Cafes with outdoor seating in Sydney

Cafes with outdoor seating in Sydney, ranked

1. #1Lime Espresso and Sandwich Bar for a fast weekday breakfast

   $Outdoor seating🌳 Wynyard Park, 7 min walk

   Lime Espresso & Sandwich Bar opens at 5am on weekdays and closes at 3pm, so it suits an early start. Order the omelette with three eggs and no cheese, or a toasted sandwich that comes out fast. Vanilla latte is the coffee customers ask for, and decaf is on offer. Wynyard Park sits about seven minutes on foot from the door. Catering is a big part of the business, with pastry boxes and sandwich platters for offices.

   Best for: Weekday breakfast with a quick turnaround

2. #2Miss Carter Cafe for a sit-down breakfast before work

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Hyde Park South, 4 min walk

   Miss Carter Cafe is a small, busy spot on Castlereagh Street with outside tables. Breakfast is the main event, and the porridge is well made. The ham and cheese sandwich with mustard earns a mention as one of the best of its kind. A glass cabinet holds ready-made lunches for less than $10. Hyde Park South is a short stroll away, about four minutes on foot, which makes a coffee and a brownie an easy start to the day.

   Best for: Sit-down breakfast with a strong coffee

3. #3Joe Black Cafe for big breakfasts and coffee art

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Harmony Park, 3 min walk

   Joe Black Cafe on Commonwealth Street has been trading since 2004 and seats guests in a snug room. The big breakfast arrives generously sized, and its soft-boiled egg sits on a rich meat sauce. Coffee drinkers come back for the coffee art and a matcha latte that is not too sweet. Staff will talk you through the beans. Harmony Park is three minutes away on foot.

   Best for: Big breakfasts and small groups

4. #4Bomonti Cafe and Restaurant for a relaxed family brunch

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Wynyard Park, 6 min walk

   Bomonti Cafe & Restaurant on York Street is a table-service room with heated seats out front. Burgers and chips, bowls and smashed avocado on brioche make up the bulk of the choices. One visitor found both bowls, the Burrito and the Mediterranean, fresh and filling. An iced matcha latte drew praise from another customer. Wynyard Park is roughly six minutes' walk, and children get their own menu.

   Best for: Family brunch on the terrace

5. #5Margot Espresso for an oat milk coffee before a park walk

   $🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Wynyard Park, 2 min walk

   Margot Espresso is a small espresso bar on Margaret Street, close to Wynyard Park. Oat milk coffees are the order here, and several coffee drinkers rank the espresso as the best in the CBD. Bags of Margot beans sit on the counter for sale. The food is light, with vegetarian and gluten free choices, so pair it with a coffee rather than a full meal. Dogs can sit at the outside tables.

   Best for: Oat milk coffee and a dog at the outside tables

6. #6Cafe Taza for an omelette and avocado toast

   $$🐕 Dogs outsideOutdoor seating🌳 Hyde Park, 3 min walk

   Cafe Taza - Sydney CBD sits on Castlereagh Street, with footpath tables beneath an arcade. The omelette with toast and the avocado toast, topped with cherry tomatoes, feta and balsamic, are the two plates to try. A cold brew, paired with a sesame bagel, is the coffee pick. One diner says the kitchen handled special dietary needs. Hyde Park is roughly three minutes away, and the footpath seats take dogs.

   Best for: Omelettes and a stop before Hyde Park

7. #7Barista v.s Chef for a sit-down lunch downtown

   $$Outdoor seating🌳 Wynyard Park, 2 min walk

   Barista v.s Chef serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays, with covered tables outside. Regulars come for the shakshouka, which one visitor found nicely spiced, with a good texture. A lentil salad topped with a poached egg is the lighter option. Coffee earns praise for being full of flavour, and a jumbo coffee at $6.20 is good value for the city. Wynyard Park is a short walk, about two minutes on foot.

   Best for: Sit-down lunch with covered outdoor tables

8. #8Skittle Lane Circular Quay for takeaway flat whites and beans

   $Outdoor seating🌳 Jessie Street Gardens, 1 min walk

   Skittle Lane Circular Quay is a small coffee shop on Loftus Lane, about a minute from Jessie Street Gardens. Space is tight, with only a few seats inside and a couple of benches outside, so most orders leave with the customer. The flat white is the drink to get, and the shop sells its beans by the bag. The menu is short, mostly breakfast and a few pastries. One visitor singled out the hot chocolate.

   Best for: Takeaway coffee and beans near Circular Quay

Compare cafes with outdoor seating in Sydney

The table below sets out price, brunch, outdoor seating, dogs and weekend hours for each cafe, with the nearest park beside it.

How we picked cafes with outdoor seating in Sydney

Cafes are ordered by how well customers speak of them, weighted by how many have shared a view. Each one was then checked for this page's topic: outdoor tables, what is on the menu, and the coffee. Each pick is shown with its nearest park, its hours and what to order. Cafes that qualified but did not make the list are not shown here.