Some of the beachfront resorts offer bargain all-you-can-eat breakfasts , while during the rest of the day there's always something to eat at the cafés and snack bars along Cavill Avenue and the Esplanade. Restaurants are geared towards the exotic, although some offer early-bird specials in the evening before a certain hour. More and more people are heading to convenient takeaway and burger joints out of Surfers to eat - south to the area around Broadbeach Mall, or north to Tedder Avenue, in Southport, where there's usually a Porsche or two parked along the trendy café strip. For supplies, there's a supermarket downstairs in the Paradise Centre (on Cavill Ave mall) and a 24-hour Night Owl store on the highway near Trickett Street.

Bavarian Steakhouse , cnr Gold Coast Highway and Cavill Ave (tel 07/5531 7150). Wood-panelled theme restaurant on several floors, where you can wolf down steins of beer and plates of beef while staff dressed in leather and lace pump away on Bavarian brass instruments. Good fun if you're in the mood, and fair value; about $19 for steak, salad and fries.

Crab Cooker , cnr Gold Coast Highway and Thornton St (tel 07/5538 6884). Nondescript decor but otherwise excellent Australian-style fresh seafood restaurant where a plate of prawns, bugs and fish costs around $26, a "Paradise Platter" spread of seafood and tropical fruit for two is $80, and their famous mud crabs start at $40. Lunch from noon, dinner from 5.30pm.

Dracula's , 1 Hooker Blvd, Broadbeach (tel 07/5575 1000). Gothic cabaret restaurant open Tues-Sat from 6pm; $49.50 per head ($58 on Sat); advance booking and payment essential.

Melbas , 46 Cavill Ave (tel 07/5592 6922). New and ambitious café-restaurant attached to the nightclub of the same name, with a mix of Mediterranean-style light meals and snacks served, unusually for Surfers, at pavement tables. Their chicken and avocado fettucine, turkey bagel, and Cajun fish salad are all good, and their prices are low, with nothing over $12.50. Opens at 7am for breakfast.

Montezuma's , 8 Trickett St, under the Aloha Tower (tel 07/5538 4748). A cramped Mexican restaurant hung with luridly-coloured, papier-mache fiesta dolls, but the food's fresh and spicy. $18 will fill you up; open for lunch and dinner.

Sumo , Raptis Plaza. Tiny Japanese takeaway known for its fair prices and large portions, from seafood tempura ($10.45) down to humble buckwheat noodle soup ($5.50).

Tandoori Place , 7-9 Trickett St (tel 07/5592 1004). Fast-food ambience, but actually better than first impressions would suggest; their sweet curries are engagingly different, and they have a limited vegetarian menu. Their three-person "Recession Banquet" for $20.95 per head is an excellent deal, otherwise most main dishes are around $15.