Good things take time, and sometimes the right space is worth waiting for.

For ten years, Paradox Coffee Roasters served the Gold Coast community from its original Surfers Paradise café, building a loyal following through great coffee, genuine hospitality, and a strong connection to its customers. As the business evolved, so too did the need for a bigger space, and the vision for the next Paradox Coffee Roasters café began to take shape.

When the opportunity arose to transform a vacant space on Charles Avenue in Broadbeach, café co-owner Ben Moffitt and the team at Paradox Coffee Roasters saw the chance to create something special: a café built for the people, that reflects the values, ambition, and community focus that has defined Paradox Coffee Roasters since day one.

Broadbeach felt like a natural fit. Fresh mornings on the beach, adorned by unbeatable sunrises, brings together walkers, swimmers, cyclists, and locals in early commune. A daily ritual to be enjoyed by all. Defined by its coastal lifestyle, thriving hospitality scene, and welcoming local community, the Broadbeach neighbourhood has quickly become a reputable hotspot for specialty coffee in Queensland.

The Paradox Coffee Roasters Café on Broadbeach is a welcome addition, pulling crowds from 5:30am to 2:30pm every day. Thoughtfully designed and inherently welcoming, with a large scale custom mural, and open layout that naturally flows from inside to outside. It’s the perfect place to catch up with a friend, stay for lunch, try your first pour over, or all of the above.

At the heart of the space sits a striking U-shaped coffee bar, designed to encourage interaction from every angle. A custom designed La Marzocco Strada S anchors daily service, delivering the consistency, precision, and workflow required in a busy specialty coffee environment without compromising quality.

On the opposite side, a La Marzocco Linea Classic S serves as a dedicated training machine, allowing the Paradox team to host café partners, run demonstrations, and support ongoing barista development. Together, the two machines embody the café’s dual purpose: exceptional hospitality for guests and meaningful support for the wider coffee community. We sat down with café co-owner, Ben Moffitt, to talk about the journey behind the new Paradox Coffee Roasters café, the vision that shaped the space, and what makes Queensland’s coffee community such a special place to call home.

Tell us how Paradox Coffee Roasters started?

Paradox Coffee Roasters was formed over 11 years ago here on the Gold Coast. It was born from the idea of being For The People, growing, roasting, educating, serving & enjoying our coffee.  Being responsible custodians of the coffee journey and always putting people first.

From the beginning, the team at Paradox Coffee Roasters believed in creating more than a specialty coffee roastery. They wanted to be a true partner for those serving and enjoying their coffee. The Paradox team put a lot of emphasis on supporting wholesale partners beyond coffee, acting as a consultant for their business.

Tell us about the coffee you roast?

Every month we offer seasonal espresso and filter coffees, alongside a range of blends with different flavour profiles to suit our customers, their demographics and the communities they serve.

We also like to have a bit of fun. Our Lychee Cold Brew launched over summer and quickly became a favourite. We’re really leaning into the specialty drinks market while still keeping coffee at the centre of everything we do.

Congratulations on the new café! Why Broadbeach?

We chose Broadbeach because it’s only a couple of kilometres from where we originally started. It’s still a real hub on the Gold Coast, with great dining, a mix of locals, business workers and holidaymakers, and a wonderfully diverse community. It gives us the opportunity to reach a broad range of people while staying close to our roots.

It’s such an awesome layout: What was the creative vision behind the space design?

We wanted the café to feel welcoming, relaxed and inviting. Whether you’re stopping in after the beach, catching up with friends or holding a meeting, we wanted a space that caters to everyone while keeping coffee as the foundation.

The central bar was incredibly important. It creates an immersive experience, giving people a direct view into everything we do. The design also ties back to our brand without feeling overly branded. You’ll find our colours throughout the space in subtle ways, from the chairs and tiles to the mural by Adelaide street artist Vans the Omega. He created our original mural11 years ago in our Surfers Paradise café, so having him return to create a new mural for our Broadbeach café was really special. Hidden within the artwork is an ‘X’ representing 10 years of Paradox, creating a connection between where we started and where we are today.

