Cafes

Dishing up meals and serving cafe drinks from the front corner of a bike store, Rushi brings a Japanese-inspired breakfast and lunch menu to Cronulla.

Café Margaret is Neil Perry’s latest love letter to Double Bay.

The Corner is Palm Beach's vibrant new neighbourhood hub from The Boathouse Group.

Skittle Lane has been brewing up a second location on Sydney's Northern Beaches in Brookvale. 

District Eatery is a sleek brunch spot in Gladesville. 

The Italian sandwich bar does Tuscan-style schiacciata sandwiches, carbonara scrambled egg-loaded croissants, pizza by the slice, and Italian sweet treats in the Sydney CBD.

Buttered is a Sydney bakery and cafe offering a selection of much-loved Korean pastries and top-notch drinks.

Sydney institution The Grumpy Baker now delivers a bakery by day, bar by night in inner Sydney’s charming Potts Point.

Cibaria at Manly Pacific Hotel is a modern, beachfront Italian eatery from Sydney restaurateurs Alessandro and Anna Pavoni.

Flora is a charming and innovative vegetarian restaurant in Newtown's Australia Street precinct. 

Issho is a cozy Japanese cafe and dessert house in Haymarket with some of the best matcha dishes and drinks in Sydney, from matcha tiramisu souffle pancakes to matcha banoffee pie and pistachio matcha lattes. 

Ruma is a Double Bay all-day eatery serving modern Australian comfort dishes spiked with exciting Pan-Asian flavours like caviar-crowned Korean fried chicken and kimchi hashbrowns. 

Tessuto is an Italian cafe in the Sydney CBD Italian.

Pippis is a waterfront Australian-Italian BYO restaurant in Cronulla’s Calico Marina.

Situated on Newtown’s vegan mile, Mina Maria serves elevated, Euro-inspired, plant-based creations.

Buckle Cafe & Distillery is a dynamic all-day venue in a heritage-listed glass atrium in Artarmon.

Bar Morris is a decadent 40-seat all-day diner and wine bar with a menu of polished Italian-inspired bites.

Jude’s Cafe is Alexandria’s newest brunch contender, brought to life by the team behind Melbourne’s famous Lorna Cafe.

Superfreak is a funky all-day Marrickville eatery serving up freakishly good food and banging vinyl tunes. 

The Grounds Coffee Factory is a massive Sydney roastery, cafe and immersive coffee education venue in the busy South Eveleigh lifestyle and dining precinct. 

Consider Rosebery cafe More a dream come true: this cute suburban spot comes with iced matcha on tap, ready to be dispensed into cups lined with vibrant strawberry syrup. More is a second venue from the team behind Our Father cafe in Sydney’s south, tucked in the foyer of an office building around the corner from The Cannery.

Operated by a team with experience from Rockpool, Monopole, Margaret and Ormeggio, Arms Lengths is a cafe, bar and late-night spot in the charming Kings Cross row of terrace houses that’s also home to Ezra, Bar Lucia and late-night icon Caffe Roma.

Maido is a Surry Hills cafe by the stylish teams behind Surry Hills businesses Provider Store (one of our favourite gift shops in Sydney) and Artificer Coffee.

After hitting viral status on TikTok and Instagram, sugar-coated tanghulu fruit skewers have landed in Sydney's Darling Square.

Tita Carinderia is a Filipino cafe and bakery in Marrickville by the crew behind Donut Papi, replacing their Gluten Free Friends pop-up.

Freo Australia is a premium frozen yoghurt store in the Sydney CBD, with all-natural froyo and express gelato crafted by chef Federico Zanellato (LuMi Dining, Lode Pies & Pastries, Avoja Pizzeria), following a DIY, pay-by-weight model.

From the team behind Duo Duo Fried Ice Cream comes a pint-sized spot specialising in a different sort of dessert duo: gooey fresh baked cookies and smooth creamy soft serve. 

Salumerie is an Italian deli and sandwich shop in Potts Point, joining beloved Llankelly Place laneway neighbours Dear Sainte Eloise, Piña and Room 10.

From the team behind Bouillon l'Entrecôte, Deux Frères is Sydney's first dedicated Basque pintxos bar.

