If there's one thing we know about Brisbane, it's that it is a morning city. Give us a 6am wake up and plate of bacon over a late dinner any day of the week—you can keep your daylight savings, because we're all usually in bed by eight or nine. And as a city of early risers, the Brisbane/Meanjin breakfast scene has by necessity, become quite the art form. While eggs benny is still a staple, you can now find adventurous brunch feeds on any side of town, in many an aesthetic cafe.
After much deliberation and arguing in the Urban List office, we've lined up the best spots for breakfast in Brisbane right now. By no means is this list exhaustive—in fact, a true breakfast lover will want to head over to our list of the 50 best cafes in Brisbane. But for the best of the best, here's where to get fed and caffeinated on your next breakfast date.
Want more? Get our ultimate Brisbane breakfast guide with over 130 cafes here.
Pawpaw Cafe
898 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba
Woollongabba fave Pawpaw knows a thing or two about putting on a killer breakfast in a stylish space. Our go-to dishes include the signature hash, piling poached eggs, smashed avo and haloumi atop crispy potato hash cakes, or whatever insane sweet brekky they've cooked up for the season—this season a favourite is definitely the strawberry pancakes with fresh strawberries, almond crumb, vanilla ice cream, strawberry glaze and strawberry compote.
Petrichor & Co
Corner Allen Street & Racecourse Road, Hamilton
If you’ve never sampled a Colombian or Latin American-style brunch, then you need to head to Petrichor & Co. These guys dish up epic feasts inspired by the flavours of South America—think empanadas de Mama with spiced pulled beef, garlic, onion and potato empanadas served with aji. Of course, you can still get more familiar feeds, including spiced pumpkin pancakes, potato rosti and avocado on sourdough.
Never Been
2908 Logan Road, Underwood
Image credit: Neverbeen | Instagram
It might only be nearing its first birthday this July, but Never Been has become a firm favourite among locals already, and with a stacked menu, we can see why. Coming from the team that brought us southside icon Deedot Coffee House and Manly’s Ground Hog Social, they're doing what they do best—creating an achingly cool space that you’ll want to linger in for hours. With polished concrete floors, soaring 15-metre-high ceilings and clusters of lush greenery, the sprawling space is a chic, industrial-style greenhouse. On the menu you’ll find innovative brunch eats like Cherry Ripe French toast, beef cheek benny, Mi Goreng croque madame and octopus omelettes. Wash it all down with a pink mimosa, yuzu and elderflower spritz or a craft beer.
Cafe O Mai
15 Cracknell Road, Annerley
For something a bit further afield than your stock-standard bacon and eggs, Cafe O Mai's incredible Vietnamese flavours can't be skipped. Start your day with fragrant pho (even the vegan option is good), wholesome eggs baked in clay pots, and banh mis served on house-baked baguette. Wash it all down with a Vietnamese coffee for a sugar hit to start the day.
Farmhouse
9 Somerset Road, Kedron
Managing to give off serious country barn vibes despite being located in a quiet suburban street in Kedron, Farmhouse usually has a line snaking down the street on Sunday mornings—but if you can hang in there, it’s worth the wait. Maintain your position and be rewarded with breakfast gnocchi in chilli sauce with thick-cut bacon, parmesan and free-range poached egg or their iconic one pan hotcake.
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Morning After
Corner of Cambridge & Vulture Street, West End
Image credit: Morning After | Rachael Baskerville
They’ll take care of you in the morning and well into the afternoon. A typical brunch date at Morning After usually includes their iconic breakfast carbonara (pasta for brunch is always a good time, trust us) and a fancy-ass MaMuffin from the all-day menu, or maybe fried buttermilk chicken benedict on a cheesy potato hashcake with chipotle hollandaise for more of a brunch feast. Their cabinet of sweets always provides the temptation for breakfast dessert, too.
Mylk & Co
New Farm
One thing about New Farm cafes, they’ve gotta be aesthetic enough for your ‘gram, and Mylk & Co have certainly met that brief. With a neighbourhood cafe vibe at heart, this unsuspecting powerhouse is not only whipping up the perfect post-workout acai bowls and smoothies, but also silky coffee, baked and raw treats and fully-fledged breakfasts and lunches that change with the seasons. Don't leave without one of their house made cinnamon scrolls.
Florence Cafe
54 Martha Street, Camp Hill
This relaxed cafe in an old Queenslander cottage does breakfasts with a difference—they make all their preserves, pickles, ferments and condiments in house, and use them to full advantage in every dish. Drop in for bunch and you can tuck into the likes of their sourdough pancake with cherry, salted coconut and shiso, or the sourdough flatbread, with sauce vierge and buffalo milk mozzarella.
Method To The Madness
3/9 Marshall Lane, Kenmore
Image credit: Method To The Madness | Instagram
To brunch or not to brunch? The answer is always to brunch if Method To The Madness is involved. This Kenmore cafe may be Shakespeare-inspired, but the eats here are anything but tragedies, with a menu full of creative breakfasts like zucchini and corn fritters, blackberry and ricotta hotcakes and chilli scrambled eggs.
