The Best Weekday Breakfast Spots in Sydney's CBD
Never turn up to work hungry again.
The Best Weekday Breakfast Spots in Sydney's CBD
Never turn up to work hungry again.
We're all familiar with the joys of popping into one of Sydney's cafes for a late morning (or, let's be real, afternoon) brunch on Sunday. But during the week, it's sometimes overlooked in favour of a few more snoozes and a couple of extra minutes in a warm bed. We're all about those zzzs, but it's no excuse for skipping the most important meal of the day — especially if you work or study in the city.
Brekkie options are boundless in the CBD, with cafes opening early during the week, ready to ply you with good food and even better coffee to start your morning. So for the sake of nutrition, productivity, and your tastebuds, we've put together a list of Sydney CBD's best breakfast spots during the week. Take a moment to sit down, read the news and digest before you get locked into the weekday grind.
Recommended reads:
The Best Coffee Shops in Sydney's CBD
The Best Cafes in Sydney
The Best Bagels in Sydney
The Best Bakeries in Sydney
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The CBD outpost of the Alexandria favourite opened its antique doors in 2017, and has since maintained The Grounds’ rep as a bangin’ Sydney breakfast hotspot. The lavish 1920s-themed coffeehouse’s menu has a range of great brekkie options. Cravings from savoury to sweet are catered for with dishes like lobster benedict, and smoked mackerel on a toasted crumpet alongside classics like pancakes and bacon and egg rolls. Despite lacking a luscious garden like sister venue The Grounds of Alexandria, there are enough aesthetic touches here for many an Instagram opportunity.
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Located in the ground floor of a heritage building (formerly the headquarters of Red Cross Australia), Cross Eatery has been offering up healthy eats and great coffee since 2016. The cafe’s chalkboard menu changes seasonally, but promises reliable, healthy meals for both breakfast and lunch. Grab a signature brekkie roll, take a seat at one of the communal tables and enjoy a bright, minimalist aesthetic to kickstart a productive day at work.
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Having cemented its status as one of Melbourne’s most celebrated coffee roasters and cafes, Industry Beans opened its first interstate venue on York Street in 2019. Watch baristas whip up a mix of signature brews at the customised La Marzocco Modbar, where you can get a good view of the process that goes into creating drinks like the Cold Brew Bubble Cup, featuring coffee-soaked tapioca pearls and condensed milk. As for food, the venue’s seasonal lineup of dishes is far from boring. Try the avocado smash starring beetroot dust and green tea salt or the coffee-rubbed wagyu burger next time you’re looking for some weekday breakfast in Sydney’s CBD.
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Regiment is a busy glass-walled cafe smack-bang in the middle of George Street. You won’t be able to escape the hustle and bustle here, but it’s one of the best places in the CBD to enjoy a cup of coffee. Given its location, the venue is generally filled with office workers on coffee breaks or taking meetings — but that doesn’t mean this is any old CBD cafe, and certainly doesn’t rule out a pre-work brekkie. The pork belly and egg burger with tomato relish, chives and pickled onion is just $12, and there is a range of other brekkie staples like bagels and crumpets. With kombucha on tap, turmeric lattes and cold-pressed juices, this health-focused venue has plenty to fuel you for the day.
Image: Kimberley Low.
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Tucked away behind King Street, Skittle Lane Coffee is a welcome breath of fresh air for CBD dwellers. The Sydney breakfast joint’s high ceilings and large steel windows demand attention from the casual passer-by. Yet, once you push through those sleek glass doors, the store makes you feel right at home. Aside from its aesthetic charm, these guys deliver everything from toasties and croissants to open sandwiches topped with sliced egg, parmesan and truffle oil, or smashed avocado and crumbled feta. With a bunch of caffeine options on the menu, including cold brew and espresso, Skittle Lane is part of the Sydney laneway cafe scene giving Melbourne a run for its money.
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If you’re looking for a way to cheer up your working week in the CBD, pop into June’s Shoppe. Where so many of Sydney’s cafes take themselves pretty seriously, this bright yellow cafe is all about putting a little sunshine into your day and having a little fun. On the simple and tasty menu you’ll find pastries, toast and open sandwiches with all kinds of toppings. Fuel up for the day with a bacon and egg roll or the veggie brekky wrap: scrambled egg, spinach, avocado, cheese and your choice of sauce. If you’re looking for a sugar hit, there are daily danishes, brownies and toasted butter croissants topped with ham and cheese or smoked salmon with cream cheese.
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This jack-of-all-trade cafe and bar comes from the team behind the highly awarded cocktail bar Maybe Sammy. The sleek gold and forest green-tinted venue is slinging cuppas by day and mini cocktails by night. For its coffee, it offers a blend that’s been specially crafted for the venue by coffee connoisseur and Maybe Sammy Co-Founder Martin Hudak. The food menu at this Sydney CBD breakfast spot has been created by Chef Robert Lechowicz of Cronulla’s Blackwood Pantry, and includes tomatoes on toast, smashed avo, toasted banana bread and salmon rolls on a brioche bun, as well as a daily pastry selection from Sonoma Bakery. Then, come nighttime, things switch up and the mini cocktails come out.
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Bar Mammoni, is the final piece to join Circular Quay’s expansive multi-storey venue Hinchcliff House. Located one street over from the flagship venue, Mammoni is a 30-seat cafe and bar hidden within the Quay Quarter Lanes precinct. Offering coffees in the morning, cocktails in the afternoon and snacks throughout the day, it’s an all-day winner. Items like gelato millefoglie and croissant cubes are baked overnight at Grana Bakery and walked across to the laneway venue each morning where they’re offered alongside breakfast options like fruit or granola bowls, morning sandwiches and toast made with Grana‘s signature bread.
Image: Steven Woodburn
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While the CBD is awash with morning coffee spots, Pablo & Rusty’s on Castlereagh Street is top of many city workers’ lists. With an appealing façade, matched with a chic interior and top-notch menu to boot, it deserves to be. The designer fit-out is adorned with potted plants that hang from high ceilings and the glass wall floods the room with light. The atmosphere of this beloved Sydney breakfast spot remains soft thanks to low lighting and caramel wooden furnishings. Both takeaway and dine-in orders are done at the front counter, which also holds an array of sweet treats. The big black coffee bar takes pride of place, brewing everything from single origins and filter, to their seasonal espresso blend.
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When the talent behind Reuben Hills and Paramount Coffee Project expanded to the CBD, it was great news to those that work around Martin Place. As well as serving up the seasonal house blends that have given Reuben Hills its good rep, it’s also slinging an interesting menu to match. Fuel up before work with avo toast with super fluffy crumpets, doughnuts and pastries from local bakers like Tuga and L.A Donuts, or even chicken tacos. Fitted out with concrete-slab benchtops, striking black marble panelling and wooden stools, Hills Bros carries on the tradition of sleek design found in its Surry Hills siblings inside a Martin Place office building.
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New York and Sydney may be almost 10,000 miles apart, but when it comes to capturing that iconic American panache so many of us know and love, Bowery Lane aims to prove distance is relative with the right ingredients. With an emphasis on locally sourced produce and taking cues from Manhattan’s restaurants and breakfast diners, the Sydney breakfast menu features chilli scrambled eggs with chorizo and pecorino; a crab and asparagus omelette and ricotta hot cakes. On the lighter side, there’s also house-made granola and a green bowl packed with labneh avocado, seasonal greens and a poached egg so that you can head into your day feeling fresh.
Top image: Single O by Alana Dimou.
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