3 slightly unusual family restaurants in Surfers Paradise

We visited several restaurants during our holiday in Surfers Paradise recently, but three of them really stood-out for both adult and kids – here are our top 3 Surfers Paradise family restaurants that you might not normally think of!

McDonalds Family Restaurant

McDonald’s Surfers Paradise – the best pancake view in town

Breakfast – Maccas – location-location-location!

Looking straight across the road at the iconic Surfers Paradise sign, this popular golden arches fast food joint has tables on the footpath outside and panoramic windows inside to enjoy that gorgeous Surfers Paradise beach view. It also happens to have the best breakfast pancakes in town – or at least the cheapest ones!

It’s crazy-busy here of course due to the fact that this restaurant is located smack-bang in the middle of Surfers, however with the help of the new McDonald’s self-service consoles you don’t even have to stand in line anymore – just Paywave and wait. The food delivery time is furious and fast, and the food is kid-friendly and served piping hot. Plus you don’t have to worry about your noisy toddlers disturbing diners, because everyone else has ’em here too!

Breakfast prices start at $1 for a hash brown, pancakes around $4, and the rest-of-day menu gives you a complete hamburger meal for around $8.

Open 24 hours, so be as early as you like – this McDonalds family restaurant is located at 1 Cavill Ave, Surfers Paradise.

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar – clearly, this is the death by chocolate option

Lunch – Max Brenner Chocolate Bar – surely it’s everyone’s fantasy to drown themselves in chocolate….here is your chance!

Just a two minute walk from the main shopping Mall area, the Max Brenner Chocolate Bar is only slightly off the beaten track.

We were only passing by here on our way to lunch when we made the rash holiday decision to skip lunch altogether and go straight to dessert. Good decision!

Upon ordering our chocolate crepes, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate shots and – oh, chocolate everything, lets face it – we were met with an apologetic “There’s a ten minute wait at the moment – is that okay?”. I stared dumbly at the patient waitress, blinking a couple of times before giving myself a mental shake – ten minutes? Where we come from, that’s positively meteoric! I assured her that that was just fine, and sure enough, the food arrived in even less time than that.

The staff at Max Brenner are super friendly and great with kids. Come here for dessert, or even your main if you can stand the impending medical ramifications (Waiter – may I have chocolate on my double-chocolate chocolate with a side of chocolate, please?”)

If you like to save chocolate for your actual dessert (you kill-joy, you!), there’s always the option of grabbing your main meal from the stone’s-throw-away Clock Hotel restaurant. They do great family-budget meals, have al-fresco dining – plus you get to watch the cute clock display on the hour – bonus!

But remember, if you need to justify your holiday meal choices, chocolate never killed anyone, and strawberries on the side constitutes one of your daily serves of fruit…well, pretty-much anyhow. Enjoy!

Prices start at around $4.50 for a cupcake, crepes are around $20.

Located 3240 Surfers Paradise Blvd, Surfers Paradise.

Hooters

Hooters Surfers Paradise – unorthodox perhaps, but a fun night out for all!

Dinner – Hooters – we kid you not, Hooters may be a sports bar, but it is also happens to be a great family restaurant!

Perched at the edge of the main Surfer’s Paradise precinct on the Gold Coast Highway, you’re not likely to stumble across this restaurant if you’re just strolling about, so check out its location on your smart phone sat nav map before you go.

Hooters is a busy restaurant as you might expect, however surprisingly its patrons are primarily made up of holidaying young families and other random tourists. The attractive waitresses double as the entertainment, dressed in the obligatory tight t-shirts and shorts (nothing worse than you would see on the footpath everyday in Surfers).

The staff are all very forgiving of noisy children running about, and the waitresses get the kids up and involved in any fun – even dancing the Conga right along with them! The resulting atmosphere is one of hilarity and laughter – the perfect ingredients for a top family night out. Sure, the service time and ordering accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but the food is divine (no, really – it’s good) and the entertainment aspect of girls dancing on tables and embarrassing birthday victims more than makes up for it.

Free parking is available in the underground Mantra carpark located directly underneath the restaurant.

Prices are moderate to high, with a plate of ribs costing $40 upwards, but there are plenty of $20 burger choices too.

Located at 2893 Gold Coast Hwy, Surfers Paradise

All prices are correct for September 2015

Have you visited any of these family restaurants? Perhaps you’ve had a great experience elsewhere in Surfers Paradise? We’d love to know! Tell us about it in the comments below…