymouth Street, Adelaide 5000
Connect with Press on Instagram.
#17 Kiin
This picture: Jack Fenby
Located on Angas Street, Kiin is led by hospitality veterans, chef Ben Bertei and sommelier David Wickwar. Kiin, which opened in 2022, is particular with its approach to modern Asian food and changes the menu as the seasons pass, with curated cocktails to match. This restaurant is a passion project from co-owners Ben and David who have a combined 50 plus years of experience in the industry.
What is most notable about Kiin’s power in Adelaide is all about the experience when you dine in. We are always greeted with friendly hellos and the staff at the restaurant make a special effort to accommodate needs, wants and everything in between to all guests. What can we say, Kiin just hits the spot and was deserving of a spot in the top 20.
73 Angus Street, Adelaide 5000
Connect with Kiin on Instagram.
#16 Fino Vino
CityMag doesn’t venture beyond metro Adelaide often.
We were created to explore postcode 5000, but we’ve expanded that boundary for delicious reasons before.
But when it comes to our power rankings, having to consider every contender across the regions from the Fleurieu Peninsula to the Barossa Valley and beyond is regrettably not a realistic option.
So when Fino Vino opened a CBD location in Flinders Street in 2019, you can imagine we were thrilled.
The original Fino opened in 2006 in Willunga, and in 2014 was invited to join the Seppeltsfield village in the Barossa Valley, championing local produce and cultivating an international reputation.
The Fino brand set the tone for modern Adelaide dining with its use of share plates and casual but warm service. Fino Vino gave the city a taste of that produce-driven approach, with a reliable wine and cocktail offering and comfortably keeping a spot in Adelaide’s culinary conversation.
82 Flinders Street, Adelaide 5000
Connect with Fino Vino on Instagram.
#15 East End Cellars
An empty table outside is a rarity in the summer.
Ah, East End Cellars, a Vardon Avenue staple. Bottle shop, bar, restaurant, fancy soup kitchen – what can’t you do?
Answer: squeeze in a table of four hungry journalists on a sunny Friday night.
We should have known better. On a Friday evening, it’s walk-ins only and it’s (still) competitive.
They’ve been operating 26 years, have over 19,000 Instagram followers (staying power and Grammable check and check), have opened a second location in Norwood and some of their team are behind the new Festival Plaza restaurant Station Road, slated to open in November 2024.
But we know them as the OG East End restaurant for prime people-watching with a nifty wine list, just get in early to secure your spot.
25 Vardon Ave, Adelaide 5000
Connect with East End Cellars on Instagram.
#14 Latteria
This picture: Nicholas Grange
If we could give this bar another year or so, we think it could’ve climbed its way into our top 10 and had its name printed all over our glorious print pages (which is on streets now, by the way).
It already had multiple votes from the people that matter. Latteria opened in April this year from the Osteria Oggi team and is already making a strong name for itself.
Unlike the Pirie Street sibling, Latteria is more cocktail-focused and offers light snacks, highlighting its inspiration from aperitivo hour in Italy. But the food includes cotoletta, beef tartare and wagyu bresaola. The space, designed by studio-gram, has different sections intended to allow you to spend the whole night in one spot, moving from the bar to a sit-down table and then all the way to the lounge.
185 Hutt Street, Adelaide 5000
Connect with Latteria on Instagram.
#13 Good Gilbert
This picture: Justin Healy
When CityMag assessed the most powerful restaurants in 2019, one requirement was the 5000-postcode location. In a post-Covid hospitality world, the ‘burbs have showed they’re serving up the good stuff and basically proved to us that they should be included in the 2024 iteration. It’s places like Good Gilbert that pointed this out to us loud and clear.
But what exactly makes this bar so powerful? It could be that the Good Gilbert name now has two other business ventures under their catalogue – Good Burger and the recently opened Asha – it could be because it was Gourmet Traveller’s wine bar of the year in 2023, or it could just be because everyone who pops by GGs for a drink or snack just really loves it.
135B Goodwood Rd, Goodwood 5034
Connect with Good Gilbert on Instagram.
#12 Shobosho
Simon Kardachi is responsible for places like Fugazzi, Osteria Oggi and Melt and is a big name in the Adelaide hospitality scene. Shōbōshō, the Japanese-inspired restaurant on Leigh Street, has a seasonal menu but currently features prawn and nori taco, blue swimmer crab udon and a range of different dumplings.
Just before opening the restaurant back in 2017, Simon sat down with CityMag and said “the [Shōbōshō] concept is a blending of smoke, steam and fire,” and emphasising “the ancient traditions of Japanese yakitori, with the finesse, skill and texture of all that is raw, cured, pickled and fermented”.
CityMag thinks this spot is deserving of a place in the top 20 for its longstanding presence on Leigh Street. It also received high opinion points along with a strong social media presence.
17 Leigh Street, Adelaide 5000.
Connect with Shōbōshō on Instagram.
#11 Hey Jupiter
When contemplating staying power in a fragile hospitality landscape hit by a cost-of-living crisis, CityMag thought about the restaurants that (we hope) won’t go anywhere. Hey Jupiter sprung to mind.
The thought of prying those iconic green tiles off its façade was enough to make us shudder.
When Hey Jupiter first opened in 2012 by Frenchman Christophe Zauner and partner Jacqui Lodge, it was tiny but mighty. They pulled plenty of regulars for coffees and their famous pork belly sandwiches.
In 2017, they expanded, built a larger kitchen and started night-time trade, with the Parisian bistro taking the form we know today.
From day to night, they have a consistent offering, and the décor has a warm, novelty feel to dining in that never gets old.
11 Ebenezer Place. Connect with Hey Jupiter on Instagram.
To find out which restaurants made the top 10, pick up the Food Edition of CityMag from 165 Grenfell Street or find a copy near you.
