Whether you’re searching for a quick flat white or a specialty filter coffee, it’s easy to find exceptional coffee in almost every Melbourne suburb.

From those laneway espresso bars in the CBD to neighbourhood favourites in Brunswick, Fitzroy and Footscray, Melbourne’s coffee culture is sacrosanct and inseparable from the city’s identity as Australia’s capital of culture.

The scene rests on a global reputation for excellence, built on decades of leading coffee roasters and independent cafes pushing standards higher through a relentless focus on provenance, roasting and precision.

We’ve visited dozens of Melbourne coffee shops to narrow the list down to our favourites. The likes of Seven Seeds and Patricia Coffee Roasters, as well as ONA Coffee and Migrant Coffee, are expected inclusions, but we guarantee you’ll find something below that you haven’t tried before. After all, Melbourne’s coffee scene is committed to constant change and innovation.

In short

Melbourne’s coffee shops are known around the world for their commitment to quality and consistency, so we’re finding it hard to narrow such a sprawling scene down to just one venue. But if you do only have the time, head to Patricia Coffee Brewers. The vibe is quintessentially Melbourne, with the queue spilling out in a classic Melbourne laneway.

The small, colourful shop isn’t overwhelming; the familial service always leaves us feeling great; and there’s a small display that showcases some of Melbourne’s best bakeries. With many of Melbourne’s famous coffee shops looking like Scandinavian science labs, Patricia makes it clear that simple is still the way to go.

While the original location is just off Little Bourke St, is still the most popular, we recommend you also check out their newer venue at 50 Londale Street. There’s more room, generally less of a wait, and a dedication to experimentation with a focus on pour-over coffee.

1. Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters, Carlton

The name Seven Seeds is inextricably linked to Melbourne’s cultural identity. What co-founders Mark Dundon and Bridget Amor started in 2007 has gone on to define Melbourne’s new-age coffee scene, with a greater focus on traceability and provenance. It has consistently raised the bar for Melbourne coffee.

Unsurprisingly, the Carlton coffee shop is an essential stop on any coffee tour of Melbourne. Precision is painted on the faces of the baristas who stand behind Seven Seeds’ busy coffee bar, extracting plenty of character out of every bean and then cupping roasts daily. That superior taste, smooth quality, and expressive profile of your coffee is the result of pure dedication.

We are regularly eating around Carlton for research, so our mornings typically start here along with the rest of inner-city Melbourne. Here, you start to really understand the ritual surrounding espresso in Melbourne.

Address: 114 Berkeley St, Carlton

2. Patricia Coffee Roasters, CBD

Many locals would swear Patricia Coffee Roasters is doing the best coffee in Melbourne CBD, and while that’s never going to be a clear-cut argument amongst Melburnians, we can’t deny what Seven Seeds alumni Bowen Holden and Pip Heath have done with Patricia Coffee Roasters.

The standing-room-only coffee bar is stylish and exacting, signposted by the snaking queue of corporate types punching down the laneway off Little Bourke Street. Contrasted with the dark grey building that hosts Patricia, the space is bright, buzzy and slick with a beautiful marble bar known for some of the smoothest coffee around.

Guest coffees and polished pastries from some of Melbourne’s best bakeries are listed alongside the to-the-point menu that offers black, white or filter coffee. Since 2016, the team has been roasting its seasonal espresso blends off-site, but you can also pick from other great roasters.

While the original location is still the most popular, Patricia Coffee Roasters also has a newer, bigger sister site nearby at 50 Lonsdale Street. The menu is similar, but there’s a clear emphasis on pour-over coffee so experienced staff can experiment more with different beans.

Address: 493-495 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

3. Industry Beans, Fitzroy

Known for their fine, structured blends, Industry Beans is another name that cannot be left out of the conversation when talking about Melbourne coffee. With cafes in the CBD, Fitzroy and Chadstone, the team’s top-quality blends and single-origin beans are widely accessible and some of the most popular specialty coffee beans in Melbourne.

Backed by a thriving wholesale business and several interstate outposts, it’s impressive just how much consistency co-founders Trevor and Steven Simmons have managed to maintain despite the tremendous growth.

