Shingle Inn

Once our tour was over it was time for coffee and cake in the oldest café in Brisbane. It was like going back in time coffee and cake was yum but the seating was a little uncomfortable it was like being in very small church pews. What was funny is that we were probably the youngest in the café, other than the staff, there were so many grey haired people.

In 1936 David Webster and Sons built the original Shingle Inn on Edward Street in Brisbane as part of their large chain of cafés, with a vision for Shingle Inn to be an elegant English style teahouse and restaurant, one that would be renowned for its quality products and keen sense of style. Shingle Inn quickly developed an enviable reputation with locals, and the venue became a busy landmark, with queues to buy the famous cakes regularly stretching out the door and around the corner. In the early 1970s, Shingle Inn was facing abandonment, but in 1975 the Bellchambers family, who continue to operate Shingle Inn, took ownership.

On August 3 2002, Shingle Inn closed its doors to the city that had shown it only love and loyalty since its first day of trading in the Autumn of 1936 for the last time. The Bellchambers family had been forced to shut up shop due to redevelopment. The city of Brisbane was devastated, and the decision was made to keep the spectacular interior in storage until their beloved restaurant could be reopened, ensuring every detail of the fit-out was catalogued and photographed when the time came to put the pieces back together.

On June 4 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed, gifting the original store fit-out to the people of Brisbane, to be restored within another Brisbane icon, City Hall, allowing future generation to experience the grandeur of Shingle Inn.Read more