Cafe · Queen Victoria Building Sydney

Metropole Cafe

Coffee, rolls and the cabinet, on the ground floor of the Queen Victoria Building. Open seven in the morning to six at night, every day of the week.

The Metropole kiosk on the ground floor of the Queen Victoria Building, empty and lit before opening: a long counter with a vertically slatted timber front and brass banding, METROPOLE lettering on the black service block, an espresso machine with stacked orange cups, a grinder, and a round M sign hanging behind it. Stone arches, stained glass and a patterned mosaic floor surround it.
The kiosk before opening. A counter, a machine, a stack of orange cups, and the whole Queen Victoria Building around it.Photograph: Metropole Cafe

Where and when

Every day, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sydney time — AEST, UTC+10

Call the kiosk(02) 9267 1122Open in Mapsmaps.google.com
Kiosk 56, Ground Floor/455 George St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Building
Ground Floor, Queen Victoria Building
Price
Inexpensive · AUD 1–AUD 20

Hours

Seven rows, one line. The same eleven-hour window every day of the week, so it is printed seven times rather than collapsed into one. The bar under each time shows that window against a full day.

Opening hours. Public holidays can differ — ring the counter if you are coming on one.
DayOpen
Monday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Tuesday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Wednesday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Thursday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Friday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday7:00 AM – 6:00 PM

11 hours a day, 7 days a week — 77 hours in all. Times are AEST, UTC+10.

What we do

What you can get here, and what you can’t. The second column is the useful one: a page that prints only the first leaves you guessing about the rest.

Recorded as yes13

  • YesDine in
  • YesTakeaway
  • YesServes coffee
  • YesServes breakfast
  • YesServes brunch
  • YesServes lunch
  • YesServes dessert
  • YesServes vegetarian food
  • YesServes beer
  • YesServes wine
  • YesGood for children
  • YesGood for groups
  • YesRestroom

Recorded as no6

  • NoNo delivery
  • NoNo outdoor seating
  • NoNo cocktails
  • NoNo dogs
  • NoNo live music
  • NoNot a sports venue

If it is not on this list, ring the counter and ask — someone is there from seven to six.

Questions

The things people actually ring up and ask. If yours is not here, the counter will answer it faster than a page can.

What time do you open?

Seven in the morning, seven days a week, and we close at six. The hours are the same every day of the week. If you are coming on a public holiday, ring first — the building sets its own hours on those.

Where exactly are you?

Kiosk 56 on the ground floor of the Queen Victoria Building, 455 George Street, Sydney. Once you are inside the building, look for the counter with the round M sign above it.

What's in the cabinet?

Filled rolls, croissants and pastries, and a run of cakes, tarts and slices. It changes through the day and through the week, so the honest answer is to look at what is in when you get here, or ring and ask.

Is it expensive?

No. It is a counter, not a restaurant — most of the cabinet sits between AUD 1 and AUD 20.

Can I sit down, or is it takeaway only?

Both. You can eat in or take it with you, and there is a restroom. There is no outdoor seating.

Do you deliver?

No, we don't deliver. Takeaway is welcome — come to the counter.

Do you have vegetarian options?

Yes.

Do you serve beer and wine?

Beer and wine, yes. No cocktails.

Can I bring children? A group?

Both are fine. Dogs aren't allowed inside the building.

How do I order for a group or ask about something specific?

Ring the counter on (02) 9267 1122. It's the fastest way — someone is there from seven to six every day.

The counter

The kiosk, the cabinet and the arcade around it. Three of these were taken by us; the other seven by people who queued here, and each is credited to whoever took it.

The Metropole kiosk on the ground floor of the Queen Victoria Building, empty and lit before opening: a long counter with a vertically slatted timber front and brass banding, METROPOLE lettering on the black service block, an espresso machine with stacked orange cups, a grinder, and a round M sign hanging behind it. Stone arches, stained glass and a patterned mosaic floor surround it.
The kiosk before opening. A counter, a machine, a stack of orange cups, and the whole Queen Victoria Building around it.Photograph: Metropole Cafe
Filled baguette rolls stacked in a lit cabinet, each half wrapped in printed paper. Salad leaves, sliced tomato and crumbed fillings show at the open ends.
Rolls in the cabinet, wrapped and stacked.Photograph: Metropole Cafe
Two frames side by side. On the left, two black cups of coffee with poured latte art on a pink marble table. On the right, a slice with a crumb top and a pale set centre on a Metropole napkin, with a wrapped Lotus Biscoff biscuit resting on it and two forks alongside.
A visitor's two frames: coffee on marble, and a slice on a napkin.Photograph: Sophia
A child stands smiling beside the kiosk's curved glass cabinet, which is full of rolls on labelled boards. Adults queue behind, and the galleries of the Queen Victoria Building rise out of focus in the background.
The cabinet at eye level, and a queue behind it.Photograph: Metropole Cafe
A cappuccino with poured latte art in a black cup and saucer on a worn wooden table, photographed low. Behind it, out of focus, people sit at tables under a tall arched opening with stained glass beyond.
Somebody's coffee, put down on the table before the photo.Photograph: Prabhdeep Kour
The Queen Victoria Building seen from an upper gallery: a large gilded hanging clock with a domed top and a white dial, wrought-iron balustrades on two levels, a glazed barrel roof, shopfronts, escalators, and a patterned tile floor with seating at the far end.
The building the kiosk stands in, from two floors up. The kiosk is somewhere down there on the tiles.Photograph: Virginie Levier
The kiosk in trade, seen across the mosaic floor: a long glass-topped cabinet of croissants, pastries, wrapped rolls and labelled slices, a dark curved base with brass banding and METROPOLE lettering, a hanging M sign, staff working behind, and shopfronts in the arcade beyond.
The full length of the case, mid-morning, from across the floor.Photograph: RaceKam
Close on the cabinet: two tiers of slices, tarts and layered cakes on paper-lined boards, each with a small hand-written ticket in front of it, croissants and pastries on the shelf above, and jars of layered dessert at the left end.
Two tiers, every tray ticketed.Photograph: J’s Life Bites
A hand holds up a clear takeaway cup of iced coffee topped with cream, printed with the round Metropole M mark and a paper straw. Behind it the kiosk and its cabinet, people standing at it, and the geometric mosaic floor of the arcade.
Takeaway, held up over the mosaic on the way out.Photograph: J’s Life Bites
A table from above: a coiled bun with a pale set topping and a dusting of sugar on a plate lined with Metropole-printed paper, a coffee with poured latte art in a black cup, a jar of iced black coffee with a straw, cutlery on paper napkins, and the edge of the mosaic floor at the top of the frame.
Two people, one table, the mosaic just out of reach.Photograph: Novia Lim

Photographs by Metropole and by customers, via Google. Each one is credited to whoever took it.