Shortly after moving to Gympie Terrace in 1908, the Massoud family opened the first store, providing groceries to the few locals and the steadily increasing number of people holidaying along the river.
Maisies Cafe from the river, date unknown
In 1920, the Massouds opened the first café on Gympie Terrace. It was called The Favourite Café but it soon became known as Maisie’s after the Massoud’s daughter who worked there tirelessly. In the winter of 1942, in the middle of World War II, the 2/14th Battallion were stationed at Yandina between stints in the Middle East and then as reinforcements to the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. Some of battalion were sent to train in new amphibious vehicles, DUKWs or ‘ducks’, on the Noosa River under the command of Lieutenant Stanley Bisset. They were camped at Munna Point but they were fed each night at Maisie’s by the Massoud family who cooked up to 200kg of fish each night. The family would later joke that this was Australia’s first drive-through restaurant, servicing the army in their ‘ducks’. They would also roll their pianola out onto the street to entertain the soldiers. Bisset and Maisie remained life-long friends.
Maisie, Viv Ely and Kathie Massoud (nee Kross) in front of Maisie’s Cafe, circa early 1940s
View of the Noosa River from Maisie’s, circa early 1940s
The restaurant has remained in the ownership of the family. Although management and operation of the restaurant has changed hands multiple times, the name remains, an icon of the history of Gympie Terrace and a popular eating place for locals and visitors alike.
