Jimmy Watson’s Restaurant

My old time favorite steak in Melbourne. Have been here 10+ times. Highly recommend. Excellent food and wine.

What a great little place! We were enthusiastically greeted as soon as we walked through the door! Seated and water brought to the table immediately. The kitchen and staff are well organized and put out some amazing food!
We enjoyed a nice bottle of house Shiraz with a shared plate of spaghetti bolognese. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce was plentiful and amazing!
Great atmosphere. I’m sure it had something to do with all the people out shopping and getting ready for the holiday but it sure hit the spot with us!

Bland pizzas, very dry and lacking in flavour. Need much better pizza dough and more sauce.

This review is for Wolfs Lair, which is the spectacular bar at the back of Jimmy Watson’s. It’s astonishingly good, I want to move in. It’s just playful enough to be fun, grungy enough to be cool and beautiful enough to be classy. I want for nothing more in a wine bar, except perhaps some late afternoon sun, which is furiously obscured by the surrounding buildings. Keep this in mind when dressing — it can get a little chilly up on the rooftop. But perfect for a steaming summer night when the sun is just a little too scorching. It’s a little like Madame Brussels, with better prices and more space. You can sit on old crates which have been turned into tables and chairs, or sit on top of bar stools lining the perimeter. The jugs of cocktails are delicious, all the classics available and their wine, beer and cider list is impressive. The bar food looked delicious too. They did close very early when we visited, by 11 pm they weren’t serving but that may just be summer trading hours.
Most definitely worth a visit (come here first then scoot over to DOC for some pizza). Now THAT’s a night out in Carlton.

So, just behind Jimmy Watson’s Restaurant is a little joint called Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar. It’s a little extension of the main restaurant and is definitely worth a visit. Smaller, cozier and quieter than the main restaurant, the wine bar offers an intimate atmosphere with a modest menu. The evening I visited there was only one staff member, and she was amazing. Our prosciutto and parmesan pizza took awhile to come, and she offered a round of drinks. Couldn’t ask for better service! The décor is lovely and warm and you feel like a regular instantly.

Ah! Good olé wattoh’s!
Jimmy Watson’s, colloquially known as watto’s has stood for some 77 years.
It was one of the originals to Melbourne’s dining scene. Heck, even my dad
dined here when at a young age. Jimmy Watson’s is the place to go when you
don’t want to think too much about dinner, and you’re after some comfort food.
I don’t like much to use these words; but Watson’s is «family friendly», everyone
is welcome here.
If you’re after somewhere to eat, where there’s always favourites on the menu
and mostly everyone is easily pleased, then Watson’s is for you. It’s a long
established and standing Melbourne institution. Staff take pride in being
apart of this. There’s a covered courtyard out back, and a little room that’s
like a garage. This serves for private dining, or an events space and even
has it’s own bar.
Of course, you can always join the busy atmosphere out front, where you’re
clamouring for a free table. The main part of this restaurant is busy, popular,
and loud, but full of life. Quite often staff will pull miracles, and find you a
spare seat or table. If you want to avoid disappointment– book. Watson’s has
all the crowd favourites’ pizza, pasta, wine, other awesome things,
and homely comfort food. Ace.
Oh check out the «Wolf’s Lair» It’s new– and just opened.
But its also a secret! Shh, don’t tell anyone.

Fabulous evening at this joint last night.
Ended up in a conversation with Simon the grand son of Jimmy. Charming man with great pride and historical knowledge in the bar.
A lovely legacy he’s at the wheel of.
The man wears shorts in mid winter and you gotta love that!

I really like this place, but I really want to like it more than I do. It’s not going to be my favourite place to have a drink anytime soon. So many decent places in the area, so there’s some stiff competition.
I’m keen to try a meal here, but as it is, I’ve only really stopped in here after work for a drink with friends. I thought the wine list was adequate but nothing special, however I’ve tried quite a few new types of wine here that I hadn’t had before. The beer garden is pretty cool, and totally unexpected. The meals that I’ve seen look pretty damn good, and the prices aren’t over the top.

Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar and Restaurant is named after one of Australia’s most influential wine merchants and the namesake of the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, one of Australia’s best-​known wine awards. With such a prestigious attachment to the name, Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar and Restaurant is actually quite homely and comfortable. There are no pretences here.
Located on Lygon Street amongst Italian restaurants, Jimmy Watson’s is a great find, particularly for its courtyard nestled in the back. With white walls, tiled floors, and bentwood chairs, it is quite a simple establishment, but offers friendly staff and good food and wine.
On the menu are mainly Italian dishes ($ 20) including pastas, pizzas, and various meat dishes (osso bucco, porterhouse steak, etc). Our group grabbed a seat in the courtyard and shared a large antipasto platter ($ 20) with chorizo, feta, olives, and salami. Although nothing special, for the price, it was a good size platter and quite filling.
My biggest gripe about this place is that it doesn’t serve actual meals between 3pm and 6pm so we were kind of forced to order the antipasto when we actually wanted a whole meal.
Considering that Jimmy Watson’s is an Australian wine bar, I wasn’t that impressed by the wine list. Slightly above the cut of other restaurants on Lygon Street, I’d give Jimmy Watson’s another try.

There’s really only one reason I like Jimmy Watson’s, but as far as reasons to like bars go, it’s not a bad one. Through the quiet front bar and past the stuffy restaurant tables and the kitchen, you’ll find one of the best little beer gardens in town. It’s secluded, covered in greenery, often not terribly busy and a great place to escape city life with a friend or small number of people (not large groups though — it isn’t huge).
As a beer bar, it’s not the best. There’s nothing on tap and the bottles are on the pricey side. If it’s wine you’re after, however, there’s a large selection of wines by the glass and the bartenders are more than happy to help you choose. I’ve never bothered looking at the menu here as it’s too white-​table gastro for my liking. But that garden…