Mackay’s cafe kings and queens: Meet the faces behind the businesses
Cafes form a crucial element of Mackay life, offering a home to locals and travellers alike. Meet the faces behind some of Mackay’s most popular cafes.
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Cafes form a vital part of Mackay, often catering to business meetings, social gatherings, first dates and of course the crucial caffeine hit.
Some businesses have brought an exotic flair to our region’s shores, while others have honed in on local produce first.
But all have carved out an exclusive niche for themselves in the competitive scene that is hospitality, winning loyal customers while offering a home for tourists.
Meet eight kings and queens of of Mackay’s cafe scene.
Zarby’s
The team members behind Zarby’s are Mackay locals through and through.
Michelle Zarb spent her youth on her family’s cane farm in Mt Ossa, later taking the reins running an agribusiness in the area complete with a general store.
Mrs Zarb’s passion for food and cooking transformed the general store into the retro themed Zarby’s Cafe, which has been open for three years.
“The retro idea came about from my daughters,” Mrs Zarb said.
She said she strove to create a friendly atmosphere with great food for locals and visitors to enjoy against the backdrop of canefields.
“I take great pleasure in creating a space were people can enjoy a meal and cuppa in our rural community,” Mrs Zarb said.
“I am very proud of the beautiful part of the world we live in — the sugar city.”
The Dispensary
The family owned and operated venue only “just fits” into the cafe model, with a wine cellar open from 10am offering bottles hand picked by Mackay music icon Graeme Connors himself.
The force behind The Dispensary is Mr Connor’s wife Lyn and two of their five sons Damien and Adrian Connors.
Damien Connors said it was Adrian who was first immersed in the world of hospitality when he became a chef 16 years ago under the guidance of Gerard Falzon and Mike Haber.
With Adrian’s expertise with Mrs Connors managing the accounts, The Dispensary was born with Damien jumping on board to run the business side of things after a successful career in mining.
Damien Connors said in the 16 years they had grown to now employ more than 90 staff across various venues.
As for a favourite menu item, he said you could not go past the sambal scrambled egg with erab paired with a Bloody Mary with bacon.
“This would also be our point of difference, from 10am our cellar, which is packed with over 2000 wines, our cocktails and our massive spirits range comes online,” he said.
“So if you feel like an espresso martini rather than just an espresso, we have you covered.
“We love the regular customers and we love the first timers.
“To be honest, we love anyone and everyone who loves to eat out and supports the hospitality industry.”
Jamaica Blue, Sydney St
The Snell family bought Jamaica Blue more than 10 years ago when it was first operating on Victoria St before it found it’s home in the Sydney St Marketplace six years ago.
Stuart and Kerrie Snell are the driving force behind the cafe, with Mr Snell hailing from a sales and management background and Mrs Snell spending a lifetime in hospitality.
“We have a lot of loyal customers who we see everyday or every weekend,” Mr Snell said.
The pair joked Mrs Snell nailed 99 per cent of their regulars’ orders, with Mr Snell now “getting it right occasionally”.
“The staff and customers seem to love our eggs bene and avo smash, but we have a new menu starting mid November so there are sure to be some new favourites to discover,” Mr Snell said.
The pair said they appreciated the support their customers showed them throughout Covid-19 restrictions and were looking forward to welcoming new faces into the venue.
Coco Cubano
Travel junkie Colleen Johnston has been to 26 countries but it’s Cuba that stole her heart and inspired her to bring a little bit of the “laid back” atmosphere to her own Australian paradise.
Mrs Johnston said she first visited Cuba in 2011, where the country’s import embargo had left the region “frozen in time” in the 1950s.
“The old cars and colourful architecture was mesmerising,” she said.
“We wanted to bring something unique to Mackay and creating a Little Cuba with sidewalk dining, inspired food and authentic music seemed perfect.”
Mrs Johnston said she finished her work in business systems management and started up Coco Cubano in 2014.
Mrs Johnston said when opening the restaurant, she was determined not to compromise on bringing her vision to life including picking out a spot on Wood St, the designated ‘eat street’ of Mackay.
“Mackay has a similar climate to Cuba — they are both tropical, grow sugar cane, and have a relaxed lifestyle,” Mrs Johnston said.
“Mackay is on the very same latitude to Cuba except they are in the Northern Hemisphere and we are in the Southern Hemisphere, so we also have the same climate that adds to the authenticity of the restaurant.”
Mrs Johnston said the “refreshing colours” of the grilled chicken tacos with capsicum and the prawn salad with fresh orange were her favourite picks from the menu.
Third Ground Coffee House
Family members Jana Temple, Skye Bailey and Wesley Bailey are the driving force behind Third Ground Coffee House but it’s their “mission” that is the driving and delivering their success.
