If you’re looking for somewhere to wine and dine in the Illawarra, or even just enjoy a coffee, check out these offerings of the most popular foodie stories in 2025.
18. How Slow Food Saddleback is keeping Kiama’s food scene thriving
by Kellie O’Brien
Slow Food Saddleback members during a late summer picnic at Bonaira Reserve. Photo: Supplied.
Kiama’s food scene is thriving thanks to Slow Food Saddleback Kiama, a group dedicated to championing farmers, producers, and sustainable dining. With its Snail of Approval Awards and foodie events on the horizon, here’s how they’re keeping the paddock to plate movement alive.
17. Thirroul’s newest outdoor dining space lands just in time for summer
by Dione David
Picture bar and table spots under the palms, sunny aperitivo sessions and drinks that roll straight into dinner — kerbside dining is coming to Franco Pizza Bar. Photo: Supplied.
On the corner of George and Phillip, just off the main throng of Lawrence Hargarve Drive, Thirroul’s about to get a slice of old Napoli — just in time for summer.
Inspired by the charm of European streetside bistro and fuelled by demand, local favourite Franco Pizza Bar is expanding its operation onto the kerb.
16. How a garage baking experiment became Kiama’s beloved Slow Dough bakery
by Kellie O’Brien
Slow Dough owners Richard and Lucy King outside the bakery. Photo: Supplied.
When Richard and Lucy King began baking sourdough in their garage during COVID-19, they never imagined it would rise into a thriving seaside bakery — or inspire a community along the way.
Now, the founders of Kiama’s beloved Slow Dough are sharing how a simple loaf became a life-changing leap.
15. Bass Point Brewing expands to open taphouse at Barrack Heights
by Kellie O’Brien
Bass Point Brewing’s Bushrangers Bay beer. Photo: Supplied.
Craft beer enthusiasts in Shellharbour have a new hangout, after brothers Daniel and Brendon James opened a Barrack Heights taphouse for their popular Bass Point Brewing brand crafted with inspiration from their hometown.
After 20 years of developing their recipes through homebrewing in the backyard, the brothers decided to launch their first beer into the market two and a half years ago, selling out within four days.
14. Move over, ham and cheese: Wollongong’s Casa Lu is the sandwich sensation you didn’t know you needed
by Dione David
Wollongong’s new upscale sandwich sensation often sells out by 1 pm. Photo: creativeco_agency.
The opening of Wollongong’s Casa Lu must have been a curious spectacle to onlookers.
A line of eager patrons spilled out of the tiny sandwich shop on Kembla Street, stretching to neighbouring businesses. Inside, the shelves were stacked high with schiacciata – a flatbread of Tuscan origins.
Within two hours on its first day of operation, the shop had sold out.
13. Ruki ticks all the boxes – a lively bar buzz, friendly staff and food that melts in your mouth
by Jessica Gauci
Ruki Robatayaki Japanese restaurant and bar is a welcome new addition to the Wollongong dining scene. Photo: Andrew Ratter Photography.
Wollongong’s dining scene just got a lift with Ruki, a robatayaki Japanese restaurant and bar that’s settled into the old Red Square spot on Keira Street.
Red Square was the go-to hangout for youngsters to sip lolly-infused vodka sodas. Now, Ruki’s taken it up a fair few notches with food for the discerning palate – but don’t worry, it’s still got that lively bar buzz.
12. Wollongong’s latest eatery Lu Mare serves up a taste of Italy and a side of sea breeze
by Kellie O’Brien
Maria Luciani (kneeling) and Keana Lufe (standing). Photo: Supplied.
Maria Luciani and Keana Lufe, the dynamic duo behind beloved Wollongong eateries K.malu and Casa Lu, have opened their third culinary venture, Lu Mare.
Perched by Wollongong Harbour in the former Anchorage space inside the Boat Harbour Hotel, Lu Mare is serving up regional classics from Maria’s home that transport patrons straight to Italy.
11. This eatery serves one thing – and they’ve nailed it
by Dione David
Yuya Motoori keeps it simple — and seriously good — at Beast in Wollongong. Photo: Region.
In a quiet corner of Wollongong, there’s a small shop with a precise menu. At Beast Good Food Eatery, there are no substitutions, no long lists of dishes and no attempts to please everyone. There is just ramen. Two types, to be exact.
Situated in the good company of Kneading Ruby and Humber on Crown Lane, Beast went from cafe to eatery at the tail end of the pandemic. It’s the kind of place you might miss if you’re in a hurry, but those who know, know: the broth here is slow-cooked, the noodles are custom-made and the chef behind it all, Yuya Motoori, wouldn’t dream of rushing it.
