21 Toowoomba businesses to support in 2021
In 2021 it’s time to get out and support those new and old local businesses in town. Here are a list of 21 new Toowoomba businesses you can support in 2021.
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There is no denying that 2020 was a difficult year for business owners across the country.
In Toowoomba our local businesses were hit hard, with some closing all together others made it through the restrictions and have reopened again.
In 2020 a number of new businesses were even brave enough to open their doors for the first time.
In 2021 it’s time to get out and support those new and old local businesses in town.
Here are a list of 21 new Toowoomba businesses you can support in 2021.
The Sip Studio is the brainchild of Brooke Hughes, a former city resident who has found success in mixing business with art.
Opening late least year, the venue offers a fun alternative to a night out on the town, allowing patrons to hone their painting skills while sharing a glass of wine with friends.
The two-hour art sessions are led by an instructor, who helps guests paint the pre-selected project.
The venue is BYO and there is a dedicated area for a grazing platter, with guests encouraged to bring their own food.
It started out as a side hustle, but for one Toowoomba couple their idea of operating a food truck quickly evolved to the opening of a hole-in-the-wall lunch window in the CBD.
Dustyn and Cynthia Harvey launched the Chef’s Lab food truck early last year but recently moved to a more permanent location on Duggan St by opening a laneway window where they sell a range of tasty gourmet sandwiches from Monday to Thursday.
They also collaborate with Volcanic Brewing from Friday to Sunday where they operate the venue’s kitchen.
Urban Bakehouse is open at Northpoint Shopping Centre selling all the usual delicious, flaky, tasty baked goods, as well as Vietnamese street food.
Urban Bakehouse sells pies, sausage rolls, breads, toasted sandwiches, sandwiches, rolls, slices and birthday cakes.
But, as something a little different it also sells Vietnamese street food such as banh mi, noodle bowls, rice paper rolls and skewers.
Uva Wine Bar offers boutique wines not already available in Toowoomba.
It opened late last year and aims to be a cosy place where people can gather after dinner, wind down and hear each other talk.
Katrina Costigan is behind the idea and said it came to her after chatting with friends about how there weren’t many places that offered diners somewhere quiet and inviting after dinner.
The CBD’s newest wine and snack bar, Cork and Lever, opened in Margaret St late last year.
Cork and Lever offers a sophisticated, relaxed and inviting atmosphere, offering the latest in organic, natural and vegan wines with a focus on Australian independent winemakers and distillers.
By opening Cork and Lever, owner Micha Whitley hopes to encourage Toowoomba to support Australian-made products, and be part of helping small businesses recover and thrive post COVID.
Hop Thru cafe opened in September, and serves hot coffee and fresh fast food at 247 James St.
The business is the brainchild of Carmel Tulloch, who also owns CCP Your Catering People that operates the University of Southern Queensland campus refectory.
The popular cafe opened as a way to help create jobs throughout COVID-19.
When Ben Apsey was laid off from his job in car sales due to COVID-19, his father Paul gave him the chance to open a new CBD coffee shop.
Travel Mugs Coffee opened on Margaret St in August, with the operation subleasing inside his father’s recently-purchased Globetrotters Travel and Cruise.
Mr Apsey, who is also on the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce’s CBD Revitalisation Committee, said he wanted to see businesses work together to embrace subleases more often.
After seven years of finding their feet in Australia, Santosh Paudel and Karishma Simkhada are back in business again and serving fresh coffees to locals.
The Nepalese chef and nurse celebrated the opening of the Revised Cafe at Wyalla Plaza in November, with the cafe offering the best of Australian coffee house dining while mixing in some dishes from their home country.
A young Toowoomba barber with a decade experience in the industry has opened his own shop in the CBD.
Addison Manning always planned to open his own barber shop, and after realising he had a loyal client base he wasn’t about to let COVID-19 stop him.
Addison’s Barber Shop offers a range of services including beard trims, shaves, haircuts and you can even have a cold beer while you’re in the shop.
