Cafeography
Sydney · Redfern & Waterloo

Cafés in Redfern & Waterloo

Railway-workshop Redfern and the Bourke Street corners of Waterloo, with espresso from 05:00.

Photo: Gilberto Olimpio, Pexels License

Redfern lies about 3 km south of the CBD and is named for the surgeon William Redfern, who was granted 100 acres here by Governor Macquarie in 1817.1 Waterloo, its neighbor to the south-east, commemorates the 1815 battle, and the two suburbs share a large public housing estate.51 Redfern Street, east of the station, is the main shopping strip, and Regent Street carries more shops and cafés.1

Redfern is also central to Aboriginal Sydney. The Block, near the station, is where the Aboriginal Housing Company, the first urban Aboriginal community housing provider, bought its houses, and Paul Keating gave his Redfern Park Speech here in 1992.1 For coffee, the area keeps early hours: most Redfern and Waterloo cafés open by 07:00 on weekdays, and nearly all trade on Saturdays.

Local tip: On Saturdays, start on Redfern Street, where Coffee Tea & Me and Blue Brew open at 07:00, then walk to the Carriageworks Farmers Market before it closes at 13:00.3

At a glance

92Cafés listed
27With opening hours
05:00Earliest opening
19:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Chapter Five Espresso, from 05:00 (Mon–Fri 05:00–14:00 · Sat–Sun 06:00–14:00).
  • Closes latest: YUMIAO cat cafe, until 19:00 (Mon 10:00–19:00 · Tue–Fri 10:00–17:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–19:00).
  • Most listed streets: Redfern Street (6), O'Dea Avenue (4), Bourke Street (4).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (18%), indoor seating (11%), open by 6am (5%).

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Coffee chains in Redfern & Waterloo

Redfern station and the Waterloo metro

Redfern is the first Sydney Trains station south of Central and the closest to the University of Sydney's main campus. It was called Eveleigh until Central was built, when that name passed to the railway workshops south of the station.1 Waterloo got a station of its own on 19 August 2024: an underground metro stop at the corner of Raglan and Cope Streets, one stop from Central.4

More change is planned for Waterloo. A 20-year masterplan for its social housing estate, released in January 2019, proposes 6,800 new homes and six towers of 33 to 40 storeys.5

Eveleigh, from carriage works to Carriageworks

The Eveleigh carriage workshops were built between 1880 and 1889 and closed in 1988. The state arts ministry bought them in 2002, and Carriageworks opened as an arts center in 2007; its farmers market, in a renovated blacksmith's workshop, has run weekly since 28 February 2009.2 The market opens on Saturdays, 08:00–13:00, with more than 70 regular stallholders, under ten minutes' walk from Redfern station.3

Henry Lee's, at 16 Eveleigh Street, keeps the street's industrial fabric: bare stone walls and milled railway sleepers survive inside, under a cantilevered steel awning. Its owners, Kath and Aaron Devaney, previously ran Green Tangerine in Long Jetty on the Central Coast.6

Redfern Street and Regent Street

Coffee Tea & Me, at 93B Redfern Street, is a closet-sized café for coffee and simple lunches, in Broadsheet's description, and opens at 06:00 on weekdays.7 Blue Brew at number 95 and Charmed by Redfern at 82 open at 06:30. On Regent Street, Rose Espresso is at 61-65 and The Milk Bar by Cafe Ish at 105.

Baffi & Mo, which Broadsheet calls a busy Redfern fixture with a long breakfast menu, opens daily at 06:00, and Hunter's Corner at 89 Pitt Street, which offers customers free personal training sessions, opens daily at 06:30.7 Chapter Five Espresso starts earliest, at 05:00 on weekdays and 06:00 at weekends.

Bourke Street, Danks Street and Waterloo

Little Evie occupies a corner at 688 Bourke Street; Time Out's 2017 review found it about three times the size of many Sydney breakfast places, and roasting its own coffee on site.8 St Jude, further along at 728 Bourke Street, serves daily 07:00–15:00.

Good Ways Deli, at 20 Cooper Street, is part café, part deli and bakery, with sandwiches modeled on school canteens and country bakeries.7 Wahwah Lounge at 1 Danks Street opens daily 07:30–15:00. Kepos Street Kitchen, at 96 Kepos Street, mixes Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking from breakfast through dinner.7

Sources

  1. Redfern, New South Wales, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Carriageworks, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. Sydney's best markets, Tourism Australia, accessed October 2026
  4. Waterloo railway station, Sydney, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. Waterloo, New South Wales, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. Henry Lee's, Broadsheet Sydney (updated November 11, 2019), accessed October 2026
  7. The Best Cafes in Redfern, Broadsheet Sydney (updated June 3, 2024), accessed October 2026
  8. Little Evie, Time Out Sydney (March 15, 2017), accessed October 2026
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In Redfern & Waterloo, also browse: Specialty coffee Outdoor seating Open by 6am Brunch Bakery cafés

FAQ

Redfern & Waterloo cafés: questions

When is the Carriageworks Farmers Market in Redfern, Sydney?

The Carriageworks Farmers Market runs on Saturdays from 08:00 to 13:00, with more than 70 regular stallholders, under ten minutes' walk from Redfern station. It has run weekly since February 2009 in a renovated blacksmith's workshop of the old Eveleigh carriage works, which were built in the 1880s and closed in 1988.

Which cafés open earliest in Redfern and Waterloo, Sydney?

Chapter Five Espresso opens at 05:00 on weekdays and 06:00 at weekends. Baffi & Mo opens daily at 06:00, and Coffee Tea & Me at 93B Redfern Street opens at 06:00 on weekdays. Hunter's Corner at 89 Pitt Street, Blue Brew at 95 Redfern Street and Charmed by Redfern follow at 06:30.

How do you get to Waterloo in Sydney by metro?

Waterloo metro station opened on 19 August 2024 at the corner of Raglan and Cope Streets, one stop from Central. Redfern, the first Sydney Trains station south of Central, serves the Redfern side of the area and is the closest station to the University of Sydney's main campus.

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