Year in review: The exciting North Queensland businesses that opened in 2024
From the biggest buffet everyone’s talking about to an old favourite returned and burgers that bite — it’s been a fantastic year for businesses who sprung up all over North Queensland. Check out our highlights for 2024.
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Looking back on a busy 2024, North Queenslanders have celebrated the opening of numerous new business ventures, which have added to the liveability in our region.
While there’s too many new businesses to mention them all, the Townsville Bulletin has pulled together 12 of the highlights.
Twin City Hotel’s The Buffet
Lured by the prospect of sampling dozens of dishes from around the world in a buffet-style format, thousands of curious diners have seized the opportunity to check out the latest section to open at the Twin City Hotel.
Formerly Sunland Plaza shopping centre in Thuringowa Central, the Star Hotels Group’s $50 million Twin City Hotel is a contender for Australia’s largest pub, progressively opening burger joint The Garage, Star Liquor’s largest warehouse, a gaming room, Herveys Cafe, and the Downtown Bar and Kitchen, over the past year.
Arguably the jewel in the hotel’s crown, The Buffet threw open its doors in October, welcoming a stampede of more than 4500 hungry patrons in less than a week.
With seating for over 400 guests, The Buffet has over 80 dishes, ranging from modern Aussie classics, Asian, Indian, Italian, to an extensive dessert bar, and the fan favourite Sushi train.
The Buffet is a godsend for NQ diners pining for a buffet to fill the void left by the Sizzler Restaurant chain, while it has also kickstarted an employment bonanza for over 150 locals.
Pier Pods on the Water
A dramatic transformation has breathed new life into Townsville’s former Pier Restaurant, which will opened in September as an innovative accommodation experience called the Pier Pods on the Water.
The Sir Leslie Thiess Dr hotspot now hosts 51 luxurious self-contained sleeping pods, where guests on a tight budget can bask in stunning 270-degree views of Breakwater Marina, Castle Hill and Magnetic Island.
The new venture is the brainchild of Townsville local Steve Hammant, who lives in the Breakwater Marina and often wondered why the Pier had sat vacant since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Through his research into space-saving designs, he discovered the Japanese idea of capsule hostels, which were starting to pop up in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and Perth.
He paid $850,000 to purchase the building last August before spending “every single cent” he had on renovations worth an estimated $700,000, to transform the venue into a “flashpackers” with large new windows, exterior lighting, high-speed Wi-fi, fully equipped co-working spaces and pods with a 60-guest capacity.
Pizza Riviera “superstore”
After 35 productive years of winning the hearts of Townsville’s pizza lovers and taking out multiple best pizza competitions, the next exciting chapter has begun for Pizza Riviera at its new Hermit Park “superstore”.
More than a million dollars has been spent transforming a former-tyre shop at 270 Charters Towers Rd into Pizza Riviera’s new Hermit Park store – which relocated a couple of hundred metres from its original location at 192 Charters Towers Rd.
Opened in early December, the superstore features a modern pizza shop, licensed outdoor dining, function space, arcade room, and an express pick-up lane.
Leading the business’ expansion into the larger premises is Pizza Rivieria managing director Harry Crawford, who took over the business from its retiring former-owner Frank Guglielmino in early 2023.
“It not only has a modern, much more efficient and nicer pizza shop side, but it also has a second building on the site which is going to have a small outdoor dining area, big screen for footy, an event space, and an (airconditioned) arcade room for family entertainment and birthday parties,” Mr Crawford said.
Mr Crawford also co-founded Townsville’s popular The Spirited Goat restaurants, which opened a new venue on The Strand in April.
Clements Medical Veterans’ Hub
A Townsville doctor familiar with the challenges facing Australian Defence Force members transitioning from military to civilian life has opened a veteran focused health hub, along with a medical practice which has attracted Charters Towers’ first CT scanner.
Dr Michael Clements served in the Royal Australian Air Force for 13 years as a doctor and pilot, including deployments in the Middle East and Afghanistan, before being posted to Townsville in 2010, and opening his first medical practice at Fairfield Central in 2015.
In the decade since, Dr Clements has harnessed his lived experience to support local ADF members, building up the Clements Medical Group to become the largest network of GPs in North Queensland, with practices at Magnetic Island, Townsville CBD, Idalia, and Charters Towers.
