Vlado's

01What to order

• The set menu, A$130Sausage, mixed grill, steak with salad and coleslaw, crêpes or strawberries and ice cream, tea or coffee; all meat and salads gluten-free, per the house. GST included.
• Eye fillet, porterhouse or rumpThe only choice, made from raw cuts brought to the table on a black tray, blue to well done, with house mustard and horseradish.
• Purebred Australian Wagyu, 330 g / 12 ozA$90 on top of the menu, confirmed on the day of booking.
• Grilled capsicumA$15 a serve when available.
• A Penfolds, Wynns or Leeuwin Estate redThe list leans to benchmark Australian reds, per Broadsheet; Inner East Review calls it long and heavy on reds.

02The beef

The house says the beef comes from what it calls the country's top meat-growing regions, from cattle finished on grain and grass, free of hormones, antibiotics and chemical residues, slaughtered under controlled conditions, and aged before cooking; neither the regions, the breeds, the type of ageing nor the days are published. Stock & Land reported in 2012 that Vlado sought out producers himself and aged the meat in a cool room, and that the colour of the meat was his test that the animal had been killed without stress. The Wagyu upgrade is purebred Australian, 330 g / 12 oz. Good Food gave the set menu at A$93 a head in 2013; in 2026 it is A$130.

03The fire

Charcoal from Victoria, 'local and specific to the state', says the house, in what it calls a fierce bed of coals; the grill was enclosed in glass so diners could watch, and the fire was lit every morning, Stock & Land wrote in 2012. Cooks follow Vlado's own guidelines for each degree of doneness, and the line the house keeps is 'cut no corners, only trim the meat'.

04The story

Vlado Gregurek was born in Zagreb and was 81 when he died; a comedian who once received an award from Marshal Tito, then a journalist after laryngitis took his singing voice, he left Yugoslavia on a reporting trip, reached Paris as a refugee and arrived in Melbourne in 1959 aboard the Conte Grande with his wife Nina, his parents and five-year-old son Michael. His first restaurant opened on Smith Street, Collingwood, in 1962 with a loan from the bandleader Dennis Farrington; the move to 61 Bridge Road came in 1964, and in the 1970s and 1980s people queued before the 6 pm opening. The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival named him a Legend in 1994, and he received the Medal of the Order of Australia. He died at Epworth Hospital on May 29, 2012. Michael, a barrister whose first name is also Vladislav, took over the room after the long-time manager retired; two of his children work there, and the restaurant reopened after Melbourne's first lockdown in 2020. Steakpedia uses 1964 for Bridge Road and notes 1962 for Collingwood.

05The practical

61 Bridge Road, Richmond, a walk from the CBD. Time Out in 2018 gave lunch Monday to Friday 12 to 3 pm and dinner Monday to Saturday 6 to 11 pm; the house's website publishes no hours, so confirm on +61 3 9428 5833. Set menu only, A$130 a person, GST included; the Wagyu upgrade must be requested when booking. Bookings by phone or through the website.

Address

61 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC 3121

Phone

+61 3 9428 5833

Website

vlados.com.au

Directions

Google Maps ↗

06In Melbourne’s selections