Opening a café is a massive project: What’s been the biggest challenge?

Finding the location was by far the biggest challenge. It took more than 18 months, looking at countless existing and vacant spaces.

Through visiting our wholesale customers across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Northern NSW, I’d seen firsthand what makes a café successful. Things like natural morning light, good foot traffic, parking and the overall customer experience all mattered.

We also needed a space that could support wholesale training and tastings while operating as a successful café in its own right. If we’re advising our wholesale partners on how to build successful businesses, we need to be living and breathing those same principles ourselves. Looking back, we came close on a few other sites, but we’re so glad they didn’t work out. This location has been an amazing fit.

Excellent machine choice (and custom wrap) – what made the Strada S the right fit both in space and the workflow?

With the central bar as the focal point of the café, we wanted the Strada S on display. It reflects the care we put into coffee and our commitment to using the best equipment available.

The Strada S gives our baristas incredible control, helping them produce the best coffee possible. It’s also a real point of difference. People recognise La Marzocco, but taking that next step with a Strada S shows just how much we value our craft.

We spy a Classic S in there too – pre tell what you use it for?

The Classic S is primarily dedicated to our wholesale business. It’s where we host training sessions, tastings and meetings with existing and potential wholesale partners.

Having a dedicated space for those conversations was an important part of designing the café. It’s where we can share ideas, learn from one another and give our partners the attention they deserve. The Linea Classic S is also the machine we’re rolling out across many of our wholesale accounts. Most baristas have worked on one before, and it’s a platform they’ll continue to see throughout their careers.

Custom wrap

The custom wrap reflects the artwork featured across our blends and single origin packaging. It’s an abstract, microscopic view of coffee and water coming together.

It represents the way we look at coffee, examining every detail and taking tremendous care in everything we do.

Paradox Coffee Roasters has been working with La Marzocco and Brewtech for some time. What has kept you coming back over the years?

Our relationship with La Marzocco goes back more than 20 years. We were lucky enough to visit the La Marzocco factory in Florence, which only strengthened that connection.

What keeps us coming back is simple: the people and the reliability of the equipment. The machines perform under pressure, consistently produce exceptional coffee, and they’re familiar to almost every barista. Combined with the relationship we’ve built over two decades, that’s why we continue choosing La Marzocco.

What do you love most about your QLD coffee community?

It’s small, and I love that. Everyone knows everyone and there’s a genuine sense of community. Specialty coffee is still evolving here, especially on the Gold Coast, which makes it exciting. There are always great events happening, people are supporting one another, and coffee is something people enjoy all year round. Being able to serve cold brew year-round doesn’t hurt either. It’s a small community, but it’s a fun one.

Best thing about Broadbeach?

The community.

We’ve been surprised by how quickly we’ve built such a strong base of regular customers. From day one, people have embraced what we’re doing.

The mix of locals, holidaymakers, business travellers and international visitors creates really consistent trade throughout the year. With the beach just metres away, plenty of accommodation and the convention centre nearby, Broadbeach has become a place people genuinely want to spend time – and we’re proud to be part of that.

For Paradox Coffee Roasters, Broadbeach is more than a new address.

The café brings together many of the elements that have shaped the Paradox journey over the years: a passion for quality coffee, a dedication to education, and a desire to create meaningful experiences for customers, partners, and the wider coffee community. Whether it’s a morning espresso, a training session with a wholesale partner, or a conversation shared across our coffee bar, the space has been designed to foster connection.

Specialty coffee has always been about more than what’s in the cup. It’s about creating places where people feel welcome, where knowledge is shared openly, and where communities can gather around a common passion. Through thoughtful design, a commitment to craft, and a clear sense of purpose, Paradox  Coffee Roasters Café embodies exactly that, right in the heart of Broadbeach.

Visit Paradox Coffee Roasters Café at:
4 Charles Avenue, Broadbeach, QLD 4218.

@paradoxcoffeeroasters
@paradoxroasterscafe

https://paradoxroasters.com/