Located at The Precinct in Shop 3, 9-13 Kokoda St, the Clements Medical Veterans’ Hub opened in September, offering specialised support for the defence force community.
“It’s going to be focusing on supporting veterans in their transition and claims processes through the (Department of Veterans’ Affairs) and also psychological and social therapy services … consultation based work,” Dr Clements said.
He also teamed up with fellow doctors to launch Clements Medical Charters Towers this year.
Courty Hotel
A new owner for Charters Towers’ historic Court House Hotel has paved the way for several exciting changes, including a new name, plenty more live music, a courtesy bus, beer garden, and a craft brewery.
Fondly known by many locals as Irish Molly’s after an Australian/Irish themed renovation, the Court House Hotel was renamed as the Courty Hotel in late September.
Its new owner, Airlie Beach resident Mark McPherson spent years perfecting five different beer recipes in his private brewery, with the goal of buying a pub and opening a craft beer brewery.
“I wanted to make sure that the pub was friendly, had big, hearty meals, and heaps of entertainment,” Mr McPherson said.
“My next project here is doing a big, family-friendly beer garden, and then build a little craft brewery out in the backyard, keeping all of the front half of the pub as is, serving the normal beers … and half a dozen (craft beer) taps.”
A huge fan of live music, he intended to provide entertainment on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with midweek gigs, and to operate a shuttle bus to pick up and drop off patrons.
The Vault Townsville
Whether you love grabbing a microphone to belt out karaoke, or you fancy yourself as a musical trivia buff, an exciting new Townsville business has got you covered.
Continuing the musical traditions of businesses occupying the Townsville building at 232-234 Flinders St – most recently the relocated Lux Noir – The Vault Townsville is a fun new CBD bar that celebrated its grand opening in November.
Founded by Ryan Domingue, and backed by Lux Noir’s Stuart and Debbie Read, The Vault will be an irresistible lure for the city’s thriving karaoke scene every Friday and Saturday, while music trivia was planned for Thursday nights.
With 15 years experience DJing, hosting musical trivia, and karaoke, Mr Domingue at the Read’s suggestion of launching a business aligned with his passions, in their former-premises.
“(The Vault is) focused on karaoke but we’re still doing events. You can hire it privately, and I want to do holiday events,” Mr Domingue said.
He said the Vault would give people heading into town a “little cerebral engagement” with his music trivia Audiolympics.
Slice of Europe
A vacant shop in Ayr has come alive with European delicacies after Mary Wegert took the plunge into small business with ‘Slice of Europe’.
Originally from Ayr, Mrs Wegert has spent the last 28 years living in South-East QLD and Melbourne where she got to experience a diverse food culture.
“I’ve just come back from doing five years in Melbourne and there are delis all the way around that town and I loved the atmosphere they had,” Mrs Wegert said.
“I think the Burdekin has space for a shop that has no coffee, no seats or tables, it’s just an old fashioned deli.”
Mrs Wegert said her aim is to stock hard-to-find foods from places like Italy, Greece, Germany and Spain.
“I’ve already got the shopping list, and we’re going to have a lot of salami, cheese, hams, oils and grocery goods,” she said.
“I’m also really excited to sell sugared almonds, which no one has got around there. They are from Italy and are a traditional wedding food. They can have chocolate in them or pistachio cream, and I’m going all out and getting 20 different flavours.”
WholeLife Pharmacy and Healthfoods
It was a tough slog, but the $8 million Belgian Gardens Health Hub is back on its feet and better than ever after recovering from devastating post-cyclone fire earlier this year.
First opened at 23 Bundock St in August 2023, the power was severed to the hub for three days following Tropical Cyclone Kirrily’s impact on Townsville.
When it was restored on January 28, a fire began in the pharmacy’s label machine, doing extensive smoke damage to the building costing an estimated $3-4 million.
Belgian Gardens Health Hub director and owner Ash Agaibey worked hard with his insurer and local tradespeople to restore the building to its prior pristine condition.
One of the silver linings to come from the rebuilding process was the merging of a spare space in the hub with the pharmacy, clearing the way for a new WholeLife Pharmacy and Healthfoods business to take over from Amcal.
Wholelife is one of Townsville’s leading compounding pharmacies, offering over 12,000 health and wellness needs products.
