Sunshine Coast Food and Dining in 2026: Farm-to-Table in the Hinterland, Seafood on the Coast

The Sunshine Coast's food culture benefits from an exceptional local produce base — seafood, tropical fruit, local meat, hinterland vegetables — and a community that has placed food quality at the centre of its lifestyle identity. Here is a guide to eating well on the coast.

Noosa

Noosa is the gastronomic heart of the Sunshine Coast. Hastings Street's restaurant offerings represent some of the best cooking in Queensland. The Noosa Food and Wine Festival each May draws chefs and food lovers from across Australia. The standard of cooking at the better Noosa restaurants — Sum Yung Guys, Gaston, Locale — is genuinely impressive.

Eumundi Markets

The Eumundi Markets on Wednesday and Saturday mornings are the best food markets on the Sunshine Coast. Local produce, artisan food, baked goods, honey, tropical fruit, coffee and prepared food make it both a source of fresh ingredients and a place to eat and socialise. The organic and biodynamic producer community is well represented.

Maroochydore and Mooloolaba

Maroochydore's Cotton Tree dining precinct and Mooloolaba's Esplanade provide good mid-range dining with an emphasis on seafood. The daily catch from local trawlers — prawns, barramundi, coral trout — appears on menus across the coast. Mooloolaba Wharf provides direct access to fresh local seafood.

Hinterland dining

The hinterland towns of Maleny, Montville and Mapleton have developed quality dining focused on regional produce. Several small restaurants in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland have achieved Queensland and national recognition for their farm-to-table approach.

This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.