The best restaurants in Cronulla

Queen Margherita of Savoy is the king of the classics. This small Italian joint slings their woodfired pizzas, simple pastas and select antipasto items every night of the week to an adoring crowd of Cronulla locals and wise visitors from the north and west. The charm here is in the almost kitsch details: the rough booth seats are crowned with hanging baskets of chilli and garlic, there are ageing posters of Naples on the walls, and the spicy salame pizza comes out on a stand, so you’re six inches closer to the bubbling fior di latte and bitey gaeta olives.

Time Out tip: Looking for somewhere fun to go with a bunch of friends? On Sundays Queen Margherita goes bottomless. Enjoy free-flowing drinks with antipasto, pizza and cannoli for $99 per person.

Pino's Vino e Cucina al Mare is the most talked-about Cronulla opening in years, and it should be on your bucket (and spade) list. A sibling to Alexandria’s Pino's Vino e Cucina, the Cronulla venue pays tribute to a beach holiday owner Matteo Margiotta enjoyed with his wife, Nerina, and two daughters in Puglia. With handmade pasta, fresh seafood and plenty of charm, Pino's Vino e Cucina al Mare is a love song to the coastlines of both Puglia and Cronulla.

If the floor-to-ceiling views of Cronulla’s Elouera Beach weren’t blue enough for you, Summer Salt went and reinvented their chic dining room to be fifty shades of the colour. Let us tell you, it is cool as. No matter where you’re sitting in the European beach bar-esque restaurant, you’ll have sweeping views of the shore. As for the menu, it keeps on theme with a Mediterranean-Italian influence. Keep it fresh with light entrees like paper-thin slices of tuna carpaccio, and chunks of octopus marinated in olive oil, chilli and lemon. For mains, curly mafaldine pasta and lobster come served on a giant platter, while the line-caught baby snapper is served whole.

Jane and Arthur are two of our favourite Sydney restaurants. So our ears pricked up when we heard the couple behind them, Tristan Rosier and Rebecca Fanning, were opening a casual Italian restaurant in Gymea in the Sutherland Shire – the place where Rosier grew up. Fior is an Australian riff on Italian cuisine, laced with charm, nostalgia and good times. Come for rustic antipasti, handmade pasta and dishes at affordable price points, all made from mostly locally sourced ingredients. Plus, oysters are freshly shucked to order and there's a roaming gelato trolley.

Time Out tip: Fior says they have “the Shire’s best aperitivo hour”. Think: $2 oysters, $8 G&Ts and $12 Spritzes. Mon-Thurs, 5-6pm, and Fri-Sun, 4-5pm. Cheers to that.

The ocean views are an obvious reason to visit Bobbys, the restaurant that's docked at the waterfront in South Cronulla. But locals are beelining for Bobbys for more than its blessed location. For starters, the beachfront diner embodies the beach club spirit of Ibiza, emphasising fun Euro vacay vibes while also conjuring up its very own version of contemporary Cronulla cool. With Bobbys, owners Adam and Kylie Micola have gifted the community with a restaurant that matches the neighbourhood’s laid-back lifestyle and is worthy of its location. Chef Pablo Tordesillasis (ex-Totti’s, Otto) is on the same wavelength, with a strong focus on Mediterranean flavours and seafood.

Time Out tip: The fish burger, which comes with crumbed barramundi, crunchy cos and a chive mayo on a soft golden bun, is killer.

There’s a fresh new vibe on the Shire’s waterfront, and it’s called Pippis Cronulla. Sitting pretty on the newly renovated Calico Marina, this family-friendly waterfront venue is the brainchild of Adam Choker, the hospitality guy behind BarLume and Flower Child cafés. Being a Cronulla resident meant that Choker wanted to give his community a space where locals could unwind with delicious food by the water. With this in mind, head chef Carlo Della Sala has crafted a menu that marries modern Australian cuisine with his Italian heritage.

Time Out tip: Pippis Cronulla is BYO-only, so bring along a chilled bottle or two of your fave bubbles or rosé.

Benny’s is a relaxed waterfront restaurant overlooking pretty Gunnamatta Bay. RJ Lines, the former chef of Summer Hill’s now-closed, award-winning restaurant One Penny Red, is behind the Mediterranean-and-Australian-inspired menu. Lines is focused on letting fresh produce shine, promising straightforward, delicious dishes that keep people coming back. 

Time Out tip: In your swimmers? No worries. Benny’s offers takeaway beer-battered fish and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce, plus gelato and ice cream cones – perfect for enjoying on the grassy knoll outside in the sunshine.