Franquette is a Bretagne-style creperie, cafe, and bar that's open all day and filled with oodles of French countryside charm. 

Grumpy Donuts is the champion of donut-diner culture in Sydney. The St Peters outpost is their second location—and it's intended to be a breakfast one-stop-shop, peddling their much-loved light and fluffy doughnuts alongside Coffee Supreme coffee and breakfast burritos. 

At the historic Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool in the Domain precinct and overlooking Sydney Harbour, Oh Boy serves breakfasts, bottomless brunches and lunches, poolside snacks, and post-swim treats and coffee.

Ahead of its 80th anniversary in 2024, Rushcutters Bay’s Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (the home of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race) has introduced a waterfront venue by The Boathouse Group.

From ex-Momofuku chef Richard Borg, Smoking Gringos has arrived on the scene and is serving some of Sydney's greatest and sauciest birria tacos. 

Just a few clicks south of Ulladulla, this lakeside bakery has been quietly gathering fans since opening in December 2020.

August 2024 update: Gelato Messina is launching Snackbar—a weekly Sunday pop-up at the Messina HQ in Marrickville—on Sunday 22 September.

On the ground level of the historic Hinchcliff House at Circular Quay, Grana serves lunch and dinner.

By day, Makaveli is a cool breezy beach cafe. At night, it's a cute cocktail spot with snacks and small plates on the menu.  

Lenny Briskets is a food truck turned NYC-inspired deli cafe and diner serving some of Sydney's best Reubens, alongside other top-notch New Yorker-style sandwiches.

Ken's Continental is a European-style deli, cafe, and sandwich shop by Michael Mu Sung, the founder of Farmhouse and Bones Ramen.

This sunny yellow spot next to Marrickville Station soft launched in May 2023, serving a neat range of sweet treats with a full menu yet to be revealed.

Found in the heritage female factory site in the Parramatta North Precinct, Havenstone is a history-filled cafe situated in a stunning sandstone building.

Odd Culture is an all-day eatery and bar dedicated to all things fermented, complete with an adjoining drink-in bottle shop, SPON.

Housed within the refurbished Bondi Pavilion, Glory Days is an all-day diner dishing out sunny breakfast and lunch complete with uninterrupted views of the one and only Bondi Beach.

A fresh sun-soaked cafe in Leichhardt, La Bottega is bringing a slice of the Italian coastline to Sydney's Inner West.

The Charles is the newest venue from the team behind French favourite Loulou Bistro in Lavender Bay. It's an elegant, decadent affair complete with lashings of black marble, a wrap-around mezzanine, a sculptural staircase, and twinkling chandeliers. 

From the team behind icons Sweet Belem Cake Boutique and Fich, Lunas Petersham is an all-day diner paying homage to its owners’ Portuguese heritage and family focus.

A sophisticated spot nestled in the World Heritage-listed Parramatta Park, Misc. is a 300-seat, all-day venue that’s suited to everything from quick pre-work visits to leisurely weekend lunches.

Being a full-time vegan in Sydney is becoming dreamier every day. As well as flavour-packed bowls of gnocchi, pho, tacos, and pub grub—thanks to Glebe’s plant-based patisserie Oh My Days—we’ve also got vegan croissants, pain au chocolat, and almond croissants. 

Sydney's bagel scene has scored a new player. Down a leafy street in Redfern, you'll find George Street Deli—a spot for authentic NYC-style bagels, pretzels, and homemade lemonade. 

If you love flavour and sharing a spontaneous meal amongst fifteen of your favourite friends, then this eclectic street food diner is right up your alley—with a menu stacked full of dishes to take your tastebuds from China to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. 

A bit over a year after The Taliban took over Kabul, a new Sydney social enterprise cafe opened called Kabul Social. The CBD venue is located on the ground level of the MetCentre and celebrates the food, stories, culture, and people of Afghanistan.

Back in 2019, Kuro landed on Kent Street in the CBD—a fancy new Japanese diner and the start of a new wave of Japanese venues in Sydney (in and around pandemic lockdowns, of course). Located next door to Kuro, Kahii Kissaten is Kuro's sister venue. By day it's a CBD espresso bar inspired by Japanese kissaten (tea rooms and coffee shops).