10. Dharawal Distilling Co shaking up spirits with South Coast native botanicals
by Kellie O’Brien
Dharawal Distilling Co uses native botanicals in its spirits. Photo: Supplied.
Mitch Lowrie is shaking up the spirits scene with Dharawal Distilling Co — a Bellambi-based distillery blending Aboriginal culture and community-led foraging of native botanicals into premium gin and vodka with a powerful story behind every sip.
The company was founded in 2023 and Mitch creates vodkas and gins using a network of Aboriginal foragers to source distinctive botanical ingredients from the South Coast, with additional produce collected exclusively from Indigenous businesses.
9. Shellharbour’s Celia Vieira living the sweet life with popular new Portuguese tart venture
by Kellie O’Brien
Celia Vieira from The Portuguese Tart. Photo: Supplied.
Shellharbour’s Celia Vieira baked Portuguese tart “isolation packs” during COVID-19 lockdowns to keep her business afloat. Now her secret family recipe is the talk of the Illawarra, with the popular item back. Here’s how this sweet side hustle is winning hearts (and taste buds) one flaky bite at a time through The Portuguese Tart.
8. Five Minutes With Tahlia Cormick, Tahlia’s Bakery and Cafe
by Kellie O’Brien
Tahlia and Matt inside a different kind of kitchen – in the “Central Perk Cafe” at the Friends Experience in Sydney. Photo: Supplied.
It was 15 years ago when Tahlia was an apprentice at the bakery she now owns. Here’s the story behind Tahlia’s Bakery and Cafe in Shellharbour Village and the item it’s becoming famous for.
7. Embers restaurant returns home to Shellharbour with major expansion
by Kellie O’Brien
Embers owner Abhishek Jain. Photo: Supplied.
After three years in Windang, chef Abhishek Jain is taking Embers Fusion Indian Restaurant back to where it all began — Shellharbour — with a bold plan for it to become the region’s biggest Indian restaurant.
It represents a significant expansion for the beloved restaurant, which originally started in Shellharbour Village as Embers in the Village, before difficulties forced a relocation to Windang, where it’s built a loyal following during the past three years.
6. Faith, flavour and Filipino authenticity: The story behind Cringila’s Atin Ito
by Dione David
Roger Lingal at his Cringila-based Filipino restaurant Atin Ito. Photos: Atin Ito.
Timing and hard work played roles in the opening of Cringila’s Filipino restaurant Atin Ito, but as a man of faith, owner Roger Lingal credits only one thing.
“Our restaurant is closed on Sunday because we dedicate that day to church,” he says. “I believe it’s God who will bring success to our business, not our hard work. If not for his grace, we wouldn’t be here today.”
5. Endless happy hour and the northern suburbs’ second-best burgers hit Wollongong
by Dione David
The team behind some of the Illawarra’s favourite food and beverage venues is bringing something exciting to the former Uncle Bok’s site in Wollongong. Photo: Disco Dining Group.
For five years, Papi’s Burgers delivered the “second-best burgers in the 2515” (even if they did say so themselves) from its grungy and beloved dive bar in Thirroul.
Now, about a year and a half after Papi’s closed its doors and broke the hearts of its northern suburbs cult following, its owners have “brought back the OG” – this time in Wollongong.
4. Twelve places where kids eat free in the Illawarra
by Dione David
Family dinners don’t need to bust the bank in the Illawarra. Photo: D-Keine.
Is eating out too expensive for your family? Let these 13 Illawarra restaurants pick up the tab for the little ones.
3. Community outrage forces mining company to back down on decision to close Ruby’s
by Keeli Dyson
Ruby’s Mount Kembla announced it was shutting its doors, but just hours later the land owners changed their minds. Photo: Ruby’s Mount Kembla.
Mt Kembla mine owner GM3 unleashed howls of protests when word broke that it was evicting the beloved Ruby’s restaurant from its village home of 40 years. Within 24 hours the decision was reversed.
2. New midweek farmers market The Local Table finds its roots in Shellharbour
by Kellie O’Brien
Brendon and Nicole O’Brien with some of the produce they’ve shared at other markets. Photo: Supplied.
A fresh midweek tradition has taken root at Shellharbour’s Reddall Reserve, with new Tuesday afternoon farmers and makers market The Local Table launching in August.
Market organisers and Butcher’s Nook Kiama owners Nicole and Brendon O’Brien aim to create more than just a shopping experience – they’re building a community connection point.
1. Last call at The Lagoon? Wollongong restaurant of 40 years faces closure
by Keeli Dyson
The Lagoon managing director Andrew Harrison is preparing to farewell his family’s restaurant after 40 years. Photos: Supplied.
Whether it’s a wedding, gala, dinner, charity event or just a morning coffee – almost everyone has a memory at The Lagoon Seafood Restaurant.
