Moreton Bay clubs to benefit when delicious cafe moves into their kitchens

Meet the popular cafe owner, who has set up a unique business inside a local football club’s kitchen and is expanding into more sports venues across southeast Queensland.

A popular cafe owner, who specialises in doughnuts, has set his eyes on expansion with two more locations coming to the Moreton Bay region.

Scott Wheeler, the owner and operator of Bad Boys Cafe located at the Zillmere Eagles Football Club, has always been passionate about cooking since he started with his grandmother and mother back in New Zealand.

By March this year, Mr Wheeler will have moved into two more clubs in the area, opening cafes at the Moreton Bay Lions and another club at Narangba, under the same arrangement as Zillmere, with doughnuts the headline product along with other general cafe items.

The 44-year-old managed logistics in factories in Hong Kong for 12 years before moving to Queensland and opening up a market stall to sell doughnuts.

From sampling the doughnuts first-hand, Mr Wheeler perfected the cinnamon doughnut during his exhaustive schedule of attending 16 markets a week across southeast Queensland in 2017.

It was Covid-19 and the death of markets and events, which saw Mr Wheeler transform his brand and loyal customers into a cafe.

Mr Wheeler’s focus in on quality food and service, with a passion for feeding people. Picture: Aaron Goodwin

“You have to quickly adjust and ask yourself how the hell am I going to deal with this,” Mr Wheeler said.

“There’s no use sitting back and going oh I’ve got a problem.

“Especially market people, a lot of them took cash so they couldn’t get any benefits.

“All of a sudden events are gone and they haven’t built a brand, they’ve just taken advantage of what was there for years.

“To be honest I hadn’t had doughnuts for years in Hong Kong, it wasn’t a thing over there.

“I love cooking, I always cooked for myself and I thought I can do this better.

“I started it up and from there it’s grown.”

Now Bad Boys Cafe has been running for almost a year out of the Zillmere Eagles AFL Club kitchen, six days a week, providing the club with a revenue and atmosphere boost during the season.

The cafe is coeliac friendly and offers dairy, nut, egg and yeast free products, along with vegan and plant-based options.

Mr Wheeler originally operated Bad Boys Doughnuts at market stalls across Queensland and has built a cafe on the back of the popularity of the doughnuts. Picture: Aaron Goodwin

On top of that is the traditional offering of an all day menu and options for those without allergies or dietary needs.

“Being a not-for-profit club and volunteer orientated, it’s very hard for them to manage and provide the services,” Mr Wheeler said.

“Especially with a lot of young ones these days having a lot of dietary requirements, cafes and canteens within clubs do not necessarily offer that to the parents or children.

“We have everything from coffees, teas, breakfast muffins, toasties, soft drink, burgers, pies, arancini balls, doughnuts, waffles, fresh calamari, all fresh made to order not processed.

“You’re offering rent to the club which is an income that they don’t need to worry about with the kitchen and the volunteer side of things.

“Also, when you’re providing good food at a club establishment, it entices people to stay longer in the club which in turn generally brings more transactions over the bar, enhances the club and its atmosphere.

Mr Wheeler has taken over the kitchen at the Zillmere Eagles Football Club and will take over the kitchen soon of another two Moreton Bay clubs. Picture: Aaron Goodwin

“It's trying to bring back the original of what we used to eat, without being stingy.

“I hate going into a place where you buy a burger for $23 and it’s an add-on for cheese.

“I cooked with my grandmother and mother in New Zealand all my life, it’s always been in me.

“Good food doesn’t need to have a fancy pomegranate dressing, it’s just good solid food.”

Zillmere Eagles treasurer Andrew Roberts said Mr Wheeler’s cafe at the club kitchen has provided them with a revenue stream and taken away the hassle of finding volunteers to work the canteen.

“That’s where the growth of Scotty’s business is coming at these other clubs because it’s the same problem everywhere.” he said.

The opening hours of Bad Boys cafe is 9am to 9pm Tuesday to Sunday at 340 Zillmere Rd.