20 restaurants and cafes that have opened this year

We might only just be past the halfway mark for 2018, but so far this year dozens of new cafes and restaurants have opened in Toowoomba.

WE might only just be past the halfway mark for 2018, but so far this year dozens of new cafes and restaurants have opened in Toowoomba.

WE might only just be past the halfway mark for 2018, but so far this year dozens of new cafes and restaurants have opened in Toowoomba.

From two Bavarian restaurants, two Italian restaurants and a popular bakery moving to a new location, there has been plenty happening in the Toowoomba food scene this year.

Some businesses have also expanded their offerings.

Here are 20 new cafes and restaurants that have opened in Toowoomba this year, rebranded or expanded their offerings:

Charred opens in historic foodie location 

Back in June, the Wood family took to social media to announce they were going to open a new cafe and restaurant at the location of the former Weis restaurant.

Charred offers a modern Australian cuisine with a strong focus on local produce.

The cafe opened in July.

Burrow Cafe will open in Toowoomba in June. Picture: Contributed

New local opens its doors

North Toowoomba residents have been treated to a new cafe, with the Burrow opening its doors last weekend.

The cafe, which serves Allpress coffee and features custom handmade tables, is located on Bridge St.

The new Baker’s Duck store on Campbell Street. Picture: Tobi Loftus

The Baker's Duck gets a new home

Cryptic posts on social media earlier this year teased a collaboration between Ground Up Espresso and The Baker's Duck, which had previously opened only once a week out of an old warehouse.

Then in May, to the surprise of many, the Baker's Duck announced it would open in a permanent location on Campbell St, and would be open five days a week.

The opening day on May 19 was a success, with customers queuing out the door for hours.

Mingle opens its doors

Mingle opened its doors in Ruthven St back in February.

The cafe, which has a strong health focus, offers vegan soft serve Cocowhip, as well as a range of other healthy and comfort foods.

FINCH FARE: The Finch cafe celebrates its first birthday. Owner Daniel Farquhar pictured. Thursday June 30 , 2016. Picture: Nev Madsen

The Finch introduces dinner

A staple of the Ruthven St food scene, The Finch announced it would open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights back in May.

The dinner service is said to be a 'modern Australian menu'.

Owners rebrand

A popular Newtown cafe was taken over by new owners last month, who announced a name change to the joint.

Extraordinary Joe, on the corner of Holberton and Taylor Sts, is now operating under the name New Brew Cafe.

 The cafe serves breakfast and lunch, specialising in gourmet bagels.

Sage and Butler open

Margaret St cafe Red Bench rebranded as Sage and Butler earlier this month.

The cafe, which has come under new ownership, offers a breakfast and lunch menu as well as a range of muffins, croissants, doughnuts, scrolls and cakes which are all home-made quality goods.

Kusina Asian Grill has opened in Ruthven St. Picture: Contributed

New Asian restaurant turns up the heat

Kusina Asian Grill opened its doors back in June, above Australian Sports Nutrition on Ruthven St.

The new grill offers everything from noodle soup to char-grilled dishes.

Dishes also include Gai Yang, a Thai-style overnight marinated chicken with lemongrass, garlic and soy sauce, as well as seafood including paprika prawns and whole barramundi.

Bavarian Biergarten

The first of two new Bavarian restaurants opened in May.

The Bavarian Biergarten 

The Biergarten has a wood-fired pizza oven and nine imported Bavarian beers available in steins and schooners.

The Bavarian Bier at Chermside in Brisbane. A Toowoomba Bavarian Bier will soon open at Grand Central. Picture: Jared Vethaak

The Bavarian

The second Bavarian restaurant opened at Grand Central in June.

The Rockpool-owned brand The Bavarian opened its doors with a 500 free hot dogs giveaway.

Its menu features a range of Bavarian favourites, including crispy pork knuckle, crackling pork belly, an assortment of schnitzels, a range of classic German and gourmet sausages and shared platters.

Bel Cibo operations manager Ajay Prasad in the new store at Eastville. Thursday, 29th Mar 2018. Picture: Nev Madsen

Bel Cibo arrives

Italian chain Bel Cibo announced it would launch in Toowoomba back in March and opened its doors in April.

The restaurant sells pizza, pasta, risotto, salads, and desserts.

It is located at the Eastville Shopping Centre.

Navdeep Singh owner ONS Italian Restaurant which is open in Northlands Shopping Centre. Picture: Bev Lacey

ONS Toowoomba

New Italian restaurant ONS Toowoomba opened back in March.

Located at Northlands Shopping Centre, the eatery is dine-in, takeaway and also does deliveries.

It specialises in pasta but is looking to expand into woodfired pizza.

Beirut Grill and Kebab

Beirut Grill and Kebab opened in Northpoint Shopping Centre back in January.

The Middle-Eastern restaurant features a range of kebabs, known instore as shawarmas.

One of the restaurant's specialities is its Beirut platter which includes skewers, rice, hummus, baba ganoush and Syrian ganoush.

Cherry Zou with tasy food at Sugar Maples Cafe & Restaurant, Highfields. Wednesday, 2nd May, 2018. Picture: Nev Madsen

Sugar Maples

Canadian restaurant Sugar Maples was taken over by new owners last year and the popular store closed soon after.

The new owners have now moved the restaurant to Highfields and expanded its offerings.

As well as selling pancakes, waffles and coffee, the restaurant now serves Japanese food such as dumplings, noodles and sushi.

Centro Bar and Restaurant

Toowoomba's Central Plaza Apartment Hotel has opened a restaurant on Ruthven St.

Centro has been a number of different restaurants in the past, but now the kitchen is being used for room service for the hotel.

It is also open to the public for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks.

Zack's

Located on the ground floor of the new Burke and Wills, Zack's offers a modern and stylish cuisine.

Its modern Australian menu features  fresh produce, char-grilled steaks, crispy skin Salmon, lunch specials and more.

It opened back in May.

Subway franchisees Hazel and Mark Johnstone are proud Toowoomba is the site of a new-look Subway at The Intersection, on the corner of Alderley and Ruthven Sts, complete with a drive through service, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Picture: Kevin Farmer

New look Subway

Toowoomba welcomed Australia's first new-look Subway store back in June.

The new sandwich bar at the Intersection on Ruthven St also features a new menu, which includes items such as buffalo chicken, carved turkey and ham, a falafel sandwich, an ancient grain malted rye bread, feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.

Uber Eats

Food delivery service Uber Eats finally launched in Toowoomba on June 20.

At the time of launch 36 of Toowoomba's top eateries signed up to deliver straight to your door.

PappaRich is opening at Grand Central.

PappaRich set to open

Award-winning Malaysian eatery chain PappaRich is set to open its first regional Queensland restaurant in Toowoomba this week.

PappaRich will open at Grand Central's restaurant precinct, next to Max Brenner on Friday, August 17.

Its menu includes a signature Nasi Lemak dish with strong fiery sambal, a chicken curry laksa with creamy spicy coconut broth, savoury satay and Char Koay Teow. It also caters for vegetarians.

The new logo for the Florence, which used for be called The Office. Picture: Contributed

The Florence opens

New Toowoomba pup The Florence opened in the space that used to be known as The Office last month.

The new pub offers similar food and drink to the former venue, but has been taken over by new owners.

Originally published as 20 restaurants and cafes that have opened this year