Bacchus Wine Bar & Restaurant is an award-winning wine bar and restaurant located on the first floor of 12 The Octagon, in the heart of central Dunedin. True to its name, wine takes pride of place here, with a dedicated wine menu complemented by its own cocktail and whisky lists — making it as much a destination for a drink as for a meal.
The kitchen runs across four food menus: a weekday lunch menu served from 12pm Monday to Friday, an evening menu for dinner from 5:30pm Monday through Saturday, a dessert menu, and a 3 Course Set Menu offering a complete dining experience from starter to dessert. Whether you're settling in for a long dinner or a quicker lunch, there's a format to suit.
Reservations are available and can be made by phone on 03 474 0824. The restaurant is closed on Sundays, and it publishes special hours for events and holidays in Dunedin — such as New Year's Eve and winter lunch service — so it's worth checking the Special Hours page before planning a visit.
From its first-floor home at 12 The Octagon, Bacchus Wine Bar & Restaurant occupies one of the most central addresses in Dunedin. The Octagon sits at the heart of the city, and Bacchus has spent years establishing itself as a fixture of that centre — a self-described award-winning wine bar & restaurant with a loyal following among locals and a strong presence on TripAdvisor, where travellers consistently seek it out.
The name Bacchus, after the Roman god of wine, tells you where the venue's priorities lie. But while wine is the headline act, it is far from the whole story.
Bacchus maintains a dedicated wine menu, and it is this focus that defines the venue's character as a genuine wine bar rather than a restaurant with a token wine list. Alongside the wine, though, sit two more drinks lists that earn their own billing: a dedicated cocktail menu for those who prefer their aperitif mixed, and a whisky menu that gives spirit lovers a reason to linger after dinner.
The result is a drinks offering broad enough to anchor any occasion — a pre-theatre glass, a celebratory cocktail, or a slow nightcap — all in one first-floor room above the city's central square.
The food side of Bacchus is organised into four distinct menus, each serving a different kind of visit. The lunch menu runs Monday to Friday from 12pm, making the restaurant a natural choice for a business lunch or a midweek break in the Octagon. From 5:30pm, Monday through Saturday, the evening menu takes over for dinner service.
A separate dessert menu gives diners the option of finishing sweetly — or simply calling in for something to end the evening. And for those who want the full experience without making decisions course by course, the 3 Course Set Menu bundles a complete meal from starter to dessert into a single, settled format.
It's a structure that rewards repeat visits: lunch one week, the set menu the next, dessert and whisky the week after.
Bacchus keeps a clear weekly rhythm. Lunch is served from 12pm Monday to Friday; dinner is served from 5:30pm Monday to Saturday. Sundays are the one day the restaurant closes, so weekend planners should aim for a Saturday evening rather than a Sunday meal.
Reservations are available, and given the venue's central location and reputation, booking ahead through the reservations page or by phone on 03 474 0824 is a sensible move — particularly for dinner.
One thing worth knowing: Bacchus does not run a purely uniform calendar. The restaurant publishes special hours for events and holidays in Dunedin, with past and upcoming examples including New Year's Eve service and adjusted winter lunch hours. If your visit coincides with a public holiday, a festival, or the depths of an Otago winter, check the Special Hours page before you go to confirm when the doors are open.
What Bacchus offers, in essence, is flexibility within a clear identity. Want a full three-course dinner with wine? The set menu and wine list are waiting. Looking for a cocktail before dinner elsewhere on the Octagon? The cocktail menu stands on its own. Whisky after the plates are cleared? There's a list for that too.
That breadth — four food menus, three drinks menus, two services a day across six days of the week — is why the venue describes itself as both a wine bar and a restaurant, and why it wears the word "award-winning" on its signage. It's a room built for many kinds of evenings and lunches, all under one roof in the centre of Dunedin.
If you find yourself in the city — whether visiting the Octagon itself, touring the region's famous food and drink scene, or simply looking for a reliable dinner table on a Saturday night — Bacchus Wine Bar & Restaurant is an easy recommendation and an easier address to find: first floor, 12 The Octagon, Dunedin.