Grounded at Woombye owner opens second cafe on the Mooloolaba Esplanade

The owner of a popular Woombye eatery has opened a new venue on the Mooloolaba Esplanade serving brunch staples and a Caribbean-themed dinner menu. CHECK IT OUT HERE:

The owner of a popular Woombye eatery has expanded his business with the opening of a second venue on the Mooloolaba Esplanade complete with a Caribbean-themed dinner menu.

Grounded at Woombye owner Paul Dolan opened the sliding doors to his new cafe in early April after hearing the site became available earlier in the year through a mutual contact with the former owner.

Mr Dolan worked as a chartered accountant for 16 years in Sydney, Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast before leaving his finance career behind to pursue his hospitality venture that offered more social interaction.

He first launched Grounded at 13a Blackall Street, Woombye in July, 2018 with his former partner after they bought the originally shared commercial and residential space which previously housed Winnie cafe.

In November, 2019, the pair acquired the residential area after it became vacant which grew the eatery’s capacity from 20 customers to a maximum of 200.

The move increased business five-fold and Mr Dolan said they had gone from serving 5kg of coffee a week to 35kg.

Grounded at Mooloolaba cafe founder Paul Dolan at his new venue on the Esplanade. Pictured: Patrick Woods.

Mr Dolan – who now solely runs two venues – said the success of revamping his Woombye site paved the way to open another Grounded cafe.

“It just landed on my lap, not a lot of due diligence was done it was about just giving it a go,” Mr Dolan said.

“We want to keep it similar to Woombye so it would be familiar with our customers from there but I also want Mooloolaba to have its own edge particularly with seafood and other types of dishes that suit the area. The hinterland is more about hearty meals.”

“I wanted to keep our look with rattan chairs, simple cutlery and decor, it’s very bespoke and minimalist. Here it has more greenery which keeps it fresh and attractive and adds a Mooloolaba twist.”

Grounded at Mooloolaba seats up to 70 patrons and serves brunch classics such as eggs Benedict, smashed avo on toast, salmon bagels and add-ons like bacon and hashbrowns.

The evening menu has a “Caribbean” theme with dishes such as chicken skewers, tacos and burgers and will soon feature a range of seafood options.

Grounded at Mooloolaba has a coastal theme to the menu and fit-out. Pictured: Patrick Woods.

Mr Dolan sourced most of his ingredients for his food and beverages from local and Australian producers including coffee from Vintage Black in Maroochydore.

His new eatery also had a line up of drinks with beers from 10 Toes Brewery, Heads of Noosa Brewing Co, Black Flag Brewing and a handful of spirits and red and white wines.

The two venues employ about 35 staff in total with a mix of full-time, part-time and casual workers.

Mr Dolan said he was focused on tweaking his Mooloolaba venue’s menu to better cater for customers in the area and was keeping an eye out for locations for another eatery further down the track.

“It’s a really good fit-out and has a lot of potential being on the Esplanade and has similarities to the Woombye cafe,” Mr Dolan said.

“It's pretty unique because there’s no one else doing the Caribbean theme on the Esplanade.”