Eat & Drink
Wine, Dine, Celebrate
The best eat & drink in Fleurieu Peninsula
Everything edible on the Fleurieu - wineries, restaurants, cafés, breweries, distilleries, markets and makers.
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a genuine paddock-to-plate region, and eating your way around it is half the reason to visit. This is one of South Australia's most productive corners — vineyards and olive groves, market gardens and orchards, almond and citrus, cheese makers and small-batch producers all within an easy drive of one another.
It shows up everywhere. Spend a morning at the famous Saturday farmers market in Willunga, graze your way through farm gates and cellar-door kitchens around McLaren Vale, or pick up fresh fish, local cheese, olive oil and just-baked bread to take to the beach. The region's restaurants and cafés lean hard on what's grown nearby, and many of the best meals are had at winery and brewery tables looking out over the vines.
From long vineyard lunches and seaside fish and chips to country bakeries and good coffee in almost every town, there's something for every appetite and budget. If you're planning a trip around food, aim for a weekend so you can catch the markets, and book ahead for the popular winery restaurants — they fill quickly, especially in spring and over the summer holidays.
Browse eat & drink by area
108 places
Samson Tall
$$An 1854 chapel turned cellar door
Intimate cellar door housed in an 1854 stone chapel on Strout Road, with an adjoining historic cemetery - one of McLaren Vale's most atmospheric tastings.
Samuel's Gorge
$$1853 barn with views over the gorge
Boutique winery by Justin McNamee in an 1853 stone barn overlooking the Onkaparinga Gorge, specialising in Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz.
Scarpantoni Estate Wines
$$Italian-Australian family winery since 1979
Three generations of Scarpantonis run this McLaren Flat estate, pouring a broad, affordable range from the veranda with vineyard views.
Serafino McLaren Vale
$$$Cellar door, restaurant & accommodation
Family estate on Kangarilla Road combining a celebrated cellar door, restaurant, conference centre and on-site accommodation, set around a lakeside garden.
Serafino Restaurant
$$$Lakeside restaurant at the Serafino estate
Serafino Wines' lakeside restaurant on Kangarilla Road: modern Australian dining overlooking the estate's landscaped lake, paired with the full Serafino wine list.
Settlement Wines
$$Seaview Road family winery
Family-owned cellar door on Seaview Road, McLaren Vale, specialising in old-vine McLaren Vale Shiraz and Grenache.
Sherrah Wines
$$Young-gun winemaker on McMurtrie Road
Alex Sherrah makes small-batch shiraz, grenache and left-field whites at this unpretentious cellar door on McMurtrie Road.
Shingleback Wines
$$Red Knot Shiraz & an 1800s barn
Family-owned winery at the entrance to the McLaren Vale township, based around a beautifully restored 1800s ironstone farm barn.
Shottesbrooke Vineyards
$$McLaren Flat hilltop with Mount Lofty views
Family winery on Bagshaws Road, McLaren Flat - home to The Currant Shed restaurant and a large cellar door with sweeping Mount Lofty Ranges views.
Smidge Wines
$$$Wine Spectator favourite on Tatachilla Road
Matt Wenk's boutique Smidge Wines has a Halliday five-red-star rating and has featured in Wine Spectator's Top 100 for ten consecutive years.
Smiling Samoyed Brewery
Microbrewery in an old Myponga dairy factory
An award-winning microbrewery housed in a converted dairy factory in Myponga, famous for its beers named after the owners' Samoyed dogs.
Star of Greece
$$$Clifftop dining above Port Willunga beach
Famous casual-fine dining restaurant perched on the cliff above Port Willunga beach, named for the 1888 shipwreck visible below at low tide.
Swell Brewing Co
A surf-inspired brewery in the McLaren Vale vines
An independent craft brewery and taphouse on Olivers Road, McLaren Vale - a surf-inspired brewery with a rotating tap list and regular food truck line-up.
The Currant Shed
$$$Restored currant shed, seasonal lunch menu
Lunch-only restaurant in a restored 1880s currant drying shed at McLaren Flat, run by Hamish Maguire and Emily Dowie since 2011.
The Fleurieu Distillery
$$Single malt whisky & Moon River Gin at Goolwa Wharf
Award-winning Australian single malt whisky distillery on Cutting Road at Goolwa Wharf, shared with the Steam Exchange Brewery.
The Flying Fish Cafe
$$On the sand at Horseshoe Bay
Beachside cafe and restaurant right on Horseshoe Bay at Port Elliot - an icon of the Encounter Coast serving breakfast, lunch and summer dinners overlooking the beach.
The Grosvenor Hotel
$$Heritage sandstone pub on Ocean Street
An 1897 sandstone pub on Ocean Street, Victor Harbor - bistro meals, beer garden, front bar and a shot of heritage in the centre of town.
The Links at Lady Bay
$$$Italian dining at Lady Bay Resort golf course
Contemporary Italian restaurant at Lady Bay Resort with a terrace overlooking the golf course and the Gulf St Vincent coast.
The Salopian Inn
$$$Heritage inn with 600 wines and 250 gins
A mid-19th century inn turned modern Australian dining room with an epic wine cellar and 250-strong gin bar.
The Victory Hotel
$$Historic hilltop pub with iconic wine cellar
Historic country pub on Sellicks Hill overlooking the Fleurieu, famous for its award-winning wine list and a cellar with over 700 wines.
The Vineyard Retreat McLaren Vale
$$$$Boutique guesthouses on a working vineyard
Six elegantly appointed self-contained guesthouses on a 15-acre working vineyard at Blewitt Springs - plus a shared jacuzzi with vineyard views.
Thicker Than Water Wines
$$Home of Giant Squid Ink shiraz
A family-run McMurtrie Road cellar door famous for its Giant Squid Ink shiraz.
Ulithorne
$$Middleton tasting room with coffee & cakes
Small McLaren Vale producer with a charming cellar door in the old Middleton general store, open weekends and public holidays.
Vale Brewing Taphouse
McLaren Flat brewery and restaurant
Vale Brewing's home base on Ingoldby Road at McLaren Flat - a full brewery, restaurant and bar with a long menu and all the Vale beers on tap.