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.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we’ve always believed in celebrating the little things—great food, better coffee, and time well spent. And now, we’re adding one more reason to make the most of your day: Happy Hour is coming soon.

What’s the Deal?

Every day, from 11am to 12pm, you’ll be able to enjoy:

• $13 cocktails

• $8 house beer or wine
  ...with the purchase of any signature dish or big side.

This isn’t just any promo—it’s your midday permission slip to indulge, reset, or celebrate the everyday in style.

Running a Surry Hills café sounds dreamy—sunny mornings, specialty coffee, vibrant brunch plates and chats with locals. But ask anyone behind the scenes, and they’ll tell you—it’s also a whole lot of spreadsheets, scheduling, and showing up when you least expect it.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we’re proud to be one of the best cafes in Sydney not just because of our food and coffee, but because of what happens behind the curtain. Here's a peek into a typical week in my world as the owner.

At Dad and the Frog Café, our Crispy Hash Browns aren’t just another side dish. They are the dish. Ask anyone in our community—locals, tourists, brunch lovers—and you’ll likely hear the same thing: “You have to try the hash browns.”

Why? Because we’ve spent years perfecting them. Literally.

Despite (or maybe because of) our quirks, we’ve become a local favourite. Why?

Our coffee is really, really good. Smooth, strong, specialty-grade — just the way it should be.

The food is thoughtful and fresh, with house-made sauces, relishes and fermented goods that make every dish pop.

Service is warm and efficient — we’ll remember your order if you come in twice.

The atmosphere is laid back, a little eclectic, and totally welcoming.

Our outdoor seating is perfect on sunny days, and we’ve got five-star pram parking (shout out to the locals with little ones).

It’s a moment of escapism, without having to leave the neighbourhood.

In the fast-paced world of hospitality, it’s easy to get caught up in the grind—serving lattes, plating brunch, making lunch magic happen. But at Dad and the Frog Café in Surry Hills, we believe that the real growth happens when we pause and listen. Whether it’s a customer telling us they loved their brekkie roll or a team member pointing out where a process could be smoother, we take feedback seriously. Why? Because it helps us stay one of the best cafes in Surry Hills—not just for the coffee, but for the experience too.

Running a café means more than just serving stellar coffee, delicious breakfast, and lazy brunch in a cosy Surry Hills setting. It means managing real human moments—like when someone walks through your doors already having a rough day, or when something doesn’t meet their expectations.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we know that even the best cafes will, from time to time, face complaints. And here’s the truth: while the customer isn’t always right, how you respond is always your responsibility.

Sometimes the best moments aren’t on the weekend—they’re right in the middle of a Wednesday. At Dad and the Frog Café, we’ve created a little local sanctuary in the heart of Surry Hills for those easy weekday meet-ups that feel like a big exhale.

Winter doesn’t mean hiding indoors. At Dad and the Frog Café, we’re turning the chill season into your new favourite brunch vibe with our sun-soaked alfresco dining. Located on Farnell Street, our corner of Surry Hills gets the kind of golden midday light that makes you want to stay for one more coffee—or maybe a cheeky cocktail.

Whether you're catching up with friends, powering through a creative workday, or just pausing to soak up some much-needed Vitamin D, our dog-friendly outdoor seating is made for lingering.

If you've ever sat through a team meeting with a soggy sandwich and a stale muffin, you’re not alone. Corporate catering has a bit of a reputation — and not a good one. You know how most corporate catering is boring and lacks options, which can make people feel underappreciated and unmotivated? At Dad & the Frog we believe food should not just feed, it should nourish.

That’s why we’ve created a corporate catering menu that’s full of colour, creativity, and care. Everything is made fresh, in-house, and designed to suit real people with real dietary needs — not just the average office tray.

There’s something quietly magical about Surry Hills in winter. The air is crisp, the sun hangs low, and the streets are bathed in long golden shadows. Leafy trees sway over converted warehouses and hidden laneways, each corner begging to be photographed. And through it all, the aroma of specialty coffee and sizzling brunches draws you into the warm heart of Surry Hills café culture.

At Dad and the Frog Café, we’ve always believed in serving up more than just incredible coffee and crave-worthy brunch. We’re your local go-to café in Surry Hills for a warm welcome, fresh ideas, and delicious food made with care. And now, we’re adding a little extra sparkle to your mid-morning: a daily happy hour from 11am to 12pm – starting this winter and getting you warmed up for the summer ahead.

At Dad and the Frog Café, building a strong team means more than filling shifts. We look for team members with potential—not just to do the job, but to lead with care, purpose, and initiative.

From our FOH manager to our kitchen team, we foster leadership qualities across all roles. Yes, there’s a hierarchy in place—myself as the owner, then our department leads, followed by their respective teams—but what drives our culture is shared responsibility and empowerment.

When we first opened the doors to Dad and the Frog Café, it was just a tiny 12 seat space serving locals their morning coffee and a quick bite. We kept prices low, thinking it would give people the “best deal.” But here’s the truth, it left us with little room to grow or improve.

Eventually, we asked ourselves: What does it actually mean to be the best cafe in Surry Hills? The answer wasn’t about being the cheapest, it was about giving our guests an experience they’d want to return to.