Where to find the best cafes in Toowoomba

Residing on the edge of Queensland Country, Toowoomba certainly isn’t short of beautiful cafes. Known as the country’s ‘salad bowl’, the surrounding region boasts a strong farm to table ethos - and Toowoomba’s burgeoning café scene showcases the best produce going.

Up here, the air may be a little crisper but the breakfast’s hard to beat. Head up the Great Dividing Range to find the best cafes in Toowoomba.

Ground Up Espresso

Tucked down one of Toowoomba’s colourful city laneways, local crew Ground Up Espresso serves up a killer breakfast pairing; coffee and the breakfast sandwich. Local’s flock here for the Blackboard house blend and these hand-held breakfast staples filled with eggs, bacon and hash browns. Grab a spot along the laneway for an alfresco breakfast in the country air.

Our pick: What else? The breakfast sandwich with a double shot flat white.

The Baker’s Duck

Beloved by locals and visitors alike, The Baker’s Duck is a pastry paradise in the heart of Toowoomba. The collaboration of baking royalty with its roots in the local farmers markets, their creative twist on sweet breakfast favourites draws a serious crowd—banoffee pie twice-baked croissants, lemon myrtle and macadamia cruffins, strawberry and cream tarts—their beautiful delicacies fly out the door on the daily. 

Widely regarded as one of the best cafes in Toowoomba, their house-made sourdoughs and breads are so popular they even offer a ‘sourdough subscription’, delivering fresh loaves to locals on the weekends.

Our pick: The chicken pie. For something sweet, one of their beautiful stuffed croissants.

Toowoomba Coffee House

When you want to sit and savour in a spot that feels like a home away from home, make your way to Toowoomba Coffee House. This family owned and run café makes you feel like part of theirs from the moment you step through the doors – their motto is coffee with positivity after all. And the cabinets of homemade sweets and savouries? Pure happiness.

Our pick: Come for high tea to try it all!

Sage & Butler

Serving up custom Single O house brew in a leafy pocket of East Toowoomba, Sage & Butler’s menu is an ode to seriously good food. Locally sourced ingredients litter the delicious breakfast and lunch menu; hearty salads, breakfasts burgers and veggie bowls alongside a cabinet of delicate house-made cakes and pastries break the fast in the very best way.

When you’re full, grab a coffee to go and head 10-minutes east to Lovers Outlook on the edge on Redwood Park for views of the valley and Lockyer National Park that'll make you want to stay for the rest of the afternoon.

Our pick: Kimchi bubble & squeak made with chorizo, kimchi, rocket, onion relish and topped with poached eggs.

Ortem

Ortem is favourite local haunt widely considered one of the best breakfasts in Toowoomba. Here, breakfast staples are given a next-level makeover with in-season ingredients and masterful presentation that will make the platefuls appear almost too good to eat. 

Eggs benny with aleppo roasted zucchini, whipped fetta and beetroot relish. Mushroom on toast with pickled enoki and charred broccolini. Creamy porridge with poached pear, blueberries and burnt honey. It makes for some tough ordering decisions. 

As for the coffee? Ortem serves Bruno Rossi, a bold, full-bodied blend roasted in Melbourne.

Our pick: Hunters Breakfast with pulled beef short rib, smoked bacon, free range eggs, roast tomato, potato rosti, chorizo, avocado and toasted sourdough. Decadent doesn’t even cover it.

Copper Bench

Located in the heart of Toowoomba’s CBD, Copper Bench is famous among locals for their over-the-top cakes, moreish pastries and Clandestino coffee. Their breakfast/lunch menu does the job, too, packed with hearty wraps, stacked burgers and rotating specials all using locally sourced produce.

Copper Bench also serves an equally impressive selection of vegan treats; a win-win for everyone.

Our pick: Spicy haloumi croissant, drizzled with teriyaki aoli and stuffed with egg, edamame, lotus roots, and shredded seaweed. If it's cold, go all out and order the rich hot chocolate.

Sweet Talk

When you’re craving a seriously good coffee, Sweet Talk has the goods – serving up Coffee Supreme beans. And if you’re craving something stronger, they have you sorted with a selection of craft beers, boutique wines and boozy brunch options available from 10am daily.

The inventive touches to the menu stretch across the food and drink offering, with Asian-inspired all day bites including bagels with chilli scrambled eggs, okonomiyaki and Korean fried chicken tacos.

Located in The Longs Quarter, Sweet Talk is walk-ins only with indoor and outdoor seating.

Our pick: Smashed avo with crispy edamame and chilli, with a miso caramel latte. 

Urban Grounds Cafe

Alfresco dining doesn’t get much better than overlooking Toowoomba’s iconic Laurel Bank Park, so grab a seat on the deck at Urban Grounds. If it’s your first meal of the day, choose from vibrant dishes like smashed avocado on Turkish bread or salmon and potato croquettes. Later in the day, roast pumpkin bruschetta, slow braised beef cheek and gnocchi awaits – and you can expect the menu to update with what’s in season.

A place for the whole family, the café offers well-priced kids’ breakfast and lunch menus too.

Our pick: Kipfler hash cake with chive crème fraiche, spinach, haloumi, pesto and poached egg.

Burrow

Tucked away in a quaint old Queenslander, this gorgeous East Toowoomba café has a loyal following. With ever-changing weekly specials, bread courtesy of the team at The Baker’s Duck, Allpress espresso, and a dessert counter impossible to resist, Burrow oozes that Queensland Country charm.

Enjoy breakfast out in the pretty back garden or settle inside along one of the vintage wooden tables with coffee and a good feed.

Our pick: Crepes with black cherry, citrus ricotta, toasted buckwheat, spiced poached pear and macadamia ice cream.

Cafe Valetta

Soak up some Toowoomba history with a visit to Café Valetta, housed in a 1911-era cottage opposite Queens Park. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, along with dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, this is the place to dine when you want classics done flawlessly: French toast, eggs benedict, corn fritters.

Celebrating? Gather your friends to devour tiers of sweet and savoury goodies during High Tea (must be booked 48 hours in advance).

Our pick? The signature Eggs Valetta with slow roasted tomato, asparagus, avocado and poached eggs on Turkish bread. 

Now that you're well fed, head out to explore the best of Toowoomba's gardens, museum and street art.