“It’s a pharmacy, but it’s also a health food shop (offering), organic, gluten-free, fitness and supplement products, as well as the traditional pharmacy products,” he said.
Arcane Books
If the success of the sold-out inaugural Townsville Medieval and Fantasy Festival is anything to go by, North Queensland’s thriving subculture of fantasy fans and bookworms will be pulled like a tractor beam into an independent bookstore that opened in Kirwan in October.
Situated at 1/13 Tavern St, Arcane Books prides itself on being a “little bit different, a little bit weird, a little bit crazy, and a lot of fun”, stocking a wide range of genre specific titles in the realm of fantasy, romance, science fiction, young adult, and collector editions – leaning heavily into showcasing Australian titles and up-and-coming local authors.
Arcane Books also stocks a variety of teas sourced from the Townsville tea company, along with sleep masks, fans, 3D printed book nooks, tea cups, bookmarks, and “quirky little emotional support mushrooms, lattes, and nuggets”.
Preferring to dub herself a “book dragon” rather than a bookworm, Townsville mum Peta Weber said opening her own bookstore with the help of her husband Jason, was the realisation of her long-held dream stretching back to her childhood.
“I wanted to create an ambience and a destination for your book needs … where you can have a cup of tea while you’re looking and have a sit, and a chat, and meet other readers,” she said.
Marina Coffee
Whether it’s their exceptional coffee, waterfront view, or its now-famous crab sandwiches, Breakwater Marina is a new coffee shop that has united residents and enticed plenty of visitors into Townsville’s Breakwater Marina.
A resident in Mariners North Apartments for the last six years, Ron Barker decided that the people at Breakwater Marina peninsula needed a community-based hub for boaties, visitors and residents to meet over a drink and a meal.
He initially proposed a coffee cart to Breakwater Marina Townsville general manager Scott Marshall, who encouraged him to transform a recreation room overlooking the boats, which had stood empty for 23 years.
After signing a three year lease and spending over $160,000 to convert the space, Mr Barker officially opened Marina Coffee at Shop 1, 26 Mariners Drive, on July 1.
Within just three months, the venue was well on the way towards establishing itself as an iconic destination to satisfy crustacean cravings, selling its thousandth crab sanga.
“It is very hard to fathom the sale of more than 10 crab sandwiches a day since we opened. We have wanted something like this for years but had to travel north or south to get it, now we have finally made it,” he said.
Getta Betta Coffee + Burger
Whether you need a decent cup of coffee for the drive to work, or want to pick up a burger on your way home, a long-vacant restaurant and drive through at The Lakes has reactivated in December to meet those needs.
Once the site of Townsville’s Sizzler restaurant before it was demolished in 2019, the building on Attlee St, Currajong, was replaced with Mexican-themed Taco Bell fast food restaurant, which folded in May 2023.
Townsville residents were buzzing with speculation after a colourful transformation of the building’s exterior and signage, to prepare the way for a new Getta Betta Coffee + Burger store.
With its offering built around exceptional coffee and mouth-watering burgers, Getta Betta has grabbed the attention of North Queenslanders’ tastebuds with their Strand store, and two restaurant/ drive-thrus at the Precinct, Idalia, and Bamford Lane, Kirwan.
Getta Betta was created by Otto’s Fresh Food Market co-owners Rob Aumend and Don Peel, who combined Getta Burger and their Good Morning Coffee Trader brand to create a hybrid model capable of attracting customers for their breakfast caffeination right through to dinner.
Authentic flavours from the Mediterranean and Middle East have made a welcome return to Townsville after beloved restaurant Balabite officially reopened, years after its untimely closure.
With its homemade dishes bursting with a “mosaic of flavours”, Balabite’s casual street food struck a chord with foodies when it opened in 2019, but was forced to close in 2021 due to pandemic restrictions.
Repeatedly stopped on the street and asked by loyal customers whether the restaurant would reopen, business’ co-owners Dana Kvatinsky was excited to finally reopen their doors in June at a larger space in the North Ward Shopping Village Centre.
The culmination of months of hard work transforming the space next to the shopping centre’s entrance, the revitalised business features a larger indoor and outdoor dining area, along with a pita, hot meal, baking, and deli sections.
Open from brunch through to dinner, she said diners would be able to grab traditional favourites like hummus bowls, freshly made pitas or try their special of the day from the hot meal station.
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