Where to source a free meal during Melbourne lockdown

Lilac is the newest addition to the Mulberry Group (Dessous, Hazel), who primarily source their ingredients from their agricultural farm on the outskirts of Geelong. Equal parts eclectic and stylish, Lilac sits in the bones of a warehouse glammed up with a floor-to-ceiling glass entrance, Persian rugs and dusty lavender couches. Wine bar enthusiasts can drop in on Good Friday and Easter Saturday from noon until late (note that it will be closed on Easter Sunday and Monday.)

The 1920s architecture of the Cavendish House building carries through to the interiors, delivered by Sydney design house ACME. Art deco flourishes, marble countertops, chandeliers and leather booths combine to create a nostalgic bistro look – a conscious nod towards the clubby dining rooms of Chicago. And the good news is that Gimlet is open the entirety of the Easter long weekend.

Until now, Southsiders would have had to venture north to Carlton's Little Italy precinct to enjoy the tip-top panini, pasta and pizza from D.O.C Espresso or DOC Pizza and Mozzarella Bar – but those days of hungry commutes are now over. St Kilda has just been graced with its very own D.O.C restaurant in the Saint Moritz residences on the Esplanade, just in time for the culinary juggernaut's 20th anniversary. This Easter wekeend, it'll be open every day from noon until late. Pop in for a Spritz and check it out!

A two-storey site that previously housed sweat-covered patrons on the dancefloor of Hugs and Kisses Club has since transformed into a karaoke joint that has retained the glow of neon lights. Inspired by Hong Kong and the many karaoke bars that fill it, Yum Sing House is a hybrid of karaoke and modern Cantonese food in Melbourne’s CBD. Check it out this Easter weekend from Thursday to Easter Saturday from 5:30pm. 

Marameo is giving Italian party vibes – what more could you want this Easter long weekend? It's open on Good Friday for dinner and Easter Saturday all day (a 15 per cent surcharge applies). It's closed on both Easter Sunday and Monday.

The new Studley Park Boathouse now boasts a transformed dining, drinking and entertainment space. With more than 150 years of experience charming Melbourne residents, this revival embraces the history of the location while also showcasing modern architecture and streamlined facilities. There's a fun-packed array of family-friendly activities, food specials and more this Easter weekend – get the full run-down at the website.

The folks at Commune Group, responsible for fellow Southside gems Firebird, Hanoi Hannah and Tokyo Tina, have added to their collection yet another ambitious project: a two-level Italian dining and drinking space alluringly christened Studio Amaro.The multi-purpose venue isn't just another place to wine and dine, with a generous focus on music and DJ residencies. Think disco, funk and plenty of Euro nostalgia. This Easter weekend, it'll be open on both Good Friday and Easter Saturday from 5pm until midnight. 

The all-day menu at this new CBD brunch destination is designed to rotate, with 10 different famous chefs contributing a menu item to highlight ingredients from TMG’s Common Ground Project – a regenerative community farm in Freshwater Creek that provides education and career pathways for the disadvantaged. The eatery will be open this Good Friday and Easter Saturday from 8am until 2pm (note that it's closed on both Easter Sunday and Monday.)

Etta is a the handsome 70-seater ex-fish shop that epitomises the maturation of the area and whose sharing-is-caring menu is about as date night as it gets. This Easter long weekend it's open on Good Friday and Saturday, 5pm to late (with a 15 per cent surcharge). It's closed on Easter Sunday and Monday.

This energetic restaurant and beer hall has just launched from one of the nation’s most beloved craft beer brands, Pirate Life. Hurrah, mateys! The award-winning Aussie brewery opened the doors to its new venue on March 14 – its fourth across Australia and its very first on Victorian soil – just a stone's throw away from the South Melbourne Market, and it'll be open for both lunch and dinner on Good Friday, Saturday and Sunday this long weekend.

Meet Rossi, a new Italian-inspired cocktail bar and restaurant, and the place to be at happy hour. If the sexy tunes don’t pull you in, the piazza-style seating under umbrellas will.  Rossi’s food menu runs the gamut of regional Italian specialties, covering pizza, pasta, antipasti and a trio of traditional dessert favourites: tiramisu, gelato and cannoli. This Easter weekend, it will be open Friday until Sunday noon until late (note it will be closed on the Monday.)

One of the most anticipated Northside openings of the year, Pincho Disco from the Kickon Group is an ode to new-age Latin American eats, extravagant cocktails and live entertainment. Expect a journey of flavours hailing from across the entire content – from Colombia, Peru and Chile to Mexico, Argentina and Brazil – in signature dishes thoughtfully prepared by head chef Diego Cardenas and his team. While it's closed most of the weekend, it'll be open on Easter Saturday this year from noon until 11:30pm. Head on down and make a day of it!

This highly ambitious project from Nomad Group has transformed Melbourne’s hallowed old Stock Exchange building into a European-inspired restaurant as ritzy as it is regal, with a speakeasy bar (the Rue part) accessible through an adjoining courtyard. It’s the first time the space has been open to the public in more than 20 years and the obsession is real. Reine and La Rue will be open every day of the Easter long weekend this year from noon until late, so if you haven't made the time to check it out yet – here's your chance.

