Shady Palms Cafe & Bar

I liked it here. i rode to the city and back waiting to savour one of their coffees on the way home. i heard they had Allpress… that’s why I waited… coffee was awful… I’ve had better at work!..
Nice place tho… with an interesting selection of beers… it’s close to me so i might try a beer sometime.
I couldn’t write this place off just for one coffee I’d definitely try again.

We arrived early Sunday morning for breakfast and the staff invited us in and advised the best seats inside as the heater was on. We still had a nice cool breeze blowing in from the street. The coffee was top notch and service was quick and wait staff confident. Once our party of four arrived we all ordered breakfast which is done at the bar so no need to work out how to split the bill at the end. The vegetable shady was the choice of the group with the ladies unable to finish it off. Overall great little space can’t wait to go back in spring for lunch in the outdoor area.

I love the food here.
I love the atmosphere as aell. I have been here for breakfast and for after dinner drinks and have loved the vibe on both times.

My birthday celebration at Shady Palms yesterday was our first time here and we left with very mixed impressions of the place. It’s unlikely we will return or recommend the place to others.
The initial booking was great and the staff were very obliging to our needs for a large group. We had a lovely space out the back.
A couple of brief rain showers took away the sitting back and relaxing part of the lunch gathering. On booking we had been told if it rained we would be able to move undercover… which I think meant just shuffle around your people, tables and seats until you all fit under the umbrella and not come inside as we expected. Not really to my liking to have such little space to move a group in a place such as Brisbane that has a tendency to rain at the most inopportune times. I certainly don’t expect weather to be controlled but I would prefer to know the type of outdoor shelter to make a more informed decision during ominous weather.
The skewer meal hubby and I shared was delicious. The pickles, pork belly and chimmi beef were top notch. The cornbread though was more like a savoury muffin from muffin break and nothing like the cornbread we recently ate much of throughout the Southern States of America. Sadly we did not like the Huli Huli chicken at all. The flavour was not quite there and we found it very dry and bland. For personal preference I now know I also don’t like watermelon with my savoury meal.
Others in my party said
Waldorf — delicious, brisket burger — great, cheeseburger — awesome, dirty fries — yum
Everyone agreed the Sliders were expensive and unsatisfying.
The cocktails definitely need some fine tuning especially the whiskey sours which were just not quite right.
Overall the staff were super friendly.
But other than smiles and good manners service was a bit hit and miss with some moments when staff didn’t want to check orders or the menu when people queried and thought they’d been provided the wrong dish. There was also chaos ordering at the counter with different people being put together on the same order causing confusion for paying.
The final cruncher for us was the desserts. After picking the Shady Palms based on the Internet dessert menu and opting not to bring our own birthday cake with such great choices we were massively disappointed. NONE of the items on the Internet menu were on the menu when we got there let alone the specific desserts we had gone there for. And to top it off the desserts we did have, banana waffles and p&j toasted sandwich were both terrible… especially the peanut butter and jam nastiness.

A foreword: I’ve had nothing but good lunches here (polenta chips will change your life; but they will be very hot, so have a little self control and just chill for once in your life), this is just an unfortunate tale of breakfast.
It was a stormy Brisbane day, but the kind of stormy where the weather just can’t make up it’s mind. It’s important to note this was a 9:30 breakfast important. Walking into shady palms, there was clearly inadequate seating for the weather, with only a small amount of seating available in front room which is the only room with adequate ventilation and no moisture on the floor, seats or table. So we found a seat out the back. Unfortunately on a share table, but that’s another story all together.
After deciding what to order we reached the awkwardness of how we keep our table and order at the same time. The lady that served us was frankly rude (she kept asking me questions I just didn’t know how to answer!!)
A milkshake and pancakes was on the card. Unfortunately, the milkshake was close to room temperature, which is always a shame.
My pancakes took 45 minutes to reach the table, and by that time I had finished my milky so I had a tummy full of milk and was decidedly not very hungry. A 9:30 breakfast had turned into an 11 o’clock breakfast. Such a shame.
I couldn’t finish my pancakes. So I left shady palms disappointed and frankly unsatisfied about what my morning had become. Had I wasted prime morning stomach space on a ill-​temperatured milkshake?
So my advice, head to shady palms for lunch, or perhaps dinner– grab some sliders and some polenta chips and try not to compare yourself to the waitstaff– they’ll always be cooler than you.
But ily shady palms, maybe next time.