Mr Bailey said their mission was to “connect people with each other”, a concept so foundational to the cafe it even inspired the name when it first opened in 2015.
“Third Ground means a third space,” Mr Bailey said.
“Your first space is your home, a place to rest and recuperate and have all of your essentials to live.
“Your second space is your work, a place to earn a living to be able to live.
“Your third space is a place to connect — a place to meet with people and connect over life.”
Mr Bailey said the work began well before opening the cafe when the “fellowship” of Third Ground got to work to make the mission a reality before the mantle was passed onto the trio in 2017.
He said the following years were a continual process of growing the business to further achieve their dreams in ways no one had ever envisioned.
“Some ways included ice cream for kids, alcohol for the adults, an outdoor movie cinema, the continuation of feast nights where the community share a local dish from their garden, live music, a growing dessert bakery, dinner nights, and so much more,” Mr Bailey said.
Mr Bailey said the values for the cafe are printed on the wall and include six key principles.
“One, people need to belong. Two, food should heal not harm. Three, kids and families are special. Four, local is better. Five, people are more important than profit and six, people with allergies should be able to eat good food,” Mr Bailey said.
As for a favourite dish, Mr Bailey said the seasonal breakfasts were always a favourite.
The Deli Nook
It was a love of food that brought the husband and wife team Simon and Patrice Zarzecki into the world of hospitality.
It started in 2016 with Mrs Zarzecki’s business Plattered Up, which offered catering platters and grazing boxes from home.
But the couple said it was in 2019 when Mr Zarzecki became involved that the Deli Nook was born.
“It’s the culmination of Patrice’s love of catering, entertaining and bringing beautiful and unique deli goods to Mackay and Simon’s love of coffee, people — he loves a good chat — and all the yummy stuff,” the pair said.
“Our favourite part about our business is the ‘vibe’ when you walk in, a beautiful rustic and fun place to go.”
As for their favourite dish, they said the mini cheese and antipasto platter box for two were perfect to share with someone you love.
The Avenue Cafe
Fourth-generation “Mackay boy” Ricky Falzon had been in the mining game for 13 years before he made the bold transition to hospitality buying the Avenue Cafe two and half years ago.
Coming from a Maltese heritage, Mr Falzon said he had grown up loving food and cooking learning from his father, grand father and even great-grandfather the ways of Maltese smallgoods.
Mr Falzon said he bought the cafe with the intention to “inject a Maltese twist”.
“I wanted to take what was immensely very traditional Maltese foods and showcase it — to create a different dining experience for everyone to enjoy and alongside that keep alive my Maltese heritage by combining it with the region I love,” he said.
Mr Falzon said his favourite part about the Avenue Cafe was his customers.
“We love our regulars and we feel like they are our extended family,” he said.
“I get a buzz out of seeing people enjoy the food the cafe produces and that’s why I’m in this business — alongside keeping up family traditions.”
As for Mr Falzson’s pick of the menu, he said you could not go past the Maltese brekky wrap when you chance upon it on the specials board.
“It has a very nice combination of your traditional Aussie brekky mixed with some Maltese small goods to create a unique and delicious taste explosion,” he said.
YAW Cafe
The faces behind the family-owned and operated Yaw Cafe Billy and Brandan Tranberg are going from strength to strength in their ever-expanding enterprise.
The couple recently opened Ducksnuts Creative Foods and are set to open a new cafe and take over Paget’s Good Day Cafe in the new year.
Mrs Tranberg said it was not always smooth sailing when Mr Tranberg, a trained chef, lost his job because of Covid.
“[But] his wonderful parents — the current owners of Paget’s Good Day Cafe — asked if he would like to open a cafe with them,” she said.
And so Yaw Cafe was born.
The business has been operating for 18 months and the couple pride themselves on their relationships with their customers.
“To us Yaw is not just a business, it's a family — I love that our customers are our family, YAW is for everyone and anyone,” Mrs Tranberg said.
“From the first time you come into our little cafe you become part of the YAWFAM.”
Mrs Tranberg said once you’re in, you’re in.
“Once I have seen your face and heard your coffee order it’s suck in my brain forever,” she said,
“Months and years can go by and I still remember. I remember my old regulars from McDonald’s orders eight years ago.”
Mrs Tranberg said apart from her husband’s incredible cooking, his special talent was being an “NBA wizard”.
“He loves anything NBA, he can tell you stats, records — the whole shazam.”
As for her pick of the menu, she said it had to be something from their new gourmet grab and go part of Yaw Cafe.
“Brandan has an amazingly delicious sub, loaded roissant and bagel menu which rotates,” Mrs Tranberg said.
“So far on there our favourite item would be the bacon, mac and cheese loaded croissant.”
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