Grill Americano

Verdict: Book It for the Wood-Fired Steak, Stay for the Wine List

Grill Americano on Flinders Lane is one of the clearest yes-or-no decisions in Melbourne dining. If you want a serious steak room with Italian inflection, a 2,000-bottle wine list, a room that feels closer to a 1960s New York chophouse than anything you'd associate with the city's cafe culture, book it. If you want contemporary Australian cuisine or a lighter spend, look elsewhere. The venue holds a 3-Star Accreditation and a Regional Winner title (Australasia) from the World's Leading Wine Lists Awards, so the bottle list is not incidental; it is central to the case for a return visit.

The Room: Old World Staging on Flinders Lane

The physical experience begins before the food. Grill Americano was conceived by restaurateur Chris Lucas as a deliberate homage to classic New York dining rooms and Venetian cooking, the interior follows that brief: marble bar, plush seating, a spatial weight that signals occasion without theatricality. The room reads as large-format and formal enough to justify a jacket, but not so stiff that a business dinner feels out of place next to a birthday table. The bar area is worth noting for solo visitors; see the FAQ below on bar seating. The bespoke wood oven and Josper charcoal grill sit at the operational heart of the kitchen, their presence is reflected in the cooking, not just the menu copy. Chef Vincenzo Ursini runs the kitchen.

How to Visit More Than Once: A Multi-Visit Strategy

Grill Americano has enough range to warrant more than a single booking if steak is your category. Here is how to structure two or three visits productively.

First Visit: The Benchmark Steak

On a first visit, the 1.2kg Bistecca alla Fiorentina is the correct order for a table of two. It is the dish most aligned with the restaurant's declared identity, wood-fired, large-format, Italian in framing, Australian in sourcing. Pair it with one sauce and one side rather than over-ordering. The wine list will reward attention here: the World's Leading Wine Lists 3-Star accreditation means you can trust the sommelier's direction without second-guessing the markup structure. The 2,000-bottle depth allows meaningful price-point options across the range.

Second Visit: Explore the Cuts and Italian Sides

Return visits can go narrower on the protein and wider on the supporting menu. The 650g rib-eye on the bone and the Wagyu Eye Fillet (MB 4+, wet and dry aged) give you a useful comparison of the kitchen's range across beef styles. The Italian side dishes, Parmesan-cacio e pepe polenta, Parmesan-crusted onion rings, truffle mac and cheese, represent a distinct Italian-American register that deserves proper attention rather than being treated as afterthoughts. This is where the Venetian influence becomes tangible on the plate.

Third Visit: Wine-Led Dining

For serious wine drinkers, a third visit structured around the bottle list rather than the beef makes sense. The 3-Star WBWL accreditation and Australasian regional winner status confirm that this is among the better-curated lists in the country, comparable in depth to what you would expect at Rockpool in Sydney for steak-and-wine pairing. Let the sommelier drive and build the food order backwards from the bottles.

How It Compares in Melbourne

For Melbourne steak options with Italian framing, Grill Americano has no direct equivalent. Florentino occupies similar Italian territory but skews toward modern European cooking rather than the steakhouse format. Attica is the choice if you want the city's most discussed tasting menu, but it is a different proposition entirely. Vue de Monde competes for the high-end occasion spend but with Australian fine dining rather than a steakhouse register. Flower Drum is the correct comparison only if Cantonese is an acceptable alternative for the occasion in question. For wood-fired steaks specifically, Brae in Birregurra is worth the drive if a regional experience appeals, but it is not a like-for-like substitute in format. For Italian cooking in Melbourne at a lower price point, consider 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar or Bottarga.

Practical Details

Reservations: Booking is rated Easy, advance bookings recommended, particularly for weekend evenings and larger groups. Address: 112 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000, central CBD location, close to Flinders Street and accessible from the southern end of the lane. Dress: Smart casual at minimum; the room's tone and price tier make an effort appropriate. Occasion fit: Business dinners, celebrations, date nights, wine-focused group meals all work. Solo dining at the bar is a viable option (see FAQ). Wine list: 2,000-bottle depth with a 3-Star WBWL accreditation, use the sommelier. Grill method: Bespoke wood oven and Josper charcoal grill. Beef: Wet and dry aged, Australian sourcing. Nearby: Pair a visit with a stop at one of Melbourne's better bars, see our full Melbourne bars guide. For where to stay, see our Melbourne hotels guide.

Pearl Picks Nearby

• Aru Melbourne, for a contrasting modern Australian experience on a subsequent evening
• Amaru in Armadale, worth the short trip for a quieter, more intimate format
• 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar, Italian at a lower price tier, useful for a casual night around the same visit
• Bottarga, another Melbourne Italian worth knowing

For full context on Melbourne dining, see our Melbourne restaurants guide, experiences guide, and wineries guide.