Meatball & Wine Bar, our favourite punners, are at it again with their third installment finally bringing their round morsels to the northside. Taking over the space that was once Josie Bones the nose-to-tail eatery from MasterChef alumni Chris Badenoch and Julia Jenkins, this will be the biggest of the Meatball family.

Restaurateur Matteo Bruno is the man behind all of the Meatball & Wine Bar locations, and thinks that Smith Street has positioned itself as a main player in the dinning world, and Smith Balls as it will affectionately be known, will be in good company. This will mean Jimmy Grants, Saint Crispin, Gorski & Jones, Gelato Messina, and Huxtable, to name a few.

Will the menu be the same? Yes, and no.  We can still expect wholesome beef, chicken, fish, pork, and vegetable balls sitting on your choice of bases topped with green, white, or red sauce. It isn’t complicated, but that is why we see ourselves going again and again. Add with some Italian inspired beverages like Aperol Spritz, Prosecco and of course a craft beer or two, and they’ve got the concept nailed.

But Smithballs will also have a more substantial bar offering than its older siblings. There will be a Negroni, created on site and available on tap. Also coming to the party is Balls Beer, a new draft beer that has been created specifically for The Meatball & Wine Bar by Mildura Brewery. There’ll be a pilsner and an ale on offer. Cheers to that. 

Lunch will be more of a thing at Smithballs with the meatball hero coming back (a big meatball filled sandwich), and three salads available (think pea, mint, and fregola salad with chicken balls, market vegetables with beef ball, and wasabsi slaw salad with pulled pork). 

There are hushed words of an upstairs bar following the opening of the downstairs restaurant. We shall wait with baited breath. 

Meatball & Wine Bar
98 Smith Street, Collingwood 3066
(03) 9416 4421