When I was still going to Mothers Groups a few years back and we would meet up at Riverside Gardens in Bayswater for the kids to have a play (and the Mum’s a good chat), we would always lament the lack of a cafe and how good it would be if the City of Bayswater developed one. So when I popped down to take a few pics of the playground and river for the blog today, I was delighted to find the Cool Breeze Cafe literally parked there. Owner Georgia said that their mobile cafe van had been there now for just over 5 weeks and that locals were delighted with the new arrival. The van serves coffee, milkshakes, smoothies, homemade rolls and sweet treats to name a few.
Personally, I love that the cafe is housed in a renovated retro caravan and the idea of not mucking around too much with the local eco-system by undertaking a large built development so close to the water – and apparently so did the City of Bayswater and the Swan River Trust, granting the girls a twelve month license. The cafe is currently open Mon to Weds from 6:00am to 12:00ish (depending upon the weather and the turnout) and from Thurs to Sun from 6:00am to 7:00pm. So next time you’re heading down to the river there’s no need to pack a thermos or get a coffee on the way, pop in to see the girls to say “hi” and give them your support so they get to stay there and provide their much needed services a little bit longer.
PS – As the van had been operational for just 5 weeks at the time of this review opening hours may have changed (as per reader comment below) so check out their facebook page for latest advice on opening hours if planning on going later in the afternoon.
PPS – 16/2 – The owners have advised new urge current opening hours are early morning to lunchtimeish during the week and early morning to early eveningish on weekends and public holidays.
About Natalie
Was very disappointed after reading the blog above to find the van was not there as stated last Thursday around 4.00pm.
Have been told that the submission to the City of Bayswater was for a modern purpose built food van and not an old caravan as is being used. Can anyone confirm this? If a permit was granted on a proposal showing a purpose built van then that type of van should be used.
Am sorry that you were disappointed. The opening times were taken off the sign on the day I was there and something that the owners said they were still playing around with depending upon demand. I can’t comment on the council approval – the van appeared to have been completely gutted and fitted out to be a proper mobile food van but then I’m just a real estate agent who writes this blog because I love the area so am not qualified to judge. I would suggest contacting the City of Bayswater directly if you have concerns. Personally, I much prefer the retro look and think it fits better with the environment and vibe of the local area but that’s just my opinion. I understand that their busiest times are in the mornings so you might want to try visiting then to check it out for yourself?
Thanks for the reply.
The cafe has had a Facebook page since before it opened and says that it is open from 6.00am to 7.00pm daily, the owners should not play around with customers and change the operating hours and just put it on a sign on site.
They like to have only positive posts on Facebook and have removed all my constructive conversations and did not respond to my enquiries. I am prepared to email you all of the deleted conversations if you wish.
The type of van that you or I prefer is not the issue, the submission to the City of Bayswater is in the minutes of 23rd October 2012 page 30 and clearly shows a modern style van and this is what was shown to councillors and staff as the proposed van and not a retro van.
I can email you a copy of the minutes if you wish.
On Friday morning I arrived in Perth early and decided to give the Cool Breeze another try before picking up a friend and travelling to Kalgoorlie, I arrived at site at about 5.45am and waited till about 6.15am when as desperate for a coffee and need to get moving before real peak traffic I had to leave. Cool Breeze has let me down again and others on site have also told me that they have experienced the same situation. Enough is enough if you advertise opening time then why do you not stick to them
Give em a break! Don’t u have anything better to do than shoot down a new small business who’s obviously testing the market out and finding their feet? Ur the one that looks silly!
J you must be so called friends of theirs, I have only written about what happened to us. Communication is important.
I’m going to cut off discussion about the opening hours of the cafe here folks. The owners are doing their best to update their facebook page with their opening times and work out when the optimum hours are to trade and I expect that those hours will change again as we head into the shorter winter days. The purpose of this blog is to promote and support local business – it’s a big risk and outlay to start one so as J says, let them test the market and find their feet. I’ve seen lots of comments on other blogs about how welcome the cafe is to the area and think it’s great to see that there’s a lot of support for the van. Thanks for posting your comments.
I think the Van sounds like a great idea.
Do you offer “Soy” milk as an alternative to dairy.
A lot of people these days are dairy intolerent. If not – do you have green tea or something like that?
Thanks, Janet
Hi Janet – thanks for your comment. I’m not sure what non dairy options are on offer but have posted on their facebook page to ask them – you might want to try that also? Cheers, Natalie
Hi Janet – checked with the owners and yes they do offer both soy milk and green tea. Cheers, Natalie
Thank goodness negative people’s lack of respect don’t kill small businesses.
Bumping cause theres a rumour circulating this has been closed by Council. Anyone have info on this?
My apologies – had missed your comment! I think the latest is that they were closed down but only for a day and are now re-open – apparently some Councillors “misunderstood” who was paying for the electricity being used, mistakenly believing it was the Council (who provide the equipment for the supply but the cafe pays for the power) and there was also a huge backlash from locals about the possible closing. Yay for people power!