The Best Brunch Cafes In Brisbane & Those to Avoid

I’m actually not a big breakfast person, but I got converted in Australia. Australians simply know how to make a healthy breakfast and create a picture-perfect brunch. During my time in Brisbane, I had the chance to eat my way around town & learn more about its rich brunch culture. Here are my personal recommendations for the best brunch cafes in Brisbane and those which you can avoid.

Updated: November 2025

Brunch Cafes In Brisbane Today

• Australians are breakfast & brunch fanatics and provide top quality
• Presentation is everything, so you’ll find dishes skilfully garnished e.g. edible flowers
• Australian brunch is sweet: waffles, pancakes, Birchers, granolas or Acai bowls
• Brunch is focused on healthy ingredients. Avo on toast or vegan options are very common
• Brunch is served with the first sunlight. 8am is good, but 7am is better if you like to avoid queuing
• A good brunch including cappuccino, dish and orange juice will cost £15 ($30) tops
• Brunch spots are in the nearby neighbourhoods with a short walk from CBD
• The average price for a medium-sized cappuccino is £2.50 ($5)

My Best Brunch Cafes in Brisbane

These were my personal favourite cafes in Brisbane, which I revisited a couple of times. They served my needs and motivated me to come back over and over again. All Brisbane cafes are within walking distance unless otherwise stated.

Anouk Café – Top Spot in Paddington

How I Found It: a 20-minute walk north of Brisbane’s CBD in the borough of Paddington is Given Terrace. This is THE breakfast mile and top address for brunch in Brisbane. The street is seamed with countless little cafés where I found my personal favourite spot: Anouk Café.

Why You Should Come Here: the industrial style of an old apothecary turned café is mega attractive. Think dark flooring in contrast to the cream-white shabby chic interior and lots of green plants. There’s outdoor seating and phenomenal food. It is no surprise that the place is popular and busy around the clock. To secure a seat outside in the glorious Queensland sun, I would recommend getting here as early as 8am.

Anouk Café Brunch Menu & Review: the menu with its interesting healthy choices changes every few weeks. There are homemade granolas, avo on toast with a Queensland twist, and a variety of sourdough bread with Eggs Benedict. It continues with sweet waffles or my absolute-never-to-forget French brioche toast. This sweet toast comes with a croissant, roasted pistachios, caramelised slices of peach, ricotta cream and maple syrup.

The French brioche/croissant hybrid was an absolute DREAM and reignited my love for peach. I knew straight away that I had to come back to Anouk’s for a second breakfast round.

The opportunity for a second visit came after lockdown. The French brioche croissant was no longer on the menu. Bugger! I ordered their current pancakes with banana, whipped ricotta and chai spiced maple syrup.

The pancakes were fluffy and filling. I found the ricotta and chai spiced maple syrup took away the usually very overpowering taste of banana. Overall another tasty composition that kept me full for the rest of the day.

Alongside a huge iced coffee and orange juice, I paid a modest £15 each time.

Paddington Social – UBEr Cool in Paddington

How I Found It: the café sits opposite Anouk’s. It advertises itself as a mix of an all-day café and Thai pop-up kitchen. Paddington Social is also well-known for its variety of chocolate and Roche-coated croissants.

Why You Should Come Here: the Roche-coated croissants for sure! Honestly, the food was phenomenal and the café has a lovely laid-back atmosphere. There’s a patio that allows for an intimate brunch setting in the glorious Queensland sun. Plus, they like to experiment with unconventional ingredients. When have you had anything to eat with Ube?

Paddington Social Brunch Menu & Review: their menu has some very healthy and highly interesting options available. My personal choices from their seasonal menu at the time were pear & blackberry hotcake with a cardamon champagne poached pear, blackberry compote and chocolate Anglaise or a mega healthy chia pudding.

AND then I spotted the Ube pancakes.

Ever heard of Ube? Me either! It’s a purple yam originally from the Philippines. Realsimple describes Ube as a “bright purple sweet potato with an even sweeter, more mellow taste than its orange relative with a slightly nutty, vanilla taste. It’s popularly used in desserts, often boiled and then mashed with condensed milk.”

