It has been another massive year for us chasing specials, meeting venue owners, managers and staff and getting to enjoy some of the best this city has to offer.
Some 2024 highlights by the numbers:
- 1.4 million visitors to our platform (up 400k)
- 5 million page views (up 1.5m)
- 350,000 outbound clicks (up 50k)
- 4,200 specials updated
We personally tried more than 200 specials this year across Melbourne and Sydney with plans to reach everywhere around Australia. Reminder that of our key values is that we always remain neutral, we don’t judge venues or specials on the platform. Our goal is to ensure the most updated list of pub specials in the country, reporting the facts so you can decide for yourself which specials you prefer and you consider the best.
But along the way we’ve found a few spots we’ve enjoyed more than others and wanted to share the places, dishes and experiences we’ve loved the most.
Jump to:
Bronze Speshies: our favourite special dishes
Silver Speshies: our favourite happy hours
Gold Speshies: the best overall specials & experiences
Bronze Speshies: our top 10 favourite dishes as specials in 2024
These are the best special dishes we enjoyed in 2024 in Melbourne. We don’t have any specific criteria, these are the dishes we felt were best executed and of the best quality regardless of price. These are in random order and we consider all of them worthy of being considered a top notch speshy in Melbourne.
And the Bronze Speshy for our favourite Melbourne meal of 2024 goes to….
Sunday Roast Windsor $27
Windsor Ale House
Proper pub doing proper roast. Huge slabs of beef and pile of veg. Happy hour on Sunday as well and option to double the meat on your roast. What’s not to love.
Half Price Chicken Wings Wednesday
Benchwarmer West Melbourne
Wings come in at a buck a pop and best of all you can get a nuke spicy wing randomly in the set. Top quality wings with a huge range of beers to choose from and yeah the hot wing is definitely hot.
Parma Tuesday Brunswick $20
East Brunswick Hotel
Maybe our favourite parma of the year. Nailed every aspect of it and only $20 midweek.
Sunday Roast Geelong
Eureka Hotel
We stumbled upon this pub one Sunday and just so happened to serve an elite roast. Refined dish, perfectly executed porchetta. Just magic.
Bao Buns & Pint Lunch CBD
Bao Project @ Joint Bar
We love a unique special and this is it. Humungous fluffy bao bun loaded with your choice of protein and comes with a pint for lunch. Perfect.
Steak Night Wednesday Richmond $24
Spread Eagle Hotel
Elite steak night, perfectly cooked and bonus points for potato gilette instead of fries. Super popular with good reason.
Steak Night Fitzroy Wednesday $23
Royal Derby Hotel
Excellent value and high quality steak under the $25 price point.
Sunday Roast Southbank $30
Hophaus Southbank
Fantastic roast on the balcony overlooking the Yarra on a sunny winters day.
Steak & Wine Night Tuesday Hawthorn $40
Osteria 20, Hawthorn
Definitely one of the better steaks all year, with a fresh Radicchio salad, fries and choice of sauce paired with a solid glass of red.
Bonus shout out to Bangin Sangas Nandos collab
Bangin Sangas & Nandos
Special shout out to this collab that started as a dare and became a limited time menu item at Nandos.
Silver Speshies: our favourite happy hours in 2024
Next we wanted to share the best happy hours in Melbourne we got to experience for ourselves. We consider value for money, quality of drinks, taking into account offers for a longer period of time or outside the usual 4-6pm window and finally, extra bonus points for discounting drinks beyond beer and wine.
And the Silver Speshy for favourite Melbourne happy hour of 2024 goes to….
$5 Jugs St Kilda 4-5pm Daily
Hotel Barkly – St Kilda
Ok we said we wouldn’t rank these but $5 jugs. I mean, it’s the greatest special since dollar spirits in the late 1900’s at Chevron #IYKYK
$6 Pints & Spirits South Wharf 4-8pm
Tessie Pearl – South Wharf
While #1 is cemented, this is an all-time happy hour given it ticks all the boxes – every day; more than 2 hours (4-8pm) and has spirits too. What puts this in to the very elite company is that it’s six dollars for a pint of pale or lager, house spirits or wines. You can sit at this bar for 4 hours on a Saturday and pay $6 a bev. Incredible.
Daytime Pints Carlton
The Curtin – Carlton
$9 pints including Coopers and more from 12pm to 6pm Monday to Friday makes for a nice day time session. Enjoyed a cheap pint in the middle of the day.
Half Price Cocktails Wednesday Richmond
Blacksmith Bar – Richmond
We love this spot offering half price classic cocktails 5pm to midnight Wednesday. Enjoyed an expertly hand-crafted Negroni nightcap late in the evening for $13.
Beer Wine Cocktails in the Clouds, CBD
Langlands – CBD
Love this spot on the 25th floor with an excellent choice of drinks; $10 beers, $12 house wines & mocktails plus $16 martinis, margaritas and house infused Negronis, 3-7pm every day.
Pints and More CBD
CQ Bar – CBD
Awesome balcony and plenty of tvs for the big game. $8 wines. $9 pints. $15 cocktails. 3-6pm Monday to Saturday.
