The Room
Bonhomie opened on Burnet Road in 2023 — chef-restaurateur Drew Curren (formerly of ELM Restaurant Group) building a Mediterranean dining room with a wood-fire grill at the centre and a deliberately neighbourhood-friendly register. The room reads as a Mediterranean villa-by-way-of-Burnet: white walls, plant-walled patio, a long bar along the western wall, an open kitchen at the back.
Eater Austin named Bonhomie one of the city's best new restaurants in 2024. The booking window has tightened to one or two weeks for weekend two-tops. The neighbourhood-Burnet crowd has made the room a regular-rotation dinner address.
The Food
The hummus is the way in — three rotating preparations served warm with house-baked pita. The wood-fired whole-fish programme — branzino, snapper, dorade — is the order for two. The lamb-shoulder, the wood-grilled vegetable plates, and the seasonal mezze board run as the menu's centre. The Mediterranean small-plates programme is the format's working argument.
Wine programme leans Mediterranean — Greek, Lebanese, Israeli, Sicilian — with an honest by-the-glass programme. Cocktails are aperitivi-led: a working Negroni, an arak Negroni, a hibiscus Margarita. Service is informed and warm.
Best Occasion Fit
First Date: The plant-walled patio at Bonhomie is one of Burnet Road's most-reliable first-date seats. The hummus and pita share well, the cocktail programme is the conversation, and the room's Mediterranean-villa register reads as warm without becoming theatrical.
Birthday: Birthdays at Bonhomie are warm, whole-fish-led, mezze-friendly affairs the room hosts with the practiced ease of a Curren-group operation. The corner four-top is the seat to request.
Team Dinner: The patio long-tables at Bonhomie hold groups of eight to twelve. The Mediterranean family-style format scales naturally and the wood-fire whole-fish for the centre is the icebreaker.