Running a café as parents changes the way you think about hospitality. At Dad and the Frog Café, we’ve built a local hub in Surry Hills where families feel genuinely welcome—from pram parking to kid-friendly nooks to water bowls for your four-legged bestie. If you’re searching for a Surry Hills cafe that nails breakfast, brunch, coffee, and a relaxed lunch, you’re in the right place.

When the sun hits Fitzroy Street, our little corner of Surry Hills wakes up fast. At Dad and the Frog Café, breakfast isn’t rushed—it’s your moment to breathe. Whether you’re grabbing coffee on the way to Moore Park or settling in for a relaxed brunch, we’ve built a local cafe that feels like your spot.

If you’ve ever dreamed of opening a cafe but don’t have a big budget for a fit-out, the good news is that you don’t need deep pockets to get started. At Dad and the Frog Café in Surry Hills, we’ve learned that success doesn’t come from flashy furniture — it comes from focus. With the right approach, you can still create a place people will call their new favourite spot for coffee, breakfast, brunch, and lunch.

Running a café isn’t just about brewing the perfect coffee or serving up a dreamy brunch. It’s about the people behind the counter, the culture that shapes their day, and the consistency that makes every guest feel at home. At Dad and the Frog Café in Surry Hills, we’ve learned that when you start scaling a café, the biggest challenge isn’t your menu it’s your people.

This September only, every catering order over $300 comes with a FREE medium fruit platter—bright, fresh, and ready to raisin the bar. Consider it our way of saying “you’re the zest.”

Parenting is hard enough, sleepless nights, unpredictable routines, and the constant juggle of adjusting to your infant’s ever-changing body clock. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is stop, reset, and give yourself a moment to breathe. That’s where we come in.

When people ask us what makes Dad and the Frog Café special, I always say it’s more than just the food and coffee—it’s the feeling. We’ve built a café in Surry Hills where every visit feels like you’re part of a neighbourhood community.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we’ve always believed a great cafe experience is more than just food and coffee—it’s about community. Being a local regular comes with its own set of perks, and our Surry Hills café is designed with you in mind. Whether you’re here for breakfast, brunch, or lunch, you’ll quickly see why so many call us their go-to spot.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we believe every great experience has a recipe. For us, it starts with a corner location that catches the sun and the leafy charm of Surry Hills. Add in alfresco dining surrounded by greenery, a menu full of house-made goodness, and a team that knows how to make you feel at home—and you’ve got more than just a café. You’ve got a neighbourhood staple.

When people ask what keeps guests coming back to our café in Surry Hills, the answer often comes down to one thing: our crispy hash browns. They’ve been on the menu since the early days of Dad and the Frog Café, evolving through many variations before settling into the version you know today.

What makes them special? They’re completely handmade in-house—shredded potatoes pressed into shape, fried until golden, and seasoned just right. The crunch gives way to a fluffy, moist centre, striking the perfect balance every time.

Spring in Sydney is always special, but this year it feels extra exciting. With the Sydney Marathon bringing thousands of runners and visitors from around the globe, our little corner in Surry Hills is buzzing again. As a registered local business with the City of Sydney, we’re proud to be part of this international event and even prouder to welcome new and familiar faces through our doors.

Why Dad and the Frog Café is Your Spring Go-To

We’re just minutes from Moore Park, making us the ideal spot to start or end your walk. Dog walkers love our pet-friendly outdoor dining, parents appreciate our pram-friendly setup, and local office workers escape here for a lunch that feels like a mini holiday.

Our menu has something for every mood – from breakfast classics to colourful salads and wraps, all paired with specialty coffee from Madding Crowd Roasters

Small Batch, Big Flavour

At Dad and the Frog Café, coffee isn’t just part of the menu — it’s part of our identity. That’s why we’re excited to now serve coffee from Madding Crowd Coffee Roasters, a Sydney-based small-batch roaster you’ll only find in a select few cafés and coffee shops.

Their signature blend, The Destroyer, is sweet, clean on the palate, and so easy to drink that it’s a little bit dangerous. Because Madding Crowd roasts in smaller quantities, they don’t face the scaling challenges of larger roasters. Every batch is precise, fresh, and full of flavour.

Spring in Surry Hills means warmer days, longer afternoons, and a whole lot more colour on our plates. At Dad and the Frog Café, we’ve rolled out our new spring/summer menu, packed with fresh flavours and vibrant ingredients. Whether you’re here for breakfast, brunch, or lunch, our dishes are designed to be light, nourishing, and full of seasonal produce, perfect for those sunny days in our alfresco dining area.

We’re looking forward to the warm spring weather that makes a coffee taste even better. With the sunny forecast ahead, Dad and the Frog Café is ready to welcome you to our outdoor dining space one of Surry Hills’ favourite spots for relaxed breakfasts, brunch dates, or lingering lunches.

Our leafy alfresco area, surrounded by plants and covered in natural light, is perfect for everything from a casual meeting to a solo wind-down session. The fresh air, great food, and specialty coffee is exactly what this weather calls for.

If your team is asking the same questions day after day — or delivering inconsistent service — it's not a people problem. It’s a systems problem.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we built our Barista and Front-of-House (FOH) manuals not to micromanage, but to empower. These guides are the backbone of our customer experience — helping us deliver high standards without relying on memory or guesswork.

Here’s exactly what’s inside our manuals, and why you need one too.

How to Create Simple, Effective SOPs for Your Team

As a café owner, your days are full. But when something starts to slip — a KPI, customer experience, food costs — the question isn’t “What’s wrong?” It’s “Where’s the system?”

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) aren’t just a formality — they’re your most powerful tool to identify problems, correct them, and grow sustainably.

Here’s how we do it at Dad and the Frog Café.

The Real Cost of Doing Everything Yourself in a Café

There’s a cost to doing everything yourself — and it’s far more than just money.

I used to believe that by doing the jobs no one else wanted to do — mopping the floor, cleaning the dishwasher, placing the orders, serving the tables — I was setting the standard. Leading by example. Holding the business together.

But the truth is, I was holding it back.

You Will Always Be the Bottleneck — Until You Choose Not To Be

That’s the hard truth. If you don’t believe your leadership, strategy, and vision are valuable, no one else will. Your team will follow your energy. Your growth will match your belief in yourself.

Systemising your café isn’t just about checklists or training manuals — it starts with mindset. It starts with understanding that your job is to build something that doesn’t rely on you.

If you're always on the floor, you're not building a business — you're building a job. And chances are, it's a job you're underpaying yourself for.

Why Doesn’t My Team Work As Hard As Me?

Spoiler: They Might — They Just Need Better Tools

When I first opened Dad and the Frog Café, I wore every hat — chef, barista, dishwasher, people pleaser. It felt like I was carrying the whole business on my back. I remember standing behind the coffee machine thinking, why doesn’t anyone else hustle like I do?

Eventually, I realised it wasn’t about motivation — it was about clarity.