Bondi cafes, one by one: where we go and what we order

Bondi packs one of Sydney's best café scenes into a few walkable streets behind the beach - beachfront brunch rooms, serious coffee windows, and a run of newer openings worth knowing about in 2026. Below is the shortlist I'd hand a visitor: what each place is known for, roughly where it is, and who it suits. I write these as a local curator rather than claiming to have eaten at every one this week, so treat the details as a well-researched starting point and check current hours before a special trip. For the full, filterable picture - every café and coffee window we've mapped around the beach - there's our complete Bondi cafés and coffee guide.

Best beachfront brunch

Speedos Café

Best coffee

Harry's Bondi

Most iconic

bills

Newest

Cafe Bondi

Best beachfront cafés for brunch

Speedos Café - North Bondi

Speedos sits up at the quieter North Bondi end (Ramsgate Avenue) with some of the best ocean views of any café on the beach. It's the classic post-swim spot - health-leaning brunch, bowls, pancakes and juices, with window benches looking straight out to the water. Best for: a relaxed, view-first breakfast at the north end.

Chapter One - Campbell Parade

Right on Campbell Parade opposite the sand, Chapter One is a café-meets-wine-bar that's been going since 2012, pouring Allpress coffee alongside an all-day menu. It's an easy, central choice if you want to be directly across from the beach - one of a handful of genuine beachfront and ocean-view spots around the sand. Best for: an all-rounder in the middle of the action.

bills - Hall Street

The Sydney institution founded by Bill Granger has been on Hall Street (number 79) since 2014, and bills is still open and busy. Come for the dishes that made it famous - ricotta hotcakes and sweetcorn fritters - in a light, airy room. Best for: a benchmark Bondi brunch and a bit of Sydney food history.

Best for specialty coffee

Harry's Bondi - Wairoa Avenue

Harry's has been caffeinating Bondi since 1997 and is my pick if coffee is the point. It grew from a hole-in-the-wall into a full café, with batch brew, espresso and cold drip plus a following for its matcha and specialty lattes. Best for: coffee-first locals and a quick, quality cup.

Sonoma - bakery coffee

Sonoma is the well-known Sydney sourdough bakery with a Bondi outpost - a reliable stop for a proper coffee and a pastry or bakery-driven breakfast without the full brunch sit-down. If it's the pastry cabinet you're chasing, it sits alongside Bondi's other bakeries and sweet spots. Best for: a quick, high-quality grab-and-go.

Gertrude & Alice - Hall Street

Genuinely one of a kind: Gertrude & Alice is a second-hand bookshop and café on Hall Street where you can settle in with Campos coffee, a Middle Eastern-leaning breakfast and a stack of books. It's the antidote to Bondi's see-and-be-seen rooms. Best for: a slow, quiet morning and something different.

Strong all-rounders just back from the sand

Blackwood - Glenayr Avenue

An Eastern Suburbs brunch staple a couple of streets back, Blackwood is known for a seasonal menu that blends Mediterranean and Asian influences - ricotta pancakes, chilli scrambled eggs - with carefully made coffee. It's one of my go-tos when I want a considered sit-down away from the crowds; for more in that vein, see our best breakfast and brunch guide. Best for: a considered brunch away from the beachfront crush.

Porch and Parlour - North Bondi

A long-running North Bondi favourite (Ramsgate Avenue), Porch & Parlour is built around local produce, with its well-known pea pancakes and a reliably buzzy weekend. It's also one of the better-known dog-friendly spots. Best for: a neighbourhood brunch with the dog in tow.

Newer and more unusual spots

Cafe Bondi - North Bondi (new)

One of the more recent openings, Cafe Bondi is on Campbell Parade at the North Bondi end and opens early for coffee, sunshine and an easy all-day menu. Best for: an early start at the quieter north end. (As a newer venue, double-check its days and hours before you rely on it.)

Up South - Bondi Road

Further up Bondi Road, Up South made its name on playful matcha creations and a rotating treats cabinet - the spot for a strawberry or pistachio matcha and a photo. Best for: matcha fans and a sweet mid-morning stop.

Lox, Stock & Barrel - bagels & deli

A Bondi take on a Jewish deli, Lox, Stock & Barrel is known for artisan bagels and generous, deli-influenced brunch plates. Best for: a bagel-led breakfast or an easy weekday lunch.

Makaveli & Pocket - café by day, bar by night

From the same team, Makaveli (Glenayr Avenue) and Pocket (Campbell Parade) both work the café-to-cocktail-bar angle - pastries, loaded sourdough and coffee in the morning, share plates and drinks later. If it's the evening end that appeals, they also turn up in our best Bondi bars roundup. Best for: a laid-back start that can roll into the afternoon.

A few more coffee windows worth knowing

Coffee is half the reason people love a Bondi morning, so beyond the rooms above here are a few more cups worth a short detour - handy when the beach-view spots are full.

Jacks North Bondi - Brighton Boulevard

An absolute North Bondi institution: the coffee window at the top of Brighton Boulevard that locals knew for years as Bru is now Jacks, run by Jack Murat, who grows his own single-origin coffee up in Far North Queensland and pours it beachside here. It's the spot for the ritual every North Bondi swimmer knows - grab a flat white straight out of the water and dry off in the sun with a hot cup in hand, down on the grass or the sand. Little seating, mornings only, always humming. Best for: drying out with a coffee after a dip at the north end.

% Arabica - Bondi Beach

The Bondi outpost of the global specialty-coffee brand % Arabica trades on pared-back design and carefully sourced beans - a small destination if you take your coffee seriously. Best for: a considered espresso or matcha and a bit of coffee-world pedigree.

Will & Co - HQ tasting bar

Sydney roaster Will & Co runs an HQ tasting bar in Bondi - the spot to drink a local roaster's coffee close to the source. Best for: coffee drinkers who want to taste the roast.

A few more to keep in your back pocket: Cortado for an unfussy espresso away from the queues, the all-day Bennett St Dairy a couple of streets back, and Cali Press if you'd rather a cold-pressed juice or açai bowl than a coffee.

What's changed recently

Two things worth flagging for 2026. First, there's genuine new blood at the north end - Cafe Bondi being the clearest recent opening. Second, the former Hall Street all-day spot Bondi Hall has closed, so ignore older lists that still feature it. The refurbished Bondi Pavilion has also reopened with food and drink operators on the beachfront; those line-ups have shifted since the works, so check who's trading there now rather than trusting an older guide.

What to know before you go

• Timing: arrive close to opening or after about 2pm to dodge the worst queues; weekend mornings are the busiest.
• Booking: most Bondi cafés are walk-in, though a few take reservations for larger groups - check ahead if there are more than four of you.
• Dogs: several are dog-friendly, with Porch and Parlour the best-known; outdoor tables are your friend.
• Reusables: bring a keep-cup - some cafés knock a little off for it.
• Make a morning of it: pair a café with the Saturday Bondi Farmers Market, or a swim first - see where to swim at Bondi.

Which Bondi café is right for you?

• Best ocean view: Speedos Café (North Bondi).
• Best coffee: Harry's Bondi (serving since 1997).
• Most iconic brunch: bills (Hall Street).
• Something different: Gertrude & Alice (bookshop café, Hall Street).
• Newest: Cafe Bondi (North Bondi).
• Best with a dog: Porch and Parlour (North Bondi).

However you play it, Bondi rewards a bit of café-hopping - a coffee at the north end, a swim, then brunch on Campbell Parade. For more on eating and drinking around the beach, see my Bondi eat & drink guide; for the rest of a day here, things to do in Bondi; and for markets and events, what's on in Bondi.