North Wollongong’s Diggies Cafe and Kiosk will close in February – whether it will reopen is uncertain. Photo: Region Illawarra.
Diggies cafe at North Wollongong will close in February 2026 – and it might be forever.
The cafe and kiosk will shut for at least six months while essential building repair works and the construction of the sea wall are undertaken.
When it reopens, it could be under new management entirely.
Diggies has operated out of the North Wollongong Beach Cafe and Kiosk for more than 20 years.
The 20-year lease expired in April 2023 and the current operators have continued under holdover provisions since then.
The cafe and kiosk have amassed a popular following and the operators have installed a full commercial kitchen fit-out and extension to the dining area including the al fresco deck.
When it reopens however, a new operator might reap the benefits of those improvements.
Three different tenders – including one from the current operators – were submitted to Wollongong City Council for the lease of the building when it reopens.
The tenders were evaluated based on the proposed annual rent payable to the council, the proposed business plan, demonstrated experience, staff qualifications and the ability to strengthen local economic capacity.
Council documents said the tenders were each complex, ambiguous and some did not conform with requirements, which made it difficult to compare them to each other.
Council staff recommended that, due to this difficulty, the council not accept any of the tenders and instead enter into commercial property negotiations directly with each of the three parties.
They said after this process they would have the information needed to recommend a preferred tenderer for the lease.
Councillors voted unanimously not to issue a tender at this stage and to enter into negotiations with the three tenderers.