Sounds YUMMO to me.

My enthusiasm to try something completely new was, however, quickly thwarted as they sold out on Ube that day. NOOOOO.

So instead, the vegan and gluten-free Chia Pudding with dragon fruit, blueberry compote, passionfruit, house-made granola and coconut yoghurt at $17 (£8.50) had to save the day.

And it delivered.

The pudding was smooth, infused with a lovely taste of exotic fruits, all topped with the crunch of homemade granola. The coconut yoghurt was creamy and light and a wonderful addition to the overall composition. The pudding was filling so it took me quite some time to finish it but I did and needless to say, I was completely stuffed for the rest of the day.

New Farm Dicki’s – Vegan Heaven

How I Found It: by accident when I originally wanted to try out Little Loco. Unfortunately on the day when I visited, Little Loco didn’t do brunch after 1pm. On my way back to the CityCat in Sydney Street, I came across Dick’s and spontaneously popped in. A great decision as it turned out!

Why You Should Come Here: it’s not a breakfast and brunch café per se, but more of a laid-back bistro-style vegan restaurant with a versatile range of dishes for a light lunch. The staff are friendly and you can sit here endlessly and enjoy good food, a relaxed atmosphere and take time out from the world.

Dicki’s Brunch Menu & Review: their regular menu lists some save options such as Mac ‘N’ Cheese, classic vegan burger, arancini balls or the all-time evergreen avo on toast all in the region of $16 (£8). I felt more adventurous that day and was up to trying something unusual so I had a quick look at their lunch specials and there we go, I found my match:

Basil pesto infused tagliatelle with roasted pine nuts, Macadamian cheese topped with fresh basil leaves.

Sounds nice? It was!

The portion had the right size for me, not too much but enough to cover me for a few hours. The basil pesto felt refreshing and not overpowering. Sometimes pesto-infused pasta tends to be a bit greasy but this one was nicely balanced. The crunch from the roasted pine nuts is always a huge winner for me but I was mostly looking forward to trying vegan cheese.

The cheese cubes made from Macadamian nuts were creamy with a nice nutty flavour and a hint of saltiness to round up the taste profile. Loved it and researched on the spot how to make Macadamian cheese as this is something I would definitely try to recreate at home.

Average Brisbane Cafes

These Brisbane cafes were good but didn’t engage me enough to come back another time or weren’t satisfactory in other areas.

Corner Store Café – Hipster in Toowong

How I Found It: a post on Instagram caught my attention so I checked out the cafe’s menu. I was sold when I saw “waffles” on there. You must know that I have a very weak spot for waffles. Those were motivation enough for me to justify a 40-minute stroll westbound along the river to the suburb of Toowong. Here, the café sits on the corner of Sylvan Road/Quinn Street.

Why You Should Come Here: it can’t get any more local than this. The place is a magnet for young families, hipster residents and Instagrammers alike. The café is listed in every decent online publication as the best brunch cafe in Brisbane. Its menu has interesting and unusual combinations so it’s no surprise the place is busy nonstop. This is the café for you if you like being surrounded by locals in an unfuzzy but lively spot.

Corner Store Café Brunch Menu & Review: the menu is not entirely vegan but has healthy options such as the Acai Bowl with paleo granola, sourdough gluten-free toast, porridge and the avo on toast classic with dukkah and pomegranate molasses. Interesting combos, so far so good.

And of course, the cinnamon waffles, topped with whipped ricotta, maple syrup, baked apple and dates. Together with a cappuccino, I paid $24 which translates to roughly £13 – for a Londoner, this is a very affordable breakfast.

The apple and dates went nicely with the syrup and the waffle was freshly made. My coffee was creamy and delicious. Overall I was a bit underwhelmed though, especially with the presentation which reflected minimal efforts and I kinda expected more.

Good To Know: even though the café was well visited that day, there was a constant come and go and staff were more interested in a quick turnover rather than persuading guests to another coffee or sweet treat. The slightly impatient atmosphere didn’t sit too well with me and I got peckish a few hours later.

