Meet the owners of Parramatta’s hottest cafes | Full list

Parramatta’s cafe scene is the envy of many with its top shelf eateries and baristas. But who are the real culinary leaders? We’ve ranked Parra’s best.

For those who can’t fathom a day without coffee, the Parramatta baristas who keep us caffeinated are always there with a good drop of espresso and hospitality.

Aykut Sayan

Circa Espresso founder Aykut Sayan says every cafe needs a signature dish to make customers return and he has excelled at that thanks to the Turkish-inspired breakfast at his Parramatta cafe.

“The dish that probably has defined us more than any other is the Ottoman eggs, which has been copied now all over the place,’’ Sayan said.

“For success, you need a signature dish that people are going to come for. Bills (at Darlinghurst) has their ricotta pancakes. It has to be original, it has to taste great, it has to look good and has to represent your business.’’

Circa Espresso’s menu is seasonal and evolving and is peppered with plenty of surprises but also leave room for the classics.

“One of my favourite things that our cafe has produced, and it’s only a recent thing, is some of the old school stuff like the beef burger mignon, pies and chermoula lamb sausage rolls,’’ Sayan said.

“Some of the homemade lasagne has been incredible — just homely, rustic and simple.

“I think the breads and pastries are quite good, if not better, than the Ottoman eggs.’’

Circa Espresso owner Aykut Sayan with the cafe’s signature Ottoman eggs. Picture: Robert Pozo

During lockdown, Circa has kept Sayan’s philosophy to stay on their toes.

“You’ve got to stay relevant and that doesn’t mean changing your menu, so I invested in someone with social branding,’’ he said.

“His sole purpose is to develop relationships with the media to develop branding around what’s happening around Sydney and NSW and Australia.’’

The cafe recently teamed up with Newtown’s Tokyo Lamington, which saw extra customers flock to the cafe for a fix of the cakes with a twist (think black sesame and fairy bread).’’

Sayan has been a pioneer of the Parramatta cafe scene when he converted a dilapidated terrace at Wentworth Ave in 2010.

Circa, which roasts its own coffee, was crowned Cafe of the Year in 2013.

“At the time we knew very little about coffee but through effort and hard work, we managed to achieve that,’’ Sayan said.

Steve and Carmen Jreij

Chances are you have had at least one of the “hundreds of thousands” of coffee Steve and Carmen Jreij have served at their Parramatta cafes for more than a decade.

Using Carmen’s experience running Gloria Jean’s cafes, the Greystanes couple opened Bica at Parramatta’s George St in 2007 before expanding with nearby Black Seed Cafe in 2018, using Toby’s Estate coffee.

“Definitely gourmet and quality, healthy options is what works well in the commercial district because a lot of office workers don’t want anything too heavy because they’re sitting at their desk, they’re not burning too much energy,’’ Steve said.

The couple has seen Parramatta’s coffee evolve over the past 14 years with a growing preference for Aussie beans.

“I think back in 2007 the main coffee in Parramatta was based on Italian roasts, like your Lavazza and Illy and also Schibello Coffee, but since then it’s progressed through your local roasters, like your Campos and your Toby’s,’’ Steve said.

“In 2007 people thought Italians knew everything about coffee so everything was imported.’’

Bica was one of the first to use Danes Specialty Coffee and now favours Toby’s.

“We find the blend works well in Parramatta. It cuts in well with milk and we find Parramatta are milk drinkers. I’d say 80 per cent are milk-based coffee drinkers.’’

Despite hospitality being a hard slog, the Jreijs are zealously expanding their footprint across Parramatta with Sir Will Espresso to open in September while the luxe but relaxed Willo Restaurant and Bar is due to open mid November after Covid pushed delayed its debut on the growing CBD bar scene.

The new venues will open inside the $330 million, 25-storey 32 Smith St development.

George Georgaklis and Angelo Papagelou

After running the award-winning Inside Out in Parramatta’s Phillip St for 14 years, schoolmates George Georgaklis and Angelo Papagelou traded running a fine dining establishment for a neighbourhood cafe and have enjoyed equal success since opening The Container.

“It was more about the hours and the lifestyle so after we left Inside Out we want back to the corporate world for a couple of years and realised we were still missing something and we opened The Container at Dundas and North Parramatta,’’ Georgaklis said.

The former Granville Boys’ High School mates sold the Dundas branch two years but the North Parramatta eatery is thriving.

