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Hugh Jackman’s Favorite Restaurants, from NYC to Sydney
By Brady Jonas | April 10, 2025
I’m not proud of how far I’ve gone to be like Hugh Jackman.
I’ve done the intermittent fasting. I tried the ice baths. I even looked into Australian citizenship, briefly, before realizing it requires real paperwork and not just vibes. But nothing has made me feel closer to the man than sitting down at the restaurants he’s eaten in. This is where the Broadway Wolverine snacks, slurps, and occasionally carbo-loads like the rest of us.
ABC Kitchen, NYC
35 E 18th St | Website | Instagram
Jackman once said he’d eat anything chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten puts in front of him, which sounds hyperbolic until you try the roast carrot salad here. ABC Kitchen was doing the farm-to-table thing before it was a hashtag, and Jackman’s a longtime fan, not just of the menu, but of how obsessively sourced everything is. If you're looking for some cinematic symmetry, you can sit in the same dining room where Jackman probably once debated the virtues of kohlrabi while training for Les Mis.
Alexander’s, Northern Ireland
57 High St | Website | Instagram
In 2019, Jackman dined at Alexander’s while on tour in Belfast and left behind a flurry of social media posts, starstruck waitstaff, and an empty plate of lamb. The restaurant is one of those tastefully minimalist places where the wine list is longer than the menu and the desserts come with microgreens. If Jackman was trying to keep a low profile, he failed—locals were snapping photos before the amuse-bouche hit the table.
Bondi Trattoria, Bondi Beach
34 Campbell Parade | Website | Instagram
Known as “the Tratt” by regulars, this old-school trattoria has been around since 1987. Jackman stopped in for a meal while in this Australian beach town, where he’s also been spotted jogging bare-chested on the sand. Which is a good idea if you’re going to gorge on large Tratt bowls of pasta.
Cathy’s Kitchen, Ferguson, MO
250 S Florissant Rd | Website | Instagram
Cathy’s Kitchen is a Ferguson institution, run by Cathy Jenkins, who regularly makes trips across the country and cooks for celebrities. Jenkins documents her journeys on social media, and while in Los Angeles, she famously cooked a meal for Wolverine himself. While Jackman hasn’t been spotted at the restaurant, his ringing endorsement of Jenkins’ cooking should be enough to get Jackman fans to travel to this St. Louis suburb.
Enish, London
228 Lewisham High St | Website | Instagram
Jackman surprised everyone—including, presumably, himself—when he posted a video raving about his first Nigerian meal at Enish in South London. He was clearly delighted by the jollof rice, ogbono soup, and Fanta that comes in a bottle, which tastes different because it’s made with actual sugar and colonial guilt. Enish has eight locations, but the Lewisham branch now has the unofficial endorsement of a man who once battled both robots and Nicole Kidman onscreen.
Gordon Ramsay Burger, London
87-135 Brompton Rd | Website | Instagram
In a rare moment of cheat-meal candor, Jackman posted his order: bacon cheeseburger, sweet potato fries, mac and cheese, slaw, martinis, and sticky toffee pudding. “This week’s cheat meal was one for the ages,” Jackman wrote later on Instagram. The order reads like a deathbed request and tastes just as good. He ordered so much that Gordon Ramsay himself reposted it like a proud, foul-mouthed uncle.
Laughing Man Coffee, NYC
184 Duane St | Website | Instagram
Yes, he owns it. But Laughing Man Coffee Company in Tribeca doesn’t feel like one of those celebrity vanity projects where someone slaps their name on a label and pretends to like espresso. Jackman actually helped start this place in 2011 to give profits back to coffee-farming communities, and he still shows up often enough that the staff refer to him, semi-ironically, as “the boss.” The coffee is good—better than it needs to be—and the vibe leans less influencer bait, more low-key caffeine refuge for people who still use a Moleskine.
Maison Bâtard, Melbourne
23 Bourke St | Website | Instagram
Jackman dined here in December 2024, shortly after the place opened, and was photographed with a fan in front of the restaurant’s stone façade, looking like someone who’d just eaten very, very well. Maison Bâtard is a four-level French fantasy from restaurateur Chris Lucas, with a seafood tower the size of a car wheel and an upstairs rotisserie turning out duck that reportedly made one diner weep. The interiors are somewhere between Belle Époque and power-lunch Versailles, and the chef, Adam Sanderson, trained at The Fat Duck—which tells you everything you need to know about the level of ambition (and butter) involved.
Pete’s, Rhinebeck, NY
34 E Market St | Website | Instagram
Of all the restaurants Jackman could visit in upstate New York, he chose Pete’s Famous Restaurant—a diner so aggressively normal it still serves coleslaw as a default side. He showed up with Sutton Foster in 2022, sat at a vinyl booth, and ate what looked like a grilled cheese, though Pete’s staff were wisely discreet. Rhinebeck locals acted like it was no big deal, which in upstate terms means half the town drove past slowly to peer through the windows.
In-N-Out Burger, San Fernando Valley, CA
11455 Laurel Canyon Blvd | Website | Instagram
Look, say what you will about Jackman’s Hollywood pedigree, the man eats like a West Coast teenager when given the chance. Paparazzi caught him and Sutton Foster kissing at an In-N-Out, like the prom king and queen of musical theater. I’m not saying this makes him relatable, but it does confirm what we’ve long suspected: Hugh Jackman, like every sane person, appreciates animal-style burgers.
Valter’s Osteria, Salt Lake City
173 W Broadway | Website | Instagram
Jackman called his dinner at Valter’s “one of the best meals of my life,” which is not something you say lightly unless you’re an actor or a food blogger. Valter Nassi, the namesake and host, was a legend in Utah’s restaurant scene, and he treated Jackman like family—meaning he hovered, cracked jokes, and insisted you try the lasagna even if you ordered the risotto. The restaurant still serves classic Tuscan dishes in oversized portions, which is probably why Jackman left looking spiritually fulfilled and slightly sleepy.
The Waffle House, Norwich, UK
39 St Giles St | Website | Instagram
This is not a Southern U.S. Waffle House with grits and drunk people yelling—it’s a small British chain serving oddly specific waffle-based dishes, like hummus and avocado on a wholemeal base. Jackman went during a “cheat day,” which I assume means he consumed gluten with the intensity of a man who’s been living on grilled chicken and air for six weeks. Staff described him as “polite,” “charming,” and “very interested in the menu,” which is British for “we’re still recovering.” His order, earned tons of online coverage thanks to what appeared to be a savory waffle covered in a whole lot of sauces and mushrooms, which I did not realize was an actual thing that existed in nature.
Brady Jonas covers celebrities and their adventures for The Adventurist. He’s currently obsessed, well, actually, there are a lot of celebrities he’s obsessed with at the moment. Find many of his obsessions here.
