Pictured: Higher Vision Spirits Bar
As January comes to an end and we head further into an already fantastic 2026, it’s time to look back on the fantastic businesses Adelaide welcomed this month. From quirky chicken shops and Hindley Street bars to grab-and-go lunch spots and distilleries that tell a story, here are 12 great new spots to check out!
Chicken Bandits
Now open in Cowandilla, Chicken Bandits is already carving out a name in Adelaide’s fried chicken scene. It’s upfront about what it’s here to do. This is fried chicken, full stop. Golden, crunchy chicken made for eating with your hands and pausing mid-bite to wonder whether something this criminally good is actually legal, then immediately thinking about your next order.
For more information, click here.
Higher Vision Spirits Bar
Higher Vision Spirits Bar, is the newest late-night arrival to Hindley Street, and one of the venues aiming to revive Adelaide’s nightlife scene. An extension of Higher Vision Spirits, a tools-down, distillery at Roxby Downs, that flies in the face of tradition to create down-to-earth, easy-going drinks. After working across regional areas for years, the move to Hindley Street marks a new purpose shift and higher visibility.
For more information, click here.
Mambo Gelato
Years after it was first planned, Italian native Domenico Perre’s gelato dream has finally landed on King William Road.
Mambo Gelato, now open near the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Anglican Cathedral, is the sweet finale of a stop-start journey that began well before the pandemic.
For more information, click here.
Nom Nom
Nom Nom Vietnamese have filled a gap in the Adelaide airport foodie scene, becoming the first Vietnamese venue under the Hawker bar in the first terminal. Offering the fresher, lighter and more affordable option travellers were absolutely looking for between flights.
For more information, click here.
Pepper Lunch
Four years after abruptly shutting its Gouger Street outpost and sending the city’s Reddit loyalists into a mild conspiracy spiral, the cult Japanese chain has fired up the hot plates once again. This time, it’s landed as a grab-and-go express at City Cross Food Court, bringing its sizzling DIY teppan back to Adelaide diners.
For the uninitiated, Pepper Lunch is a performance. Plates arrive aggressively hot, meat still pink, rice still popping, steam rising fast enough to fog your glasses. From there, it’s on you. Mix it, flip it, sizzle it to your liking.
For more information, click here.
Radhe Sweets and Veg Restaurant
Collinswood is welcoming a sweet new Indian dining addition to its list of popular hotels and locally-loved takeaway joints. Radhe Sweets and Veg Restaurant opened its doors on Wednesday 7 January with an impressive menu full of Indian vegetarian classics and traditional desserts.
For more information, click here.
Smoking Fish
Smoking Fish isn’t easily explained. Even its co-owner, artist Truc Truong, is careful not to pin it down too tightly. The space sits somewhere between cafe, studio, gallery, retail store and ongoing artwork, shifting shape depending on the day, the project, or how Truong decides to use it. It’s deliberately fluid, and a little resistant to definition, but as of this month, it’s ours to enjoy and interpret.
For more information, click here.
Sognare Italiano
Drive down Magill Road and it’s impossible not to notice the striking new arrival glowing from the corner at Maylands. Wrapped in deep burgundy tones and warm light, Sognare Italiano has officially opened its doors, and it already feels like a place that’s been there forever.
Part homestyle trattoria, part modern social hub, Sognare Italiano is a deeply personal project from owner Deanna Pallotta, built on family tradition, Neapolitan soul food and the joy of gathering around a table.
For more information, click here.
Storytellers Distillery
When Storytellers Distillery’s Brompton cellar door, Long Story Short, opened in 2021, it quietly cemented Storytellers as one of Adelaide’s most thoughtful small-batch spirits producers. Then came the cliff-hanger. In late 2023, a fire on a neighbouring property tore through the site, destroying the space and abruptly severing the brand’s physical home.
Now, the story resumes – this time in McLaren Vale – with a new tasting room and gin bar housed inside the McLaren Vale Visitor Centre, and led by one of the most respected figures in Australian hospitality.
For more information, click here.
The Dock
Port Adelaide has quietly welcomed a new local to Divett Street, with Fossil’s Wine Bar reopening as The Dock, a relaxed, nautical-leaning neighbourhood bar with new owners and a fresh sense of purpose.
For more information, click here.
The Tandoori Box Virginia
Less than a year after opening their first kitchen in St Agnes, the family behind The Tandoori Box has done something many hospitality newcomers only dream of. They’ve expanded.
The much-loved Indian takeaway, which quickly built a loyal following in Adelaide’s north-east for its no-frills approach to flavour, has officially opened a second location at Virginia Shopping Centre, bringing its full menu of curries, tandoori dishes and street-food favourites further north.
For more information, click here.
TikkaNTalk
If there’s one thing you need to know about Glenelg’s new TikkaNTalk, it’s that the butter chicken is so creamy it’ll ruin every watery version you’ve ever settled for, and the serves are generous enough that leftovers are basically guaranteed.
Opening quietly in January, TikkaNTalk is the latest venture from business partners and chefs Sam and Dave taking over the Jetty Road shopfront where they formerly ran Glenelg Pizza House.
For more information, click here.
