Kings Beach Surf Club — Restaurant in Sunshine Coast Regional

I've been to Kings Beach Surf Club before. The view is stunning, and their cocktails are decent and slightly cheaper than other places in the area. Since I live in Kings Beach, it has always seemed like a convenient spot to unwind after a beach day.

But after my experience yesterday, I don't think I’ll be returning. For context, I was wearing a long-sleeved, knee-length black lace dress over my swimsuit. Yes, it was slightly see-through since it was lace, but I was covered. I’ve seen plenty of people in this place with far more revealing outfits, so I wasn't too worried.

From the moment we walked in, we were made to feel like unwelcome intruders rather than customers. We approached a young waitress (the only polite staff member we encountered) and asked if we could sit at an available table. She confirmed we could, so we proceeded - she did not comment on my outfit, so the little worry I had was gone. Before we even had the chance to actually sit down, an older staff member— looked like a manager, but who knows —approached us, asking us if we wanted drinks or food. When we replied "drinks only", he repeated three times in an angry voice that hadn’t followed the “BIG BIG SIGN” at the entrance that said, "Wait to be seated." He just assumed we had ignored the rule and immediately scolded us.

When I tried to explain that we had asked the waitress first, he cut me off mid-sentence, saying that for "drinks only," they might not even allow us to sit because they were "too busy." Mind you, this was at 5 PM, hardly peak dinner rush. I’ve worked in hospitality and understand the need for rules, but at 5 PM, a simple, polite reminder—like informing us we'd need to vacate by 5:30/6 if not ordering dinner—would have been far better than making customers feel unwelcome just for wanting a drink. However, he also did not comment on my outfit. So I truly was not worried about it.

I tried to brush off the rudeness and went to order at the bar, only to be told I was not dressed appropriately. I’ve seen plenty of people in this place with far more revealing outfits, so I was confused. I even saw three girls walk in wearing tiny tops, covering just their nipples, and ultra-short skirts, but they were there for dinner with full makeup and nice hairstyles. Their rules clearly state that "swimwear", "excessively brief or revealing clothing", "offensive attire", "bare feet", and "heavily soiled workwear" are not permitted at any time.

If my lace dress was deemed excessively revealing, I wonder why the three cute girls were welcomed without issue. Still, I didn’t argue. I went to my car, put on shorts under my dress, and wrapped a flowery towel around my neck, styling it like a dress—fully covering myself. If it wasn't for its texture, it could have actually looked like a summer dress. Despite this, I was still prohibited from sitting down for drinks.

At that point, it was clear that this wasn't about dress code—it was about selective treatment.

Kings Beach Surf Club may have a great location, but if a beautiful view comes with unwelcoming staff, inconsistent enforcement of rules, and a pretentious attitude, I’d rather spend my...

My husband became a member in September, during which time we had a lovely lunch, and were very impressed by the service & I believe the owners of the business, who were hardworking, friendly & helpful.

Came back in December, for a cup of coffee mid-morning & to pick up a membership card. And with the hope of booking a table for lunch based on our fabulous experience the last time.

From the first moment we had contact with a staff member, it was rude, unwelcoming and off-handed. There were 3 other customers in the whole place, this was around 10am. We waited at the bar to pick up the membership card, and when the staff member got to us, it was in a most unwelcoming & unfriendly manner. My husband explained he was there to pick up his membership card and was also wondering if we could book a table for lunch. The response from the staff member, cutting my husband off before he could even finish his sentence was, ‘One thing at a time!’. We took a deep breath, dealt with the card and was then ushered off to the food ordering section to ask about the lunch booking, and hopefully get the coffees we came to get.

We got to the coffee section, and on the way there I did see a couple of tables that did not have ‘reserved’ signs on them. We asked to book a table for lunch. We were told no, ‘we are fully booked’. “We’re not taking anymore bookings, we are waiting for walk-ins”. I asked about the two unreserved tables but was told ‘No, we will keep them for walk-ins’. All done in the most unfriendly, off-handed, unwelcoming way. Very surprising because it was totally opposite to our experience in Sept. My husband tried to explain the difficulty we had from the moment we walked in that morning but regrettably it fell on deaf ears.

In the end, we left & did not get our coffees from here. Instead headed down to the cafe on the other side of the beach where the food & service is excellent, where you are welcome & nothing is a problem.

The $1 membership fee is a misnomer if you are going to treat your customers this way. As it is, the food industry is an extremely competitive one; how you treat your customers, whether members or not, is vital. Perhaps the staff members that day just need to be...

Unfortunately we didn't have a very good experience there tonight. 1st we ordered the low gluten option kids meal of Nuggets and chips which came out was told by the girl that served us we never told her we wanted the low gluten option and that no way she got it wrong when 3 people heard the low gluten option ordered. Then she proceeded to tell well she didnt hear that.... then we ordered the 'ham and cheese' pizza kids meal. Now this was ordered for an autistic child... when a ham cheese and pineapple pizza arrived the child with autism was not impressed at all and refused to eat the pizza. When i approached the counter i was told thats just the way it is sometimes.... sorry but if i order a ham and cheese that's what i expect.... not a ham cheese and pineapple pizza. Then was told by the extremely rude service girl what do you want me to do about it... in a clear tone of not giving a damn. This wasn't good enough. No offer of compensation. My response of how about stating the actual product you're actually selling clearly was received with all the bluntness it was delivered with. After this Unfortunately the ordering system crashed and we were left waiting some time for the last 2 remaining main meals that were ordered. Party of 9, 4 of the 5 meals we had some sort of issue with.... $250 total spend that next time will be spent else where....