After a fancy lunch or dinner? The tables here are well-spaced and linen-clad, which is like the Stokehouse of yore, as are the waiters, a full battalion of them, who are uniformly good. All is as it should be, and punters can dine in from noon every day of the Easter long weekend with a 15 per cent public holiday surcharge. The restaurant will be open late.

Adapting favourites from the Sydney menu with twists to highlight Victorian producers, the menu at Nomad draws inspirations from the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It's a swanky, moody affair, and the perfect setting for a romantic date or understated family lunch. This Easter weekend, it'll be open Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday for both lunch and dinner sittings. 

Whatever the size of your night, you really can’t go wrong with a late-night souva. That includes every night of your Easter long weekend, when Stalactites will be open from 11am until midnight with a 10 per cent surcharge. 

Lagoon Dining takes foods from across the world and transforms them into contemporary, Chinese-inspired dishes, all the while drawing upon Japanese and Korean influences too. This Easter weekend, it's open from noon on Good Friday and Easter Sunday for lunch and dinner, and from 5:30pm on Easter Saturday for dinner only. 

At 9am on a Tuesday morning St Ali South is pumping like it’s spring break. Whether you’re wearing a tailored suit or a tattered beanie, good coffee is the great social moderator here and this place is rammed with a full Melbourne cross-section, united by the love of fancy breakfast (and eagerly snapping up the St Ali merchandise – badges, playing cards and more). This Easter weekend, it will be open from 7am until 5pm so you don't need to miss out on your espresso fix.

Located inside the 80 Collins Street precinct, Society is a paean to the old-fashioned dining virtues. It's open Good Friday and Easter Saturday for dinner only with a 15 per cent surcharge.

This cocktail bar and pizzeria in St Kilda has revealed it will be offering an exciting limited edition menu this Easter weekend, available from Thursday, March 25 until Sunday, 31. Feast on egg-cellent delights such as an ice cream-flavoured cocktail, a tiramisu-inspired burrata dessert and hot cross bun gelato. Flour Child will be open every day of the weekend (except Easter Monday), from 11:30am until late, and you can also book in for a bottomless brunch experience.

Baker Bleu is probably best known for supplying the likes of Attica, Cutler & Co. and the Carlton Wine Room with their bread, so you know it is outrageously good. Baker Bleu’s high-hydration, long-fermented and deeply caramelised loaves play such star roles that people sometimes forget about its excellent viennoiserie. It'll be open every morning this Easter weekend – perfect if you need to do a last-minute hot cross bun run. 

Already home to Shane Delia’s iconic modern Middle Eastern restaurant Maha, the Bond Street laneway in Melbourne’s CBD has welcomed a new and elegant sister venue, Jayda. It's the perfect spot for a cocktail and fancy snack this Easter long weekend, and is open 5pm until midnight on both Good Friday and Saturday. 

As if Society could get any more sophisticated, enter Lillian – restaurateur Chris Lucas' refined brasserie that also holds residence in the luxe 80 Collins Street venue. It's open Good Friday and Easter Saturday for dinner only with a 15 per cent surcharge.

With commanding views over the city skyline, Johnny’s Green Room is the most picturesque place in Carlton to sip Peroni and smash pizza this Easter. It will be open every day this Easter weekend, from noon until 11pm (a 15 per cent surcharge applies.)

Chris Lucas’ latest restaurant distils a retro-glam brief into a squelchingly expensive fit-out of terrazzo floors and royal blue leather seats, a sweeping white marble bar lit by individual deco-ish lamps and the sultry backdrop of ink-blue walls. It's open as per normal trading hours across the entire Easter long weekend with a 15 per cent surcharge.

Architects Wood Marsh have created three levels of Flinders Lane dining power that is determined to bring the bling (and the some of the best sushi you've ever eaten). Kisumé will open for dinner every day of the Easter long weekend with a 15 per cent surcharge.

Shane Delia's flagship restaurant is a much-loved icon of Melbourne's dining scene, and this long weekend it's open from Good Friday to Easter Sunday with an 18 per cent surcharge. 

If you’re looking for an Italian-inspired affair this Easter complete with pizza and Peronis, Baby has got you covered. It's open all long weekend as per normal hours with a 15 per cent surcharge. 

Bahama Gold started out as a liquor delivery service in the dark days of lockdown, but has since transformed into a public bar and wine shop for the discerning explorer. The first thing you’ll notice upon walking into the cosy 12-seater is its warm golden lighting and generous outlook out onto the quietly hip Brunswick East end of Lygon Street. Drop in for a glass of vino and dinner plate this Easter weekend (it'll be open every day from noon until midnight, with a 15 per cent surcharge.)

Hawker Hall is completely dizzying, in that patented Lucas fashion: visually arresting, olfactorily pleasing thanks to the hard-working woks in the open kitchen, and packed to the rafters with a well-dressed sliver of humanity. It will be open all Easter weekend as per normal trading hours with a 15 per cent surcharge.

