Talented people are doing excellent things in the drinks arena right now – and Sydney’s drinking up.

If you’re looking for somewhere new to drink, there are Negroni dens and vibey restaurant holding areas, wine bars with finer plates and a house party with a heaving dance floor and mega rotation of local DJs.

We’re eating burgers in slick hotel lobby bars and drinking funky drinks. Maybe The Full Bush on Enmore Road, or a granita-topped Americana underground in the CBD. Maybe you simply need an excellent Italian wine in a corner joint that’s staying out of the spotlight.

The next 11 bars are shiny, new and already go-tos – from teams that are giving their all.

Tetsuya’s might have closed last year, but its long list of alumni continues to keep its spirit alive. If you’ve eaten charcuterie from LP’s Quality Meats, booked yourself into Prefecture 48 or had a meal at Corner 75 or Sixpenny, you’ve tasted the work of someone who’s cooked in the Tetsuya’s kitchen. The latest solo project from a Tets grad is 40 Res by ex-exec chef Josh Raine and partner Keliann Zellman. Raine – together with Michael Tran, his head chef with Michelin cred – brought that formal culinary polish over to a casual context. And the neighbourhood has taken to it with gusto. In a suburb filled with wine bars, 40 Res’s low-waste snacks and compelling wines make it stand out. Get yourself a res. – Callum McDermott, Hot List editor

Ever since Bar Copains opened in 2023, Sydney has been in the grip of a serious crush. When the team announced its second and third venues – Bessie’s and Alma’s – there was a huge amount of excitement. It lived up to the hype.

The cocktail bar sits at the front of the same Albion Street space as restaurant Bessie’s. It has a mix of small tables, banquette seating, bar seats and a spot to lean and sip on the bar. Team members wear hot-red denim jackets, which sync up with the playful branding – also seen across the coasters, which have made their way home in many a bar-goer’s pocket. There are wines (duh, it’s the Bar Copains team) and beers, but the cocktails are where this team really earns its laurels. The Spicy Marg is the best I’ve ever had (and don’t tell my GP, I’ve had a lot). The spice is evenly distributed throughout the drink so every sip has a hint of numbing heat. The Ramos Gin Fizz – a notoriously hard-to-make drink – is creamy with a head that perfectly peeks over the rim every time. The Miami Vice, an ’80s dream, comes in an obnoxiously big glass. – Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor

In the week leading up to the opening of its kitschy pool-room-esque bar, the House Made Hospitality team spent a lot of time upside down, attaching a collection of second-hand trophies to the roof. Yep, stalactite-style. The back space is fittingly named The Trophy Room, and it’s for Tuesday-night music trivia and dance-ready nights powered by “nuevo retro” cocktails, made for you by bartenders in Hawaiian shirts. A Baptist Street trip is always a holiday, from the fruity Daiquiris and electric-green Japanese Slippers (jazzed up with zippy finger lime extract), to head chef Kongkiat Buakanok’s cheery plates of “Thai pub classics”, like money bags, barramundi fishcakes and special noodle nights that lean on downstairs sister restaurant Island Radio. The motto is “drinks and hoopla”, and it’s sticking to its word. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

Bar Demo scooched into Enmore Road’s indie bar haven. And it didn’t take long before it was keeping up with its neighbours. Two Double Deuce bartenders – Claudia “Beryl” Morgan and Olly Churcher – are behind it, so you know the calibre of cocktail we’re working with here. Order The Full Bush. The first time I did, it arrived and I snorted: “Oh… I get it.” An impressive bush of flame-red silgochu, threads of Korean dried chillies, crown a warm bourbon short pour, making a compelling case for going au natural.

But Demo’s labelled as a wine bar. Because the duo have cocktails down pat, they put considerable energy and enthusiasm into the drops as a challenge. Time spent on the floor in wine-focused restaurants (Bentley, Cafe Paci, Bar Louise), plus drinking a “shitload of wine” to find things they liked, resulted in a natural-leaning 12-glass list, available in small or large pours. We bet the second half of the year’s going to be even better, with Sunday kitchen takeovers welcoming top talents in to make snacks. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

I’m nostalgic for the sweaty nights in my early twenties spent bopping around the old Freda’s warehouse. Whether it was Mariah night or a line-up of local DJs, being on that dance floor felt like you were part of something. So when the team announced it was returning to the neighbourhood as Bar Freda’s I was excited. Then worried. My expectations were impossibly high – it marked the return of the great, and I was ready to feel 22 again. Well, there was no worry needed, because when Dave Abram and Carla Uriarte Freda-fied The Abercrombie, they drenched the space in the very same feeling. Local up-and-comers (or friends of Freda’s) are on the decks, while the dance-friendly food and drink menu is now looked after by Solotel. You feel like you’re at a house party, with a Mega Mate or pickled Freda’s Martini in hand. Plus you can zip next door to The Abercrombie or its rooftop, where the pair now program all the music. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