Bringing a new concept butcher store to Toowoomba has been a long-held dream of a couple who are strong advocates of the connection between paddock to plate.
Now that dream is a reality for Luke and Michelle Jensen with the launch of the Meat Cellar at The Ridge Shoppingworld.
Meat Cellar brings a fresh, modern, state-of-the-art butcher which Mr Jensen describes as something “never before seen in Toowoomba or the Darling Downs.”
The Indian Tree has brought a new cuisine to Grand Central Shopping Centre.
The Indian Tree opened in September within the restaurant precinct, in the former location of PappaRich which closed this year after opening in 2018.
The Indian Tree offers tasty Indian food with classics and modern alternatives on the menu.
Manager Adi Reddy said the flavour style of the dishes was south Indian.
A new sushi restaurant has opened up as part of the redevelopment of Wilsonton Shopping Centre.
Oh Sushi and Bowls offers traditional Japanese cuisine both for dine-in and takeaway.
The new Oh Sushi and Bowls space is warm, cosy and welcoming - designed for locals to dine in or select from an array of takeaway options, while making the most of the other shopping attractions.
Boutique florist Ruby Lane Flower Co has made the leap from a homegrown business to a bricks and mortar store.
Now operating from the Walton Stores, owner and florist Emily Richardson said she was loving being open to the public.
Mrs Richardson, originally a nutritionist, decided she wanted to do something new and so did a floristry course in Brisbane four years ago.
After doing some work for friends, the business within weeks built up to the point where she could quit her job and pursue floristry full time.
It was their first coffee catch-up after Queensland came out of lockdown in May and Inky Barwick and Jill Bliss decided it was time to open a homewares store.
The two long-time friends were looking for something new in their lives.
Fast-forward five months and their business idea has become reality in the form of The Store Room on Campbell St.
The people behind popular Vietnamese restaurant Original Saigon have opened a second venue in Toowoomba.
The new restaurant, known as Tram Vietnam, opened at The Ridge in Kearneys Spring.
The menu is similar to Original Saigon and includes popular Vietnamese favourites like Pho, Banh Mi and rice paper rolls.
Serving a delicious array of authentic Korean food, restaurant Kocu has been busy since opening on Margaret St.
Owner Jisu Lim, who moved to Toowoomba from Brisbane in 2019, said his vision was to create a simple space with great food.
He said they made real Korean food, the type customers would get in a Korean home.
The thing that Lily’s Restaurant owner Bruce Ryman loves most about Italian food is its freshness.
So when he and his wife Heidi took over the running of the Highfields Motel at the start of June, they were able to use the then-shuttered restaurant as a blank canvas.
Italian was the obvious choice.
Mr Ryman loves serving up traditional northern Italian food, a cuisine he’s been cooking after learning from an Italian nonna a quarter of a century ago.
Having opened on Duggan St in November, WyldAlchemy has already proved popular with residents.
Owner and beauty therapist Janelle Smoothy had always dreamt of opening a store and the ongoing pandemic spurred her into action.
Ms Smoothy also produces an organic skin care range on site, which she incorporates into her treatments.
Sarge Tirabzon opened his own barber shop, Sarge’s, last year while the rest of the community was closing its doors, and living just within their own four walls.
Aside from the usual haircuts, he offers eyebrow threading for men, nostril waxing and “ear flaming”, the Turkish practice of removing hair from ears using a small flame.
He also offers free haircuts to homeless people every Tuesday.
A new family-run business has launched in Toowoomba with the focus on celebrating new life.
After a year of late nights and planning Sahra Hintz has opened her online business thee bird.
Launching in December, the store sells a range of collections for bubs “made with the highest quality and love.”
21. 2 Brothers Traditional Barber
A Queensland-based barber chain has expanded across the state, and chose Toowoomba as one of its first new locations.
2 Brothers Traditional Barber was established in 2010, with a store in Queens Street Mall in Brisbane.
After expanding to Browns Plains and Toombul, owners Ali and Mo Alhasnawi decided to open a barber in Toowoomba, at Grand Central Shopping Centre.
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