The Easter festivities kick off on Good Friday, with the Auburn Hotel open from noon. Bring the kids along on Easter Sunday to enjoy a petting zoo, egg hunt and a special appearance from the big bunny himself. See out the long weekend on Monday with lunch or dinner and the AFL game live and loud. For more information, head to the website. 

Chin Chin is open all Easter weekend long (with a 15 per cent public holiday surcharge), but it's notorious for boasting huge queues so be sure to make a booking ahead of time or be prepared to wait. 

Fans of Shane Delia’s legendary Maha restaurant have been treated to another offering from the illustrious chef and restaurateur – and it comes in the form of a luxe wine bar meets brasserie on Smith Street, aptly named Maha North. You can make a booking here from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, but Monday its doors will be closed.

Tucked inside the swank-fest of the 80 Collins development, Yakimono is a love letter to the futuristic excess of Tokyo: dimly lit, suffused with the exotic glow of pink and purple neon, and thrumming to a soundtrack that has every second person activating their Shazam app. It's open all Easter weekend as per normal trading hours with a 15 per cent surcharge. 

The name makes it sound like a theme park of sorts, and that’s not far off. An indoor lagoon takes up one side of the space, overlooked by striped umbrellas and fed by a stream that flows from a five-metre indoor waterfall made of fake rocks. This fun-packed beer hall will be open this Easter long weekend on Saturday (11:30am until midnight), Sunday (11:30am until 10:30pm) and Monday (3pm until 10:30pm), but closed on Good Friday.

Il Bacaro serves up a modern twist on classic Venetian fare in its small, crowded restaurant. This Easter long weekend it's open on Good Friday and Easter Saturday for dinner from 5pm (a 15 per cent public holiday surcharge applies). It's closed on Easter Sunday and Monday.

Bar Carolina exudes Latin charm from its terrazzo foyer to its bar clad in charcoal steel. And we haven’t even mentioned the quorum of liltingly accented waiters who marshal the crowds one ‘ciao bella’ at a time. This Easter long weekend it's open on Good Friday for dinner from 5:30pm and Easter Saturday for lunch and dinner. On Easter Sunday, you can book a table between 1pm and 9pm and on the Monday, it's open from noon until 4pm. A 15 per cent surcharge will apply across each day. 

Old Palm Liquor is probably as Brunswick as you can get with its daggy-but-beautiful fit-out, natural wine list and menu imparted with flavours we rarely see, but it’s a winning formula that should definitely be experienced this Easter. It's open Good Friday to Easter Sunday from noon to midnight, and there is a 15 per cent surcharge.

Good for dates and family outings alike this Easter weekend, Moonhouse invites you to linger over some of its best-loved dishes. On Good Friday and Easter Saturday, you'll even get a free dessert with your meal (terms and conditions apply) and the restaurant wil be open across both days for dinner with an exrta lunch sitting on the Saturday.

The bar formerly known as The Long Room completed its $4 million transformation into The George on Collins. While the venue used to be the go-to after-work spot for the city’s suits, the revamped space is now open all day for lunches and cocktails when the sun goes down. It's open from Thursday to Easter Saturday this Easter weekend with happy hour specials, a delightful live music program and both lunch and dinner sittings available – plus a bottomless brunch on the Saturday! Bookings are available at the website.

Locals may remember it as Hannah Hanoi New Quarter before the lockdown years, but the popular Neo-Vietnamese haunt, now shortened simply to New Quarter, has since changed its stripes. In 2021, the Commune Group (Firebird, Tokyo Tina, Moonhouse) transformed the casual diner into a somewhat more elegant affair both in terms of style and substance. It'll be open from 5pm until 11pm on both Good Friday and Easter Saturday this long weekend, with a special free dessert available (terms and conditions apply) and a 15 per cent surcharge.

Everything tastes better charred – and Firebird got the memo. A restaurant dedicated to smoke, flames and fire that opened on the brink of the pandemic, with every dish in some way, shape or form having been licked by the fire, and it’s all the better for it. It's open from 5:30pm until 11pm on both Good Friday and Easter Saturday this year (with the chance to get your hands on a free dessert). A 15 per cent surcharge applies.

This perennially buzzing hot spot in Prahran is full of sports action and food and drink specials to keep the good times flowing this Easter weekend. On Easter Thursday, happy hour runs from 4pm until 6pm with live music
. Good Friday, the happy hour and live music continues with the AFL live and loud across TV screens. The footy will be programmed on Easter Saturday too, and Easter Sunday you can gather the crew for $15 Easter-themed cocktails and an all-day Sunday Roast special (and yes, the footy!). The fun doesn't stop at Monday, with another happy hour from 4pm until 6pm and another AFL game from 3:20pm. Visit the website for more details.

Across the entire long weekend at the Hawthorn Hotel, visitors can get $19 cocktail and beer jugs. There'll be live music on Food Friday and Saturday from 5pm, and sports lovers can catch the AFL and UFC games all weekend long with accompanying food and bottomless beverage specials available. To book, head to the website.