Unlock the best Gold Coast cafes for breakfast and brunch and dive into the ultimate brunch adventure! Discover the hidden gems and hotspots that will treat your taste buds and kickstart your day. Get ready to indulge in the best breakfast and brunch spots the Gold Coast has to offer, handpicked to satisfy even the sleepiest of heads!
Why Gold Coast?
Maybe it’s the perfect beach weather or the casual Gold Coast lifestyle, but this region does breakfast like no other. Breakfast here is fresh and healthy, full of premium local produce carefully crafted into house-made sauces and dishes with flair. Nothing is boring on the menu, instead, it is all designed to give you a good, wholesome start to the day in a way that you don’t even realise is good for you. Vegetarian and vegan options are common but that doesn’t mean you miss out on your breakfast protein either. Best of all it’s served with a jaunty step and a smile, with the sort of prompt and professional service that you hope to get everywhere, but sadly don’t. Is there something in the water?
Freshly baked goodies at Tarte Bakery and Café, Burleigh Heads. Photo: Kerry Heaney
breakfast or brunch?
If you like a weekend lie-in or you are driving to the Gold Coast for breakfast and a swim, brunch is the answer.
However, you need to be a little strategic to ensure you are not caught up in the crowds. That said, these venues are super organised and although you may have to queue, you’ll find tables turn over quickly and it’s not a long wait.
Bubbly buckwheat pancakes with a blob of coconut ice cream and maple syrup at Commune Café, Burleigh Heads. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Best Gold Coast cafe brunch-busting tips
- Arrive early or late to avoid peak times (Popular times will show when you search a venue online).
- Book online for groups of four or more at some places.
- Walk to the venue. Parking can be crowded, and the walk means you can eat that extra croissant!
- Browse their Instagram and Facebook feeds to see the dishes before you order to avoid meal envy.
Halloumi chips, Ms Margot’s Bar and Eats, Surfers Paradise. Photo: Kerry Heaney
My favourite Gold Coast Cafes for breakfast and brunch
You’ll find most of these Gold Coast cafes located on or near the Pacific Highway, so they are also just a short walk to the beach. Here are five for your dining pleasure.
Grab a seat in the window for people-watching at Ms Margot’s Bar and Eats, Hilton Surfers Paradise. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Ms Margot’s Bar and Eats, Surfers Paradise
Step inside the lobby of Hilton Surfers Paradise in Orchid Avenue to find the delightfully cool and sophisticated Ms Margot’s Bar and Eats. Grab a seat in the window for people-watching and enjoy an all-day share menu that covers every base from bug rolls and glazed chicken wings to bao buns and battered barra.
You won’t see the café’s namesake, Ms Margot indulging in anything except her regular four slices of sourdough, a long black, and a glass of water (don’t mess it up). Now 91 years old, Ms Margot has been a weekday breakfast regular since the second day the hotel opened 11 years ago. Elegantly dressed, often head to toe in Versace, she arrives in a taxi at 8.15 am and heads straight to her reserved table.
Be like Ms Margot!
Reserved for Ms Margot at Ms Margot’s Bar and Eats, Hilton Surfers Paradise. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Boost your wellness with a Jamu wellness shot at The Milkman’s Daughter. Photo: Kerry Heaney
The Milkman’s Daughter, Miami
As the smiling server walks towards me with my lemon ricotta pancakes an aroma of lemon wafts across the table. The pancakes are light, doused in a bright yellow vanilla turmeric custard and passionfruit reduction. It’s a pretty as a picture dish that makes for a memorable breakfast. Owner Andrea Halkova says The Milkman’s Daughter serves the sort of food that you can’t just whip up at home. European by birth, Andrea has made the Gold Coast her home and loves the lifestyle. She describes her menu as vegetarian, seasonal and honest. It’s all about conscious eating (thinking about what and when you eat – my mantra for 2021) and vegetarian. The décor is a relaxing beach white with plant strewn stone arches creating cosy seating booths at the back. If you have a group of four or more you can book via the website, but walk-ins are always welcome.Plant strewn stone arches creating cosy seating booths at Milkman’s Daughter, Miami. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Beautiful pastries from Bam Bam Bakehouse. Photo Kerry Heaney
Bam Bam Bakehouse, Miami
Bam Bam Bakehouse has pastries that look so good you will want to try them all, and that’s after you have worked your way through the breakfast menu.
It is reputed to be the Gold Coast cafe that actress Margot Robbie and food critic Matt Preston can go past and I can well understand why they would stop here. The food is a bit addictive.
The croissants at this iconic Gold Coast Mermaid Beach destination cafe bakery take three days to make using imported French flour and butter. They bake in small batches, crafting each croissant by hand and have developed a cult following.
It’s the same with their crusty French bread which comes fresh from the oven daily and only sits on the shelf for two hours.
Miso scrambled eggs at Tarte Bakery and Café, Burleigh Heads. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Tarte Bakery and Café, Burleigh Heads
When Chloe Watts, formerly the owner of much-loved Paddock Bakery, opened Tarte Bakery and Café in August 2020 everyone expected great things. They haven’t been disappointed.
Tarte evokes a French patisserie but with a decidedly Gold Coast feel. There is some dining inside, but most of the tables stretch around the wide tree-lined footpath.
The all-day breakfast menu is full of must eat options, but I couldn’t go past the miso scrambled eggs. They arrived light and fluffy on a bed of the sort of sourdough that is not just a carrier for the eggs but adds to the dish. The server tells me that the bull’s eye bagel is the other breakfast star so that will be my return for dish.
At lunchtime, the top favourite is a chicken sandwich with miso mayo and crisp chicken skin. Tip – add avocado to this for a heavenly combo.
Outside Tarte Bakery and Café, Burleigh Heads. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Pink pitaya (dragon fruit) bowl at Commune Café, Burleigh Heads. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Commune Café, Burleigh Heads
Commune Cafe is popular, very popular, with a cult following and it doesn’t take bookings. But don’t let that put you off. It runs like a machine with quick and efficient service that sees queues melt faster than a kid’s icy pole. Well, maybe a little slower than that.
Once seated you have wide menu choice bowls of acai, bircher and super greens. I couldn’t resist the clean fresh flavours of a pink pitaya (dragon fruit) bowl and when the server offered me a smear of house-made peanut paste on the side, well, I was in heaven.
There are plenty of classics too. The coriander corn fritters with avo salsa were recommended but the bubbly buckwheat pancakes with a blob of coconut ice cream and maple syrup won.
Outside Commune Café, Burleigh Heads. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Disclaimer: Eat drink and be Kerry travelled with the assistance of Destination Gold Coast.