The Fitzroy original was the first coffee shop that really helped me understand just why Melbourne locals are always so passionate when it comes to coffee. The large cafe, which also offers an excellent all-day food menu, offers just about every style you could think of, given the wide range of beans roasted and cupped each day.

Address: 345 Little Collins St, Melbourne

4. Monk Bodhi Dharma, Balaclava

Monk Bodhi Dharma is a micro coffee roastery and teahouse in Balaclava, dedicated to delicious vegetarian food and excellent coffee.

While Melbourne’s top coffee shops tend to go heavy on the technical side of things, the baristas at this eccentric health-centric cafe are proof that sometimes all you need is a quality product and a simple process.

The cafe’s own Disciple Roasters (located in Brunswick – also on this guide to Melbourne coffee) keeps the bar stocked with several single-origin beans at any one time, often favouring those lighter, fruitier profiles that match well with the healthy food on offer. A daily batch brew is very popular here, but our favourite is the bar’s special biodynamic and organic almond milk coffee.

Address: 202 Carlisle St, Balaclava

5. Migrant Coffee, Footscray

You won’t find many coffee shops in Footscray, which is why most locals head straight to Migrant Coffee each morning. Co-owners Melodee Malazarte and Stacey Earsman have put together a very distinctive cafe that serves good coffee alongside Filipino, Thai and Māori food to reflect their respective backgrounds.

The reliable Coffee Supreme supplies the beans, best enjoyed out in the courtyard during the day when an espresso and a bagel are just what the doctor ordered.

Backed by great, personable service, Migrant Coffee is an integral part of the Footscray community and a fine example of how a good quality coffee shop will always be the focal point of any suburb in Melbourne.

Address: 3/576 Barkly St, West Footscray

6. Proud Mary, Collingwood

Proud Mary is a Collingwood institution and a legend of Melbourne’s coffee scene. Though it opened in 2009, the queue this cafe attracts still bursts outside the door and around the block in the mornings and early afternoons.

Key to this constant flow of demand is, of course, great specialty coffee served from a huge brew bar and a small army of grinders handling Proud Mary’s various blends and single-origin espressos. But it’s also the variety, with the bar just as adept when it comes to cold drip, AeroPress and V60 coffee.

Owner Nolan Hirte found a way to take back control over flavour by welding together two Synesso machines so that each single-origin blend has its own extractor. This ensures unmatched consistency, served alongside excellent cafe food until the kitchen closes at 2:30pm. Think potato hash with poached eggs and Adelaide Hills bacon, a house-made truffle sausage hotdog, and avocado on toast with kimchi, pear, daikon and tofu cream.

Address: 172 Oxford St, Collingwood

7. Aunty Peg’s, Collingwood

Aunty Peg’s comes from the same team behind Proud Mary. But while Proud Mary is very much a city cafe, Aunty Peg’s is dedicated entirely to the art of coffee, with one-on-one barista sessions, masterclasses, retail and tours of a working roastery all on the cards.

Think of it as an incubator for Melbourne’s coffee culture and a barista training centre, not just one of the best coffee shops in town.

We find that the busiest time is Saturday morning, when, at 10:30am each week, Aunty Peg’s offers free cuppings of seasonal blends and staff favourites. Plenty of coffee enthusiasts would pop by here throughout the week to stock up on equipment. The shop has all kinds of coffee goodies, like Clever Dripper, AeroPress, French Press and V60 devices.

Address: 200 Wellington St, Collingwood

8. Market Lane Coffee, Prahran

Melbourne locals tend to shy away from chains. The formula for most of the popular coffee shops in Melbourne is to have one big roastery and maybe one or two cafes as an extension (and a kind of cellar door). Market Lane is an exception.

Founder Fleur Studd and roaster Jason Scheltus have multiple venues across Melbourne, including ones on Queen, Collins and Victoria streets in the city, and a stall in Queen Victoria Market.