Adonis Café – Death by Chocolate in Yeerongpilly

How I Found It: through a very aggressive PPC campaign on Instagram. Having been to all these amazing brunch cafes in Brisbane before, I got all sorts of recommendations. Adonis Café kept popping up left, right and centre-front. The clear and pleasing images plus the very instagrammable presentations of their food even made avo on toast look highly attractive to me. The USP and main factor why I sat on a train for 20 minutes southbound to Yeerongpilly were the Kinder Bueno Waffles. Literally a slow, sickly sweet death by chocolate.

Why You Should Come Here: Adonis is an interesting café as it requires a bit of effort to get here. It is not your typical place that is easily accessible by walking in CBD distance. Taking a train and then walking through an industrial estate (which is not the sexiest) can give you the feeling of being a true local. Once at Adonis, you’ll have entered a different world. It is a buzzing and lively place with a generous terrace to sit outside. Of course, if you like the novelty of the sugar-loaded dishes for Instagram then this is your spot.

Adonis Café Brunch Menu & Review: don’t expect many healthy options for this one, as the main selling point is the chocolate-loaded waffles, pancakes and churros. And I mean, look at this one, presentation is everything.

For $20 (£10) you’ll die a slow sugary death from two Belgian waffles, topped with vanilla ice cream, three pieces of strawberry, Oreos, Kinder Bueno and a chocolate-filled syringe. After all, I’m still on holiday, right?

It was quite the sugar overload but I knew what I had signed up for so technically it is my own fault. The waffles were ok and I’m aware you pay mostly for the novelty of it which I happily accepted.

Good To Know: on your way back to the train station, pop into Mandy’s Plant Empire. This creative pottery centre sells local crockery, flower pots and plants.

Safe Coffee Spots in Brisbane CBD

If you’re just looking for great coffee in Brisbane’s CBD, I can report back the following positive news:

Surprisingly, all coffees I’ve tried have been decent in Brisbane – chain and independent alike. The average cost for a medium-sized latte or lactose-free cappuccino is about $5, which is a £2.50 happy dance for any Londoner.

• Coffee Club Brisbane on Queen Street, opposite the casino by the Suncorp Tower: average but ok. Had no complaints.
• Jimmy’s On The Mall, Queen Street Mall, pretty much in the centre of the pedestrian: quick, creamy, tasty
• Nodo, Southbank (near the wheel, beginning of the arbour): creamy, decent size, excellent price/quality

FAQs About Best Brunch Cafes In Brisbane

I understand this is quite a lengthy post and you may have some quick questions about the best brunch cafes in Brisbane. You can, of course, always come back to any section of my post and read in more detail what you’d need for your trip. If you have questions or need help, please get in touch and I’m happy to assist. 

Where Can I find the Best Brunch Cafes in Brisbane?

Brisbane has a phenomenal brunch culture. The best Birchers, waffles and granolas can be found outside of the CBD. Don’t worry, you won’t have to venture out too far from the CBD but the top spots are in the nearby neighbourhoods e.g. Paddington, New Farm & Toowong.

What Brunch is Served in Brisbane?

Brisbane’s brunch culture has everything from Birchers, sweet waffles, pancakes, chia puddings and crunchy granola. There’s, of course, the all-time classic avo on toast, but also more unusual combos. Ube, chocolate-coated croissants or French Toast are classics.

Which Brunch Cafe in Brisbane Should I Avoid?

I fell victim to Pancake Manor. This is unfortunately an outdated café with zero charm and flair. The pancakes were ok but nothing special. Knowing that there are so many cool and independent brunch cafes in Brisbane out there, I would advise you to skip this one and venture out to find a better alternative.

Is Brunch in Brisbane Pricey?

The best brunch in Brisbane for a solo traveller will cost approximately £15 including coffee & freshly pressed orange juice. Most dishes were between £8-12 with a cappuccino or latte at £3.50 max on top. The quality of the brunch in Brisbane was outstanding and of a very high standard. Therefore an average of £15 is exceptional value for money.

Thanks so much for reading and if you enjoyed this post you can always support my research through Buy Me a Coffee.

Till next time,
Carolin

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