I’ve only been here evenings, so can’t comment on the breakfast, which others say is very good.
Evenings and nights this place has going for it a balmy back patio and a great selection of beers. The bar-​food is no better than alright, and overpriced. The crowd is a bit too hipster for my taste – I had the wrong kind of beard.

The long awaited and anticipated DEATH BENEDICT!
I legit found this online about 3 months ago and have been trying to plot my way over there since then. I finally made the trek early one morning before work on my way to Carindale.
The description: pulled pork shoulder empanada’s, southern style grilled ham, Crispy kale, poached eggs, tomato salsa & hollandaise sauce.
How could eggs benedict get any better? Oh, cuz I was sitting in their little outdoor garden area in the sun, that’s how :)
I do want to try their okra and fennel fritters, but if I go back I don’t know if I’ll be able to turn down the death benny!

When I walk into this beautiful indie-​pop/​grungey bar, i notice a floral chair against the wall with my name on it. I order: ‘For the Love of Tea’, chilli chai (brought to you from Byron Bay). Amazing. It’s different, and yes, a little bit hot. It was lovely. Enough noise to remind you that you’re not at home, but not too much to stop me from reading 4 chapters of a new book.
All i can think now is «Woah. I forget how much I love this place! Amazing atmosphere. Cool staff. Great chilli chai.»

I cannot believe I am shaving my review down to two stars after tonight. Worst experience of customer service that I have probably had in my life and now I’m bitter. First of all turn down your damn music. You have a tiny space and I don’t need to be made to feel like I’m standing inside a speaker while Metallica are shredding for their lives. If you’re heading out with friends and planning on having a conversation this isn’t the place. Not unless you want to be wailing at them while sitting a mere foot from them. Any louder and I wouldn’t have been able to hear my own thoughts. Now that thats out of the way I can focus on the appalling customer service from some of your staff. We arrive at 7 knowing damn well that it’s going to be packed. We’re okay with this. We’ve been here enough times to expect a wait. We’ve been here in busier times and waited half an hour. That is reasonable. I can get with that. What I cannot get with is waiting over an hour for one. 9 of us were huddled around a table for 4 after telling several waitstaff that we required the next available table with more than 4 seats. They milled around for 30 minutes and nothing. Then they escorted us to the back patio area saying they had a table that would be available momentarily. We all pile on to two couches surrounding a tiny coffee table to wait for the available table we were promised which was the same size as the one we had just been escorted from. And these people made it very clear they had not intention of leaving anytime soon. So back to the front we go. I’m fed up at this stage and I’m standing outside calling local restaurants to see if there is anyone that can fit us in when my friend calls me back inside saying she’s got a table. After one hour we are finally seated through NO assistance from the staff. My friends had to grab the other 4 person table that had become free and move it themselves to join the other one. I’m completely pissed at this stage and I’ve hit level 10 on the hangry scale. We order our food which comes out pretty swiftly (and so it ought to) and it’s pretty good. No where near worth a one hour wait. But we know the food is good here. That’s why we’re regulars. And the food is what earned you back one star. The other star goes to one of your bartenders who was a complete sweetheart and the only saving grace of this entire night. I should also mention that when we made our displeasure known to your waitress and the manager as we were leaving they told us that we should ‘expect these kinds of waits’ in this kind of establishment and that ‘we tried really hard to get you a table’
Sorry Shady’s but now when I think of you a particular Dandy Warhols song comes to mind. A long time ago we used to be friends. You won’t be seeing us again.

My wife and I visited on Sunday night with our 3 year old son.
The lovely lady at the counter gave us Fred Flintstone as a table number and brought over a box of chalk for my son to vandalise their furniture.
There was a nice Sunday session atmosphere in the air, but not the drunken ones I remember from going to the Normanby in my younger years.
Unfortunately, we sat outside on the north side of the building, we must have sat near a drain, there were unpleasant wafts of fart in the breeze, but not enough to ruin our appetites though.
The food was fantastic, everything on the menu looked delicious, the worst part was deciding.
I settled for a soft shell crab burger, after about 20 minutes the food arrived all at once, it was delicious and crispy and was served with hand made salt and vinegar crisps.
My wife ordered a Po boy, which looked like a cross between a sub and a roast pork roll. She complained about her tasteless lemon, lime and bitters, I tried the soda water with a dash of colour and I had to agree, It was bad, my beer was tasty though.
We also ordered a side of fries, they were as think as a my sons wrist, sort of a chip /​wedge hybrid with a hint of habanero, they had a rustic homemade taste to them.
We will definitely go back and bring some friends, we won’t be sitting outside though.

