Criminal Coffee owner went from being homeless to opening three venues
Just over 10 years ago, this Coast businessman was living on the streets. This week he and his wife opened their third venue.
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Just over 10 years ago, Danny Simmonds was washing and drying his clothes in a McDonald's toilet and living on the street.
Inspired by his older sister who returned to the UK from Australia with “a great tan, bangles and a boomerang on her bedroom wall”, Mr Simmonds knew as soon as he turned 18 he would move Down Under.
With a one-way ticket and $500, the ambitious teen was ready to forge a new life but for his first three months in Australia he was homeless at St Kilda Beach.
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“I’d wash myself in the disabled toilets (at McDonald’s) and dry my clothes in the hand dryer,” he said.
“The manager said to me ‘I know what you’re doing’ and I said ‘please don’t call the police’ and he gave me an apron and said come here when it’s busy.
“That’s what gave me my start in hospitality … I still send him a Christmas card every year.”
Eight weeks later he was let go, but given an envelope full of cash – enough to move to the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Simmonds and wife Rachel have now opened their third venue after years of working at restaurants and cocktail bars.
Their two popular Criminal Coffee cafes helped guarantee a big opening week for their latest venture, a Colombian style bar and grill at Mooloolaba Esplanade named Scotch Bonnet.
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The three venues employ 55 people – with 30 at the Mooloolaba eatery.
“This has always been a dream,” Mr Simmonds said.
“When Rach and I go on holidays we always go to the islands.
“We love island vibe, drinking cocktails out of coconuts, barefoot bandits and chilling out and I wanted to bring that to the Sunshine Coast.”
The pair plan to open a fourth business, a brewery at Coolum Beach, later this year.
He hopes the new ventures will be as popular as their Criminal Coffee cafes at Maroochydore where they roast half a tonne of coffee beans every two weeks.
Mr Simmonds said a large part of their success was their people.
“All our staff are really genuine people,” he said.
“I think after covid, it brought everyone down to earth.
“In the first six months from our business opening we had the bushfires and the floods, and then the pandemic.
“I think after all of that, the support just came in bus-loads.”
Scotch Bonnet is located at 13 Mooloolaba Esplanade and is a casual dining restaurant and bar.
With nothing on the food menu over $20, the eats are designed to share or can be easily taken away to the beach.
Originally published as Criminal Coffee owner went from being homeless to opening three venues
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