Warrnambool has a great variety of places to eat, it’s the largest town along the Great Ocean Road so you won’t be running out of places to dine out or take in! With so many family friendly options like pubs and bowls clubs, as well as nice cafes’ and upmarket seafood restaurants, these are some of the best meals we had during our family stay in Warrnambool.
Where is Warrnambool
Located 3 hours (approx. 260 km) drive south-west of Melbourne, Warrnambool is the largest town on the Great Ocean Road. With a population of around 35,000 people, it has the feel of a proper regional city. It has town centre, tourist attractions, amazing beaches and all the amenities you need.
Liebig Street in the heart of the centre, has a great variety of shops, restaurants and coffee shops too.
Top attractions in Warrnambool
Hop in the car and just a short drive away from town you can easily explore nature nearby as well as the Great Ocean Road, with the 12 Apostles only 1 hour away.
Warrnambool is steeped in a rich history that dates back to the 1800, it has a whole village replica at Flagstaff Hill that showcases life how it was in a traditional maritime village.
For nature lovers, just 14 km west of Warrnambool, you can venture inside a now extinct volcano crater at Tower Hill Reserve. The reserve is now a thriving habitat of native flora and animals.
The Winter Whales is one of the big attractions that bring tourism into Warrnambool over the winter months. Between June to September, many different types of whales migrate to the coast of Warrnambool at Logans beach during calving season. Along with the beautiful beaches of Lady Bay, Main Beach and Stingray Bay, Warrnambool has attractions suited for everyone!
You can read more about the Top Things to do in Warrnambool with Kids in my other post. Read on to find out more about Where to eat in Warrnambool with the family!
Where to Eat in Warrnambool with the family
Raffetys Tavern
When to visit: Open 10 am to 1 am, Monday to Sunday
Great for: Huge indoor Playground for the kids and tasty smoked meats!
A bit about Raffetys Tavern
The pub is located just a few minute’s drive outside of the center so you will need to drive there – but I did see that they have a free courtesy bus that can pick you up or drop you off on request.
This pub was a really pleasant surprise and real hit with the kids. The pub is spacious, very clean and the service was great.
They have specials on most nights, we visited on a Tuesday and the kids eat free with each main meal you purchase. The kid’s meals were pretty basic and not too big but were enough for my little ones.
The biggest drawcard for families visiting is indeed the biggest play area I’ve ever seen inside a pub. They have a full-size bouncy castle, and stairs that take them up to a mezzanine floor with a tunnel slide to the lower floor playground.
There are also cameras and TVs so you can see the play areas from most the dining room which is a plus. Yu can also be seated right next to the play area to keep an eye on the little ones. This place is an ideal place to eat in Warrnambool with the family!
The Food
They have a large menu with a lot of the pub classics like Parmas, Pizza and Seafood, as well as a great variety of plant based options too. We opted to go for the smokehouse specials that they were running at the time of our visit and they did not disappoint, both meals were very tasty and of good portion size.
The 12 hour smoked brisket was a highlight: melt in the mouth meat and it came with sides of buttery charred corn, creamy potato salad and a delicious home made BBQ sauce. The smoked pork ribs were also delicious and came with crispy beer battered onion and a crunchy apple slaw.
The Dart and Marlin
When to visit: Open 4 pm to 11 pm, Wednesday to Saturday
Great for: Tasty stone baked thin crust pizza and cocktails for the grown ups
A bit about the Dart and Marlin
Located right in the center of Warrnambool, this trendy pub serves up some delicious pizzas and the grown-ups can enjoy some Live music and great cocktails too! We tried this place for some pizzas to take home and they were a standout.
The Food
Crispy stone-baked thin base and tasty quality toppings made these pizzas delicious. On the extensive pizza menu, we tried the Potato and Leek Pizza which was topped with some beautifully caramelized onion and 3 cheeses.
The Smokey Pig had toppings of smoked tomato and just the right amount of crispy pancetta, pepperoni & pork sausage. We got the large pizzas and there were no leftovers – Priced at a reasonable $24 – $25 per pizza, they were just too good!
Cheese World
When to visit: Open 10 am to 3 pm, Monday to Friday
Great for: Brunch, Cheese toasties & creamy milkshakes
A bit about Cheese World
Oh the humble cheese toastie.. do I even need to say more? I’d go back just for that. What a great brunch/lunch spot this is if you are out and about exploring around Warrnambool.
Cheese World is located in Allansford, 10 minutes drive from Warrnambool. It’s also very close to Warrnambool Wildlife Encounters which is most definitely worth a visit too! Cheese World was the perfect stop to refuel after a morning of sightseeing.
The Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory (now known as Saputo Dairy) is across the road and showcases their dairy products that are produced on site.
Alongside the Cheese World Shop and café, there is also a free museum! In the museum you can have a look at farm and household items from the 19th century. To have a closer look at them you just scan a QR code to learn more about the items.
In the shop they have a good variety of cheeses available to purchase, mainly cheddar style, seasoned with different things such as smoked or with peppers etc.. They also offer free tastings before you buy.
Lots of different chutneys and fruit paste are also available for purchase to accompany the cheese. Some interesting combinations of the chutneys included Spiced Pear paste and Green Tomato pickles.
The Food
The café is spacious and has a simple menu but you can get some really tasty toasties that can rival the ones in fancy café in the city. It’s a great place to have a nice brunch or light lunch with the family while visiting Warrnambool!
They use Zeally Bay Sourdough which makes a gorgeous sourdough bread in Torquay, and fill it with lots of cheeses. The Three Cheese toastie has a wonderful mix of King Island Brie, Heidi Farm Raclette and a local Vintage Cheddar and was delicious.
The Ham and cheese toastie was also very nice and reminded me a bit of a croque monsieur because of the tangy Dijon mustard in it.
For the kids they have cheese toasties that are only $6 and they are huge! It was definitely enough for my kids (2 under 5) to share with some chips ($3 extra as a side).
To wash it all down, don’t miss on trying the thick-shakes and milkshakes with local Sungold Fresh Milk!
Where to stay in Warrnambool
Warrnambool has some great options and a lot of variety of accommodation types to suit all budgets. There are some large hotels in the Lady Bay area near the beaches, such as the Deep Blue Hotel & Resort with their own Hot Springs and Lady Bay Resort with apartment style accommodation.
Quest Warrnambool and Warrnambool Gallery apartments are two of my favourites located right in the heart of the city centre. There are also many other options that includes Holiday Parks, Motels and AirBnbs.
To check out some great accommodation deals in Warrnambool check out Expedia and Booking.com!
Want to read more about Warrnambool?
Hope you enjoyed this post on Where to eat in Warrnambool with the family.
Want to discover more about Warrnambool, in Australia?
Check out my other post on the Things to do in Warrnambool with kids and Warrnambool Wildlife Encounters.
This post was first written in February and updated in October 2023- I always recommend that you go on the direct websites to check prices & opening times for the most up to date information.