Sydney is a city buzzing with a myriad of cultures, so it’s no surprise that even along the quiet backstreets of suburban Mortdale, there’s a mini pocket of Japan to discover. We give you: St Kai.

Cruise down Macpherson Street, wind through the serene beachside village of Bronte and you’ll feel like you’ve slipped out of city life pretty quickly. Here, you’ll find Locale Bronte, a cafe venue run by a local multi-generational family with strong community ties, that’s taken over the old Pilgrims Bronte digs. 

You’ll find Quick Brown Fox in a bright, breezy sandstone cottage on a quiet corner in Pyrmont—and despite its close proximity to The Star, this street seems like an historic extract from Northern England; a slither of the city that glossy harbourside developments have yet to conquer.

What looked like just another sunlit Darlinghurst corner cafe, quickly became something of a hallmark for Sydney's new era of cafes. With a Scandi-Japanese fusion breakfast menu, heads definitely turned. 

It seems Sydney's CBD is falling in love—or back in love—with Euro-centric diners open at all hours of the day. Venues like Bar Mammoni and Grana serve their punters everything from coffee to cocktails—and now another all-occasion venue has arrived in the city.

Surry Hills is not shy of Japanese restaurants—but if you're looking for a casual lunch spot that serves up killer ramen, TenTo is it.

Opened in late 2021, The Bearded Baristaa is Sydney Park's new favourite coffee and brunch spot. 

This extra-charming cafe opened over the road from Ashfield train station back in 2020—and it has won many Inner West hearts since.

If you're someone who is equally thrilled by Insta-worthy dishes as you are of actually eating them, then the super-grammable Mayflower restaurant in St Leonards is sure to have you swooning. 

Editor's note: Sandy's will be open every Wednesday–Saturday, from 10am–4pm during winter. We'll be sure to let you know once it's back to the usual operating hours. 

Want a bar that does it all? Bar Mammoni is a jack of all trades when it comes to dining and drinking in the CBD—but that's not to say it's a master of none. 

Didn’t think it was possible to travel back in time? Think again. One step into Ciccone & Sons' Glebe store and you’ll be transported to 1950s Bologna. Oh, and did we mention the gelato is some of the best in town? Yeh, that's a pretty big drawcard, too. 

From the same team behind Cronulla icon Blackwood Pantry—Blackwood Bondi is the sultry sunset sister venue, with weekend aperitivo and a live music program on Sundays, alongside the cafe's staple all-day breakfast and lunch menus. 

Did someone say coffee, cannoli, and fresh AF focaccia? Situated in the ‘burbs of Kensington, Bar Lucio is a go-to for Italian daytime treats and top-quality Italo-style coffee. Count. us. in. 

City workers, listen up! We've got the perfect place for you to go when the 4pm slump next hits—and that's Zini. Located in one of the Quay Quarter laneways, this rule-breaking gelato joint is headed up by an Italian master, so you just know it's going to be good. 

Humble may well be outgrowing its name. The bakery-cum-cafe has opened in a second location—in the Quay Quarter dining precinct at Circular Quay—and it's done so after just over a year since the bakery's inception.

Caffeine fiends on the Northern Beaches haven't had the best options in past. But now the Beaches is home to some top-notch coffee spots, including uber-cool roastery Coffee Supreme. 

Translated simply as “butcher shop”, Macelleria is more than just that, since the Chief Meatologist (yes, it’s a thing), Peter Zaidan believes in their ethos of providing quality meat with good value for money in mind. In a genius move, they also have a burger menu that allows you to try their meat before you commit to buying it for the fridge at home. There are three chicken schnitzel options, with fillings like seeded mayo, Parmigiano, and coleslaw to accompany your chook. There are a staggering nine options in the beef department and the 100% Cape Grim Angus beef patties are accompanied by bacon, cheddar, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing, depending on your preferences.

Over the bridge in pretty Lavender Bay, Loulou is the latest addition to Sydney's neat collection of French-inspired eateries. Part boulangerie, bistro, and traiteur, there's a lot going on at this triple act all-day eatery and it's well worth visiting for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

If you're a big-time banh mi fiend—you need to make tracks for Alex 'N' Rolls. It's where you'll find some of Sydney's tastiest Vietnamese rolls. 