Extraction Artisan Coffee
7/3375 Pacific Hwy, Slacks Creek
If you take your brunch game seriously, then a visit to Extraction Artisan Coffee is an absolute must. The Slacks Creek eatery makes everything on-site, from their heavenly brioche bread to their flavour-bomb relishes. Snag a table inside their airy warehouse on pieces of eclectic recycled furniture, and order the likes of the classic “breakie bun” with Beenleigh Butchery bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, house-made BBQ sauce on a milk bun, or peach melba French toast with prosecco poached peaches and chantilly cream.
Smoked Paprika
2/5 Nash Street, Paddington
One quick scroll through Smoked Paprika’s Instagram feed and you’ll be drooling excessively, already planning your visit for their next weekly special. Last week it was slow cooked beef cheeks with poached eggs and harissa hollandaise on a toasted croissant, next week, who knows? Their regular menu is pretty damn tasty too, and with their portion sizes you’ll be full until dinner.
The Green
27 James Street, Fortitude Valley
Image credit: The Green | Instagram
If you love Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours, you'll love The Green. Set back off James Street, expect tasty takes on breaky classics like the smashed lamb kofta patties with special sauce, zuni pickles and cheese in a toasted pita bun, or the baklava French toast with pistachio crumble, burnt honey ice cream and roasted mandarin. Did we mention the lush, plant-filled setting?
Industry Beans
18 Proe Street, Newstead
There is no day so dismal that it can't be cured by an hour or so in Industry Beans gorgeous Newstead cafe, with its all white, sunshine filled interiors and smooth caffeinated beverages. Their iced boba coffee is a summer staple, but this spot knows what it's doing when it comes to breakfast as well—for a quick bite just grab their hefty breakfast muffin, but if you have time, there's plenty more on the menu to tempt.
Blockhouse Eat + Drink
130 Ryans Road, Nundah
Nundah favourite Blockhouse has a moreish and creative breakfast menu that’s all over the shop in the best possible way. Corned beef, leek and potato fritters. Brekky burritos stuffed with tater tots. Avocado on toast with popcorn chicken and miso butter. We could go on. Best of all, the Blockhouse brunch menu runs allll day.
Peach Cafe
97 Haig Road, Auchenflower
Image credit: Peach Cafe | Instagram
Peach Cafe first caught our attention with their pastel pink facade—and kept it with their epic breakfasts like Turkish delight crumpets, Dubai chocolate hotcakes and buffalo fried chicken cruffles. Honestly, we don't know how they keep coming up with their uber creative breakfasts that look as good as they taste, but we are impressed. Hot tip: Always save room for one of their Nutella lava cookies post-breakfast.
Blue Bear Coffee House
92 James Street, New Farm
The breakfasts coming out of this cottage turned cafe on a breezy corner in New Farm are nothing short of drool-worthy. Another spot with almost too many options, Blue Bear Coffeehouse has every brunch craving covered. You want eggs benny? You got it, on a Belgian waffle with bacon, halloumi and paprika hollandaise to boot. Corn fritters? Try their version loaded with crispy chorizo, avocado, poached eggs, creama fresca and pineapple and habanero jam. Plus there’s a brekky burger, pancakes, avo on toast, savoury mince, a bacon bagel...you get the picture.
Citron
354 Main Road, Wellington Point
The team behind Pawpaw now have two entries on the list after the opening of Citron in 2022. Bring Mediterranean vibes to the Bayside, this bright, breezy spot is the place to tuck into the likes of broken eggs on cirspy chat potatoes, labneh and proscciutto, buttermilk pancakes and confit lamb shoulder on naan bread under yellow and white striped umbrellas, and pretend you're on the coast of Italy.
Plentiful
7 Park Terrace, Graceville
Image credit: Plentiful | Instagram
Plentiful has been wowing brunch lovers since the day they opened, thanks to their generous servings and airy surrounds. There’s so much we love on their menu, from their slowcooked honey BBQ brisket topped with two poached eggs, spinach and hollandaise on a croissant to the chai caramel pancakes loaded with sauteed spiced apples.
Sister
273 Hawthorne Road, Hawthorne
We've got two words for you: Breakfast. Gnocchi. Sister have been serving up this signature dish since the day they opened thier pastel hued cafe, and we've been happily chowing down on it ever since. Other options like their pork belly benedict on potato hash and big breakfast occasionally tempt us, but usually we wind up rotating between the gnocchi and their iconic Ferrero Rocher waffles.
Bear Boy Espresso
180 Albion Road, Windsor
Tucked away in Windsor’s Colwill Place, Bear Boy Espresso is the younger sibling of the Gold Coast cafe of the same name. This pastel pink spot doesn’t just get our tick of approval for their cute interiors, but also for breakfast plates that will cure even the grizzliest of hangers. The eggs benny on a crispy potato hash waffle is a classic, but we can never go past the chicken and waffles.
Looking for more breakfast inspiration? Check out:
- Best Breakfasts On Brisbane's East Side
- Best Breakfasts On Brisbane's North Side
- Best Breakfasts On Brisbane's South Side
Image credit: Farmhouse | Facebook
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