Looking to grab a bite before the theatre? Here’s a cheat sheet, taking in everything from Mexican-influenced street food to elevated Italian dining by the river.
If you’ve been to a show at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, chances are you’ve had at least one stressful pre-theatre dining experience.
Maybe the waitstaff dragged their feet, or maybe you realised too late how far it was to walk to the venue. Or maybe nan went off-piste and ordered an extra course or two. It can be death by a thousand cuts and soon enough you’re ditching dessert and making a sweaty dash for the Lyric Theatre.
Thankfully, in 2025 many of the restaurants that surround QPAC are fine-tuned for pre-theatre dining. We’ve rounded up some of the best to make for a seamless dinner and show.
QPAC recommends arriving 30 minutes before a performance begins to allow time to get seated, maybe with a drink in hand. Most shows have strict lockout periods so it’s good to take this recommendation as gospel. We’ve also included how long it takes to walk from the restaurant to the centre so you can factor this into your evening’s plans.
Maeve Wine, Level 1, 39 Melbourne Street (two-minute walk)
This hidden gem occupies the upstairs floor of the heritage-listed Ng House, just across the intersection from QPAC.
Inside, it’s all fluted glass, dark timber panelling and marble counters. Chef and co-owner Jessie Stevens deals in Euro-inspired plates such as a duck lasagne, a pork and veal ragu rigatoni, and roasted barramundi served with smoked lemon butter and cherry tomatoes.
The food is accompanied by a well-pitched wine list with both old and new world drops. Stevens and Maeve business partner Maris Cook also own Vietnamese eatery Hello Please just down the laneway — it’s also worth checking out.
Chu the Phat, 111 Melbourne Street (seven-minute walk)
This sprawling two-storey pan-Asian diner takes much of its inspiration from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korean cuisine.
The best way to experience it is with one of the restaurant’s banquet menus, with the $65 option perfect for a pre-show dinner. It includes dishes such as sweetcorn and coriander dumplings, chilli buttermilk fried chicken wings, and Sichuan-style braised lamb with eggplant and steamed bread. Just let the waitstaff know you have a show to catch. If you’re after something more European in style, try La Lune Wine Co next door.
Lyrebird, QPAC (as close as you can get)
If you’re after dinner just metres from the theatre, then it’s hard to go past QPAC’s very own Lyrebird restaurant.
Michelin-trained chef Salvatore Rizzato’s modern Australian menu features dishes such as Skull Island prawn brioche rolls dressed with prawn mayonnaise and fresh watercress; pappardelle with braised lamb shoulder ragu; and confit duck leg served with parsnip puree and a spinach, asiago and mushroom spanakopita.
The restaurant recommends allocating 90 minutes for a meal — when booking online you can note under “special requests” that you’re attending a show.
El Planta, 58 Hope Street (five-minute walk)
Tucked away in a small tenancy on Hope Street you’ll find El Planta, Adrienne Jory and Rick Gibson’s popular plant-based Mexican restaurant.
It serves imaginative, colourful dishes such as roasted carrot tostadas with ancho tahini, pickled carrots and onions, fried potatoes with garlic mayo, chimichurri, pickled banana peppers, and beer-battered palmito fillet with guacachile and pickled red cabbage.
Indecisive eaters can opt for a banquet, which for a very keen $40 per person serves up an array of snacks and tacos.
Southside, 63 Melbourne Street (three-minute walk)
Southside is one of the best restaurants in South Brisbane’s Fish Lane precinct, and offers a one-hour pre-show $49 banquet menu.
It features dishes such as yellowtail kingfish sashimi with green chilli, kombu and wasabi, barbecue pork steamed buns with smoked hoisin, the restaurant’s popular potato and truffle spring rolls, and chicken siu mai with shiitake mushrooms and black garlic. Where to sit? Outside in the restaurant’s brilliant fern garden is best.
Siam South Bank, 4b/15 Tribune Street (10-minute walk)
A modern institution at the far end of South Bank, Siam deals in fragrant Thai-style curries, stir fries and salads spiked with lemongrass, holy basil and lime leaf.
It’s also fine-tuned for pre-theatre dining with 5pm-6pm happy hour drink specials.
Just keep in mind the restaurant is a 10-minute walk from QPAC, so allow time for a scenic stroll to the theatre.
Otto, Shop 1, River Quay, Sidon Street (10-minute walk)
At one of Brisbane’s very best occasion restaurants, Otto chef Will Cowper cooks an elevated style of Italian food that leans hard into local produce.
The menu of snack, entrees, mains and pasta dishes changes regularly, but the restaurant’s Rangers Valley beef carpaccio and champagne lobster spaghettini are two of the best dishes of their kind in the city.
After something a little more casual? Try the snack-driven osteria out front, which boasts the same knockout riverside views. Like Siam, this is at the far end of South Bank, so keep 10 minutes up your sleeve for the walk back to the theatre.
Julius, 77 Grey Street (three-minute walk)
This younger sibling of Teneriffe’s much-loved Beccofino sits at the prime Grey Street end of Fish Lane and pumps six nights a week.
Diners flock for chef and co-owner Anthony Nicastro’s woodfired pizza and soul-warming pasta (think duck ragu pappardelle, and a tomato-based seafood spaghettoni), and the brick-lined dining room’s Swiss-precision service. Book ahead if you can, but the restaurant puts aside much of its seating for walk-ins.
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Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