“We wanted this out of the CBD, we wanted to be a community-based destination and for the cafe to have a community feel,’’ Georgaklis, of Oatlands, said.

After amassing a swag of accolades at Inside Out, Georgaklis says he is happy to fly under the radar with The Container, which draws customers from mums to Parramatta Eels devouring a feed after a captain’s run at Doyle Ground and before an NRL fixture at Bankwest Stadium.

Using his acumen in the corporate world for oil company Mobil and Papagelou’s skills as a chef, the pair’s recipe for success is simple, whether it’s serving the popular acai bowls or piccolos.

“It’s good, honest food for our locals and that’s important to us,’’ Georgaklis said.

“You can have breakfast all day and you can have lunch all day.’’

The cafe remains open for takeaway during lockdown.

Sam and Natalie Georges

The Shed cafe owner Sam Georges knows a melting pot such as Parramatta needs a menu to reflect its diverse customers, and that includes cafe staples like the bacon and egg roll with Middle Eastern, Serbian and Macedonian dishes adding some fusion to the mix.

The Georges have gained quite the following since opening their Macquarie St cafe four years ago, with their vibrant dishes popular with office workers, tradies and Instagram influencers keen to capture dishes such as the delectable lamb kofta salad or corn fritters complemented with a pretty-patterned latte.

Sam Georges at The Shed, Parramatta.

The adventurous menu has won plenty of fans but the Georges also know you can’t run a cafe with a good old bacon and egg roll, on a milk bun and dressed with a smoky barbecue sauce.

“We’ve been told it’s allegedly one of the best in Parramatta,’’ Sam said.

“We sell a bunch of these from tradies to corporates, to people going on their walks. I would say that’s our go-to.’’

The menu features former head chef Lizzie Lock’s twist on a popular breakfast dish — beef Benedict with pulled meat, with hollandaise and chilli sauce.

The delicious food always comes with a side dish of friendliness. Last year, the cafe delivered healthy, prepared meals to paramedics at the Northmead NSW Ambulance superstation during the first lockdown.

Customers donated meals such as falafel, butter chicken, Thai green curry and lasagne online, before being delivered, with a complimentary coffee.

“I think the No. 1 thing is customer service and building a strong culture with staff, so when you look for staff it’s not all about their skill set,’’ Sam said.

“The other would be just reinventing ourselves to keep up with what’s going on and trends, and listening to customers and getting their feedback.’’

Rebecca, Samantha and Sarah Baysari

It’s all in the family for the Mulberry Tree owners Rebecca and her twin sisters Samantha and Sarah who have worked at the Macquarie St, Parramatta, cafe since 2015.

Hailing from a nutrition background, Rebecca’s zeal for healthy food motivates her to plate up wholesome breakfasts and lunches for customers ranging from tradies to corporate types.

“I just thin we’ve been able to cater to our community and make sure that we’re keeping people as happy as possible, and delivering as high quality food as we can,’’ she said.

The cafe uses Roastville Coffee Roasters from Marrickville.

Sarah, Rebecca and Samantha Baysari run the Mulberry Tree Cafe. Picture: David Swift

“I think it’s the attention to detail,’’ Rebecca said.

“The small roasters really care about the quality of the product.

“Samantha makes sure every cup’s going out is consistent.’’

Rima Georges

Like a lot of cafe owners with a Middle Eastern background, hospitality is a natural fit for 5 Loaves cafe manager Rima Georges who is accustomed to “force feeding’’ people and socialising over food.

“If you go to someone’s house, you’ll get full hospitality, the same as if you come to the cafe,’’ the 31-year-old said.

“If you come to the cafe we like to know who our customers are, we try to remember their orders. We like to make sure our standards are high.

“We really like customer relationships to stay strong.’’

The Harris Park bakery mixes modern Australian and traditional Lebanese street food such as fattoush salads and zaatar wraps “but you can get your standard things like bacon and egg rolls’’ washed down with a Vittoria coffee.

“We use the strongest blend they’ve got, Oro, because a lot of our customers like the strongest blend,’’ Georges said.

She joined the decade-old Our Lady of Lebanon-run cafe two years ago and loves serving churchgoers, who make up half of its clientele, as much as tradies, police and more recently, army officers patrolling the streets during lockdown.

“To be honest, I think we’ve created a family feel,’’ Georges said.

The Alice St cafe was named Parramatta’s best cafe in an online poll in February.

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