The Shingle Inn claims to be Brisbane’s oldest café, although it is now better known to many as a chain of coffee shops in retail malls throughout Australia. The current Brisbane café isn’t in the original premises and has an eleven-year gap in its history, but it maintains its reputation as part of the city’s heritage even, in 2016, being included in the Brisbane version of the Monopoly game.
The original Shingle Inn was founded in 1936 by David Webster, a baker who became prominent in the Brisbane business community. He expanded from bread making into cakes and biscuits, ran a catering business and opened a chain of tea rooms. The Brisbane Courier wrote in 1912:
Until recent years a conspicuous want in Brisbane was that of commodious rooms where light luncheon or tea could be obtained. Both ladies and gentlemen experienced this want, in the remedying of which the public are largely indebted to Mr. David Webster. His first venture in Brisbane was in 1883, and then only as a baker, but the desire of customers for a light repast suggested the line which he has already carried to such success, with no fewer than eleven branches throughout the city and suburbs.
The Shingle Inn was one of David Webster’s last projects. Located in Brisbane’s Edward Street, it was named for its architectural style, featuring a shingled exterior and an ornate mock-Tudor interior design. Webster died in 1937, but his sons continued to run the business with Wilfred Webster in charge of the cafés and catering.
The Shingle Inn became a well-known city dining destination and a popular choice for social functions during the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. During World War II, it was a favourite with Australian and American service personnel. Some dishes on the menu today, including lemon meringue pie and waffles, were created to satisfy the cravings of US soldiers far from the comforts of home.
When the Webster company was acquired by an overseas firm in the early 1970s, the Shingle Inn faced abandonment. It was bought by Noel and Barbara Bellchambers who revived the business. All went well until 2002, when the 1888 City Building housing the café was demolished to make way for the Queen’s Plaza development. The Bellchambers disassembled the interior fitout and put it into storage, preserving everything from the timber beams and stained glass windows to the booth tables and seating.
The Shingle Inn name didn’t die. The second generation of the Belchambers family opened more cafés around Brisbane and the suburbs. In 2009, they began a franchise operation. Then, in 2010, with plans underway to refurbish Brisbane’s City Hall, they donated the carefully preserved and catalogued fitout from the original restaurant to the city. The now heritage-listed interior was put back together in City Hall and the Bellchambers moved back in. A commemorative brochure, produced for the opening in 2013, tells the story in exhaustive detail.
Reviews for the re-created Shingle Inn in City Hall are mixed, ranging from “This is a real gem of a cafe inside City Hall” to “Awesomely bad. If you are out for the full Faulty Towers experience, then this is the one for you…”
As of 2025, there are more than 20 Shingle Inns across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Most of the franchised stores are in shopping centres, but there are also branches in other high-traffic areas, including city centre locations and historical precincts. The franchised stores have not attempted to reproduce the historic interior of the original. There’s not a shingle in sight.