The best restaurants on the Gold Coast

Dining on the Gold Coast concentrates in a handful of walkable blocks: Broadbeach around Surf Parade and the Oracle, Tedder Avenue at Main Beach, James Street at Burleigh Heads, and the Surfers Paradise strip that never really closes. Away from those, the good rooms sit one street back from the beach and you would never find them by driving past.

This is the map talking, not a critic: every restaurant we have plotted, ordered by how much the owner has verified rather than by anyone’s opinion. Click through to see which block each one sits on — the neighbours usually decide whether a booking is worth the drive.

Where this shortlist sits: Coolangatta (3) · Palm Beach (3) · Mermaid Beach (2) · Miami (2)

BabyMama by MamasanRestaurants · Mermaid BeachBalboa ItalianRestaurants · 1069 Gold Coast Highway · Palm BeachBar MonteRestaurants · MiamiBread and ButterRestaurants · CoolangattaChef House ThaiRestaurants · 1089 Gold Coast Highway · Palm BeachChina GardenRestaurants · MiamiCiao BellaRestaurants · Varsity LakesDon’t Gnocc ItRestaurants · BroadbeachFlavours on CharcoalRestaurants · Burleigh WatersFlower Garden Chinese RestaurantRestaurants · Palm BeachGemelliniRestaurants · Mermaid BeachGlass Dining & Lounge BarRestaurants · 74 Sea World Drive · Main BeachGovindas CoolangattaRestaurants · CoolangattaHiPokeRestaurants · CoolangattaHorizon Sky DiningRestaurants · Surfers Paradise

Listings drawn from the Pixel Gold Coast map — verified profiles first, then the most complete listings. Run one of these places? Claim your profile.