A lobby bar doesn’t need to do much for hotel guests to stop in for a meal or a nightcap. If the Martini is half-decent and there are fries on the menu, it’ll find its way into your itinerary. So when it’s taken to the next level (we’re talking clarified Crystal Mimosas served from champagne bottles and an elegant – yes, elegant – hotdog under a staggering double-arched ceiling) it brings guests and locals alike. At Bar Julius Lean into the holiday spirit with caviar and bubbles, or take a spot at the bar for what head chef Will Francis called “one of the best burgers you’ve probably ever had”. While it’s a bold call, it could well stack up. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

The Paddington stretch of Oxford Street has gone through waves: occasionally it’s a tsunami of social activity and other times it’s felt like a suburban street that’s seen better days. Now it’s bobbing along at a happy medium – small bars, old-school pubs, a few group-owned venues. Caness sailed into the street last month, and it’s exactly what was needed. Opened by Shaffa owner Erez Nahum and his former head chef Juan Colmenares, the little Euro-meets-the-Middle-East tapas and wine bar completely transforms an old grocer. There’s now an 80-bottle wine list – 20 available by the glass or carafe – that supports a series of funky bar snacks, share plates and one crowd-pleasing scrolled Yemenite bread. Caness’s Hebrew translation invites guests to just “come in”, either stopping by for a quick wine, or parking themselves for the whole evening. – Lucy Bell Bird, national assistant editor

When you think of going to Herbs – you must! – think of a traffic light: green means go, straight down the Clarence Street stairs into the red-lit boozer. Red means stop, stay a while. Orange signals the Negroni, the drink it’s all about. The latest venue from the Mucho team (Bar Planet, Cantina OK!, Centro 86) has more than a divey small bar’s fair share of va-va-voom. It feels like it’s always been here, ready and waiting to fuel your fun with house-made digestifs and Negronis. A glitzy disco ball shines in one corner, and funky mirrors gleam gold, painted by local artist Lance Corlett (of Steady Hand Studio). A skinny little counter wraps around the entire venue, just above hip height – so no matter where you find yourself, there’s somewhere to rest your drink. Bartenders flirt with classics – the Americana zests up an Americano with lemon granita, the Green Negroni stars a super-herby house-made parsley amaro – or they’ll fix you your favourite. There are bags of popcorn too, as is the Mucho way. Here they’re cheesy, and always on the house. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

We might have lost Bennifer again, but we just gained a new power couple that’s bound to have more staying power: L’Avant Cave. This coupling sees long-time upstairs-downstairs neighbours Porcine and P&V Paddo finally get serious about partnering up. P&V’s courtyard terrace (and inside seats) are now bookable under the cute moniker, which sees Porcine chef Nik Hill unleashing a bevvy of French-ish snacks – like escargots drowned in butter, pigeon liver Melba toasts, and a sinfully smashable poutine – to eat alongside drinks from arguably Sydney’s best bottle-o. After a years-long situationship, two of Sydney’s best have committed to each other, forming an instant hit. It’s like a vow renewal, with better catering. – Callum McDermott, Hot List editor

There’s no way we’re the only people to scratch heads thinking where to drink after a meal at BYO darling Emma’s Snack Bar. Yes, Enmore Road is just there, but if it’s not on your way you could be tempted to take your fattouche-filled tums straight to bed. Enter Mixed Business, the snackier, cocktail-focused bar just upstairs in a space that’s been in the Sofy family for generations. Wood-panelled walls dressed in family photos hold space for flaming shots of arak (the milky white Lebanese spirit served on ice after the fanfare) and cocktails on a retro bent – Vesper Martinis! Amaretto Negronis! Plus there are plenty of snacks ready to eat with your hands: fried chicken sangas, salt and vinegar scallops, and simple plates of olives and sliced cucumbers. This is where you drink after Emma’s. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor

The poky wine room from Gio and Enrico Paradiso is keeping itself out of the spotlight. Even if you haven’t made it in through the green doors, under the sparkling Duck Ragu stained-glass window, you’d have risked big bucks betting Paradise would be a winner. The Fratelli Paradiso and 10 William St team create instant classics – their latest is the most Euro-style drinking corner of Sydney: with Piccolo and Caravin on either side. Park yourself on the street with a glass of something natty and Italian – chosen from the library-style shelves inside – then take your pick from the always-changing menu from Fratelli’s Trisha Greentree and 10 William’s Francesco Ruggiero. Benvenuti, Paradise. – Grace MacKenzie, Sydney food and drink editor