Brisbane is set to usher in a new era in dining and be put on the global culinary stage with the upcoming launch of the Howard Smith Wharves.

Originally constructed in the 1930s, the 3.4-hectare heritage site on the Brisbane River underneath the Story Bridge is due for completion late November, early December and will feature up to eight restaurants, including the city’s first river-fronting brewery.

Restaurateurs and developers behind the entertainment zone say it’s unlike anything in the world and will become a huge drawcard for not only locals, but interstate and overseas visitors.

“I haven’t really seen anything like this internationally,” said Howard Smith Wharves director Adam Flaskas.

“There will be seven to eight restaurants on the site and a number of those I’m totally confident will be the best in Australia, if not the world.”

Those restaurants include the first Toko Brisbane from acclaimed Sydney restaurateur Matt Yazbek (Toko, Sydney and Melbourne); Greca – a Greek venture from fellow esteemed Sydney operator Jonathan Barthelmess (The Apollo, Sydney and Tokyo, and Cho Cho San, Sydney), plus glam Chinese eatery Stanley courtesy of Brisbane hospitality veterans Andrew and Jaimee Barturo.

The site will also feature the impressive octagonal-shaped Overwater Bar, which will float above the Brisbane River serving drinks and light lunch and dinner offerings, as well as brewery and eatery Felons Brewing Co.

“I think a lot of people in Brisbane are really looking forward to some new food and beverage offers and I can’t wait to be sitting with them in the venues and enjoying it,” Mr Flaskas said.

Mr Yazbek said he had been looking for the past 11 years to open a restaurant in Brisbane and believed the HSW would herald a new era in Brisbane dining.

“I think what people have been witness to in the past is just that typical dining out – go to a restaurant, eat drink, be merry and go home – where I think what Howard Smith Wharves have done here is nothing short of brilliant,” he said.

“It won’t be a destination to come to just for food, it will be destination just to come to.”

The site will also feature family-friendly parklands, food trucks and activations, plus a coffee roaster and five-star boutique hotel with 164 rooms.