It goes without saying that Sydney has a major obsession with doughnuts of all shapes, sizes, and flavours, which is why it's always good news that a new doughnut joint has opened. Don't Doughnuts is the newest kid on the block, setting up shop on Victoria Street in Darlinghurst.

Just opened at the bottom of Foveaux Street is the newest member of Sydney’s booming sandwich scene—Theo’s Deli.

Turkish bagels, simit sandwiches, and handmade gozleme. Such is the food offering at Botany’s newest joint, a food venture from the team behind the CBD’s Middle Eastern eatery Above Par.

If there's one drink that really symbolises the last two years of our lives—it has to be the tiny bottled cocktail, right?

We've seen a couple of modern reinventions of the iconic Aussie fish and chip shop in recent years, like FICH in Petersham and more recently Josh Niland's Charcoal Fish (see below) and FISH SHOP in Bondi. Well, FSH MKT is the newest in this sub-genre of beachside takeaway, and it's actually an extension of FISH SHOP, filling up the spot next door on Glenayr Ave. 

Sichuan pepper and lemon meringue pie are no usual gelato flavours however they are prime real estate for your taste buds, so to speak, at Tasty Towns.

It’s not every day you come past a coffee shop that quite literally lights up your life. By George Coffee is a brand-new Croydon Park cafe filled with great coffee, great bagels, and so many sweet treats you’ll think you’ve walked into Willy Wonka’s chocolate room. So let’s get into the good stuff.

Another entry on the sandwich front for Sydney is Kosta's, Rockdale's newest hole-in-the-wall sandwich joint with stacks of attitude.

With a nostalgic palette of Aussie Colourbond green and a neat menu filled with top-tier sangas and CWA-style bakery treats, Good Ways Deli the sort of sunny corner spot you dream of stumbling across while roaming around on the weekend.

Ben Shemesh (ex-Dear Saint Eloise) and Emily Van Loon (a graphic designer by trade) opened up this charming deli in February 2020, right before the world closed down. Going into lockdown two weeks after opening, the shop immediately found a devout local customer base for takeaway goods and remains a hot ticket spot for breakfast and lunch for those in the area.

Bar Nina is an all-day Italian wine bar and restaurant from the team behind Redfern’s Arms Length bar. Rebecca O’Shea (ex-Rockpool Dining Group) and executive chef Jeffrey Sue are riding the success of their popular Inner West venture, which opened mid-2020.

Sammy Junior is a lavish pistachio-hued espresso bar meets cocktail spot in the heart of the CBD. 

Simply put, Pebble And Bark is the dream weekend hangout.

Straight off the bat, there's not much SOUL Deli doesn’t do. The cafe-meets-deli-meets-homewares store was born out of the trough of 2020’s lockdown period, which forced many local businesses to innovate and come up with new foodie concepts.

Pistou is a fresh, romantic, French-inspired spot from Jules Bouillon, whose experience includes being a part of the team that opened the legendary Balthazar in London and, more locally, NOLA Smokehouse and Bar and Glorietta in North Sydney.

If the Mad Hatter had a cafe in Sydney, it would most likely be Old Garden Dessert Bar. The Pitt Street nursery-inspired cafe is a kaleidoscopic catch of roof ladders, hanging bikes, Edison bulbs. and exposed copper pipes. It also happens to sport the best bingsu and sweet toast in Sydney.

Good things come in threes and Okay Coffee is a complete trifecta of beauty. This coffee house comes as part cafe, part bike shed, and part barber and while this may sound very “Melbourne”, the twist is that you’ll actually find this weekend beauty up on the Northern Beaches here in Sydney.

Honour has long established itself as a firm favourite in the Brunswick brunch scene, but they’re changing the game with their new after-hours natural wine and salumi bar—needless to say, it was love at first sight for us. European-style charcuterie plates and natural wines take centre stage with their simple, authentic and delicious flavours, bringing uncomplicated yet indulgent delicacies into our lives. 

If buttermilk pancakes, breakfast cocktails, and dreamy interiors sound like your kind of brunch jam, you’ll want to make weekend plans to make sure you tick Cafe Bondi off your bucket list.