Grill Americano restaurant to open at Sydney's Chifley Square - Eat Out

by Krysia Bonkowski

Editorial Director, delicious.

Nov 14, 2025

The Sydney CBD has a new power lunch spot.

It’s been eight years since the Lucas Collective unleashed Chin Chin on Sydney’s dining scene, but next week, the group’s second big Melbourne export will be revealed – Grill Americano Sydney is now here, tiramisu and all.

But the Grill Americano inside No. 1 Chifley Square, the former Qantas House, is no carbon copy of the Victorian original.

“Bringing Grill Americano to Sydney is about more than expansion,” says restaurateur Chris Lucas. “It’s about creating something distinctly local. Inside the heritage-listed Qantas House, we’ve reimagined our Venetian steakhouse for this city, with a menu that celebrates Sydney’s produce and energy alongside the classics our guests love from Melbourne.”

If Grill Americano Melbourne has a generous floor plan, Grill Americano Sydney is downright palatial. The frontage dominates the entire corner of Hunter and Chifley Square, the dining room pressed along the length of the curved glass. Vast, circular chandeliers hover high above diners’ heads, with a 30-metre-long marble bar at the back of the room for more intimate, front-row seating.

Grill Americano Sydney Bar — The bar at Grill Americano.

The extra floor space is allowing welcome additions like a significantly larger kitchen, facilitating a more expansive menu, as well as a Josper grill and custom wood-fire oven built into the back bar. The design has been overseen by Sarah Lucas in collaboration with interior designer Samantha Eades of Mitchell & Eades, working within the historic bones of the building to create something with the grandeur the Lucas brand is known for in Victoria, and likely soon in Sydney, too.

Vaniglia Meringata Classica at Grill Americano Sydney.

Executive chef, Vincenzo Ursini has traded Grill Americano Melbourne for the Harbour City version, and is determined to win over his new home city with an iteration designed for Sydney.

“So I strongly believe that you cannot copy and paste any idea or any system and just bring it across, because it would never work,” he says. “There are two completely different kinds of customer perspectives and needs for the two markets.”

Americano frutti di mare at Grill Americano Sydney.

In Melbourne, where Lucas Collective runs an entire stable of restaurants, the group has a venue for nearly any whim. After a steak and a martini before the theatre or footy? Grill Americano can help. Looking for seasonally minded fine dining? Head to Society. Want to imagine yourself in a Parisian bistro for the afternoon? See Maison Bâtard.

Grill Americano Tiramisu — Grill Americano Melbourne’s trademark tableside tiramisu.

In Sydney, other than the bright and casual charms of Chin Chin, the market is largely unfamiliar with the kind of bombastic, long-lunch-that-lopes-into-cocktails dining experience Lucas has cultivated – but is definitely not immune to its charms. Grill Americano Sydney is an opportunity to show off what Lucas Collective is capable of.

Chris Lucas, left, with Grill Americano Executive Chef Vincenzo Ursini, right — Chris Lucas, left, with Grill Americano executive chef Vincenzo Ursini, right.

Ursini’s new menu supercharges the steak menu with up to 15 different cuts, and dial up the emphasis on seafood – inspired by Sydney’s access to marine riches. The pasta menu, too, will be “a bit more different, a bit more complex,” according to Ursini, with every shape on the extended pasta list made in house.

During mud crab season, for example, a decadent mud crab tagliolini will take pride of place, each plate dressed liberally with hand-picked crab – a process that takes up to an hour and a half per crustacean (Ursini predicts they’ll likely go through up to 10 crabs per service).

Grill Americano Sydney entry — The Chifley Square entry.

The snack menu, too, features luxuriant new additions – like a shatteringly crisp cannolo, daubed with caviar at one end and filled with a salt cod crema; or a sliver of crostini, topped with a schmear of spicy tuna ‘nduja and draped with a plump anchovy. Mozzarella di buffala comes in on a plane from Italy daily, making the epic journey only to be devoured in minutes.

Caviar cannolo with a baccala crema at Grill Americano.

What Ursini, Lucas and group head of culinary Damian Snell are determined not to change, however, is the welcoming reputation Grill Americano Melbourne has cultivated. Of all the Lucas Collective restaurant, Ursini says, Grill Americano attracts the most repeat customers – easily half of them women, many of them young.

“It’s a place where people feel safe,” Ursini says. “They come in, they feel comfortable… they can enjoy the space… It’s not just a corporate high-spend venue; it’s a bit for everyone.”

Grill Americano Sydney dining room — The expansive dining room.

Ursini gives full credit to the established venues that are his new neighbours – the likes of Shell House, The International, Rockpool Bar and Grill – believing that the only people to ultimately benefit from the increased competition is Sydney’s diners.

“I don’t think we want to go in there and say that we’re doing better than them,” he says. “We’re doing something different. I want to build something that is very consistent, very good quality… very good value.”