Bendigo's food scene has grown significantly in recent years, drawing on the surrounding Goldfields wine region and a community of local producers. The main restaurant strip runs along View Street and the streets behind Pall Mall. The quality is generally high for a regional city, and prices are noticeably lower than Melbourne equivalents.
The town has a strong cafe culture built around the heritage buildings on View Street and the laneways running off the main strip. For a sit-down meal, the options lean toward contemporary Australian cooking with a strong local-produce focus — the regional wines pair well with the food and are often on the list at prices that would be impossible in a capital city.