Shady Palms has a great feel about it. I love the décor and the space and there is a lovely breeze that flows through. We had the pork tacos which were a little bland and a range of sliders that were tasty enough but missing something special. I would definitely bring friends here for a fun night but I wouldn’t make a trip just for the food.

Love the food, coffee and décor, however on the few times I have come here to get a takeaway coffee the line up to order and pay is diabolical. There is a POS machine at the bar, so why not have it open to process takeaway orders, while people who don’t know what they want to eat line up to order meals.

Shady Palms is a great addition to the stones corner scene. I recently visited for a client meeting so I can happily say that I got to sample a few different items without costing me a dime!
Food wise we went a couple of rows of sliders. I wet for the pork and chicken and was thoroughly impressed by both. These were washed done with a nice ale and their chips didn’t disappoint either.
With both indoor, outdoor and out the back seating this is certainly a good place to come chill out and relax with friends.

Love this place! Super chilled out space with great food. Very easy to spend a few more hours than planned at the Shady Palms.

Any place that serves fairy floss for breakfast gets my vote. A great place for food made from local produce, so while you might feel guilty about the French toast you can ease your conscience about your food’s source. Good coffee, though a little stronger than I’d usually take it, so if that’s your thing have at it.
Lunch here is pretty good too. It’s soul food, hippie style. Grab an organic, gluten-​free okra soft taco or a pulled pork slider. Pull up a mismatched stool and sip on your boozy ice tea as you watch Stones Corner go about their business.
Don’t get put-​off by the counter service… it’s totally worth it to strut back to your table with Bob Marley as your table number.
I’m still dying to try the pomegranate-​jewell-​encrusted kale salad, so I’ll be back again soon. Recommended if you’re keen to try something different to the norm surrounded by kitsch 70s décor.

On one of my antsy-​feeling weekends, I decided to visit Shady Palms, a tropical atmospheric relative of Lady Marmalade. I had a difficult time deciding between the pulled pork tacos and the special, which was a smoked salmon with zucchini fritters, poached eggs, and crème fraîche. I also decided to calorie splurge and ordered the salted caramel milkshake (6.5), which was oh-​so-​delicious! It was smooth, not too milky, and not to sweet for a milkshake.
I really enjoyed my breakfast, as the chunks of medium-​well smoked salmon complemented the saltier zucchini fritters (they were a bit too salty). The poached eggs also balanced out the saltiness of the fritters, and the crème fraîche was surprisingly a tasteful addition. Overall, I was quite impressed with the food and the ambience of Shady Palms. It really does live up to its name, giving off a tropical, laid-​back vibe. Most of the staff are friendly, though the girl at the counter that day was not, and they seem understaffed. The food took a while to come, and the staff seemed to be running around the whole time…

Having heard good things, the girl and I ventured down to Shady Palms for Breakfast.
It’s like a café from Byron bay dropped out of the sky and settled into Stones Corner. Dreadlocked Baristas, mismatched chairs and benches, and a really laid back atmosphere. The menu is amazingly varied, and not your expected faire.
With breakfast tacos sitting alongside Spiced Pumpkin & ricotta pancakes with peach fairy floss. Good coffees and really lovely wait staff.
The space isn’t heated, so it can get chilly, but there’s granny blankets available, all pretty funky.
Your table ‘number’ is a person from history, or hilariously, a ridiculous internet meme. «Cappuccino for Grumpy Cat»
We’ll be back, probably to try the sliders at lunch.

Shady Palms is the little Big Sister to Lady Marmalade. I say Big Sister because although this is the second venue for the owners of Lady M just up the road, Shady Palms packs some serious sass and with her floor space — is bound to be a roaring venue as she settles in to Stones Corner Life.
We popped by on a Friday afternoon for a late lunch and having only officially opened 2 days before, there were some understandable glitches. There’s a Salted Caramel Milkshake on the menu but their ice-​cream and freezer is up and running yet so I was promptly refunded the money. They were so darling about it!
The menu is fairly casual and you’ll notice a lot of similar flavours if you’ve dined at Lady Marmalade. I couldn’t resist the chicken and coleslaw slider ($ 6.50) and the Po’Boy slider ($ 6.50). While both were exceptional on their house made brioche mini buns, the chicken and coleslaw was the winner for me. Shady Palms coleslaw is something else and the perfect partner for a Friday afternoon cider.
You know the feeling you have when something is just on the money and with time it is going to only get better? I have this feeling for Shady Palms. I can’t wait to go back and each time see it have taken bounds ahead.