Hurricanes, Pints
Le Bon Ton – Collingwood
One of our favourite cocktails, hurricanes are so simple and delicious and only $12 at Le Bon Ton. Add on $9 select pints and $6 wines (red white & bubbles) 4pm to 7pm Tuesday to Friday.
CBD Pints and More
Restaurant 1903 – CBD
Wide range of drinks, an hour later and every day ticks all the boxes for us; $6 pots, $11 pints, $7 wines, $9 spirits and $12 Aperol Spritz or Mimosa every single day 5-7pm.
Drinks and Aperitivo
Maggie’s Snacks and Liquor – Brunswick East
Love this spot, super popular with locals and their aperitivo hour; $10 pints, $10 Selected wines and Free snack popcorn 4-6pm Monday to Friday.
Pints Prosecco and Cocktails South Wharf
Plus 5 – South Wharf
$8 Upside Down Prosecco Glasses, $10 Dockside Lager Pints & $15 Select Cocktails 3-6pm Wednesday to Sunday.
Finally, the Gold Speshies; our top 10 favourite all-round special experiences – the very best
These are the best all round specials and our favourite experiences in 2024 in Melbourne.Dishes we felt were the best experiences we would love to re-live and take in to account quality, food, drinks, execution, service and value for money. These are also in random order and we consider all of them worthy of checking out. Bonus points for combining happy hour with drink specials.
And the Gold Speshy for our favourite Melbourne special of 2024 goes to….
Steak Pasta Oysters Cocktails Cheap Pints on Bridge Road
Love Letter – Richmond
Again said we wouldn’t play favourites but this is an all-time heater. Home made rustic pasta, one of the best steaks all year available Thursday and Friday nights. Their happy hour features $2 oysters, $8 pints and $12 cocktails available all Tuesday (at the time we visited was available the same night as steak and pasta). Top it off with literally the most lovely staff in town and this is undoubtedly amongst the best dining experiences in recent memory. So much so we went back twice.
Steak & Margaritas, the perfect Adult Happy Meal
Orrong Hotel – Armadale
Thursday night Rump Steak with chips & choice of sauces for $25. Paired with $5 pots and tins plus $8 house wines and $12 spritz or Tommy’s 4-6pm weeknights. The ultimate adult happy meal
Slice of Pizza and Pint after Midnight in the City
Heartbreaker – CBD
With ample late night eats in town it was refreshing to stumble upon Heartbreaker serving up a slice of Connie’s pizza and a pint of beer for just $15 after midnight. Pizza is New York level quality, is our only post midnight special on platform and available every day of the week made it a post-AFL destination on several occasions. Bar is an absolute vibe as well.
Steak Night & Happy Hour St Kilda
Iddy Biddy Bar
Perfect steak with veg giving us a break from chips and salad paired with a great value happy hour snared gold for Iddy Biddy. We love the cosy familiar feeling of the place, like you’re at a mates house. Back to the steak, as good as they get and happy hour features $8 pints, $6 house spirits, $5 house wines & bubbly plus select $10 cocktails 4-8pm every single day.
Lobster Linguine in the City
Pinchys CBD
Lobster Linguine Thursdays how I miss thee; succulent southern rock lobster, cherry tomatoes, miso butter, basil and parsley for just $20. Love this restaurant, all the food is sublime but can’t get past one of the dishes of the year. Sadly was only for the winter months but we are holding out hope it returns next year.
Dollar Wings and $5 Jugs, St Kilda
Hotel Barkly – St Kilda
We’ve banged om about the jugs enough and it warrants two awards. Wednesday night they offer dollar wings all night and they are fab. Combined with them jugs and we are talking beer and wings for $11. As if not enough they are also some of the best wings we’ve tried in Australia.
Bougie burg and beer, canapes and cocktails in the City
Bar Margaux – CBD
We need to showcase posh but affordable specials on the platform and this fits the bill. Early or late night burger with a beer, or selection of epic cocktails matched with small bites. Sit at the bar and watch expert mixologists do their thing and enjoy as good a cheeseburger you will find in the city. Burger, fries & beer $29, or selection of canapes and cocktail $25 designed to share or steak tartare & 2 petite martinis $35.
Steak Night & Happy Hour St Kilda
Lion & Wombat – St Kilda
Fabulous steak night in St Kilda Wednesday night for $25 to pair with their happy hour 3-6pm; $8 glasses of wine, $10 pints and $12 margaritas including Tommy’s or Spicy.
Two Course Lunch Geelong
Sawyers Tavern – Geelong
Main and dessert with a glass of wine or beer – $49pp. We had an incredible slow cooked beef cheek paired with a local red and sticky date pudding for dessert. High quality dishes and great value.
Pasta & Vino Kew
Dawsons Kew
Sneaking into the list right before publish, bowl of home made pasta and a glass of wine makes for a magical pairing for just $25. Their 8-hour beef ragu and prawn mafaldine are both exceptional quality dishes.
A huge thank you for your support this year
To everyone who works at venues, makes drinks, cooks food, washes dishes, serves tables and everything in between – a huge thank you for all that you do. Hospitality is the essence of humanity and we are privileged to live in such an epic food city.
Thanks to all the punters out there chasing specials, thanks for supporting our venues and thanks for trusting us to help you find them.
On to 2025, bigger and better than ever with a few surprises in store
Sam & the EDC team ❤️