The most popular outpost is Market Lane Coffee Prahran Market with its buzzy atmosphere, great quality coffee and bags of beans shoppers can take home, showcasing Melbourne’s best roasters with notes on both tasting and provenance.

Address: Prahran Market, Shop 13/163 Commercial Rd, South Yarra

9. ONA Coffee, Brunswick

Originating in Canberra, ONA Coffee has gone on to spread across the East Coast, propping up numerous stores, including this beauty in Brunswick. Unlike its other stores, ONA’s Melbourne flagship is large, bright and centred around an interactive coffee bar with over 20 styles to choose from.

Everything from batch brews and pour-over coffee to iced coffee, cold brews and single-origin espresso can be ordered from the bar. But it’s often the experimental brews that get the most love from locals (this is Melbourne after all), and the list changes quite regularly, so we’re always finding something new to draw us back in.

Address: 22 Ovens St, Brunswick

10. St ALi, South Melbourne

Mark Dundon founded St ALi in 2005, spurring a movement towards higher-quality products and leading the push for a more refined coffee culture in Melbourne. Three years later, he sold the coffee company to current owner Salvatore Malatesta before going on to sprout Seven Seeds – another of Melbourne’s most recognised coffee empires.

The white brick facade of this Yarra Place fixture maintains its cult-like status amongst locals with a dynamic kitchen that’s every bit as valuable as those hard-working coffee machines. You’ll typically find locals packing the place out in the early afternoon for a classic Melbourne brunch and what we think is the best coffee in South Melbourne.

Address: 12-18 Yarra Pl, South Melbourne

11. Plug Nickel, Collingwood

Plug Nickel is another strong reason why Collingwood is the best Melbourne suburb for coffee lovers. The sparkling cold brew on tap is all you’d need to become a convert, delivered as a full-bodied, velvety coffee that’s been slow-brewed for superior purity.

If you’re here for more than just coffee, grab a falafel roti wrap or roast chicken toastie from the lunch menu before ordering your brew. The team here typically use Black Ethiopia Sunglow or White Raspberry Candy blends from ONA Coffee for their espresso, so your palate is in very good hands.

Address: 7 Peel St, Collingwood

12. Brother Baba Budan, CBD

Along with Traveller Coffee, Brother Baba Budan is one of Melbourne’s favourite coffee shops and part of the pioneering coffee company, Seven Seeds. It’s slightly larger than its nearby sister venue, taking its name from a legendary merchant famed for smuggling seven coffee seeds outside of Yemen, hence the name of the overarching business.

The self-described “humble latte slingers," serve up toasted sandwiches, cakes and pastries, best paired with whatever coffee of the day is being showcased behind the bar. With all types of coffee equipment for retail, including drip coffee bags and cold filter casks, lining the walls, this is the city’s most essential hub for Melbourne’s fussiest coffee drinkers.

Address: 359 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

13. Traveller Coffee, CBD

Traveller Coffee is one of several cafes that have sprung up from the ever-growing Seven Seeds empire. Here, Seven Seeds coffee powers a diminutive grab-and-go spot off Crossley Street, brewed behind a European-style bar that’s lined with cakes and pastries from modern French bakery, Brioche by Phillip.

The offering here is almost identical to what you’ll find at Brother Baba Budan on Little Bourke Street, which is also on this list of Melbourne’s top-rated coffee shops. That means a coffee-of-the-day championing what’s new and exciting at Seven Seeds’ Carlton cafe and roastery, listed alongside all your typical styles of coffee.

Address: 2/14 Crossley St, Melbourne

14. Wide Open Road Coffee Roasters, Brunswick

Wide Open Road Coffee Roasters opened in 2009 as an extension of A Minor Place from founders Jono Hill and Hootan Heydari. The latter has since departed the business, and A Minor Place has since been sold, but Hill still carries this legacy well with an expansive, industrial space serving top-quality coffee and breakfast until 3pm every weekday and 3:30pm on weekends.

The popular Brunswick cafe is best known for its Bathysphere blend, which uses beans from coffee-growing meccas like Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia and Brazil, taking pride of place on the menu along with filter roasts that are best expressed as pour-over coffees.

Address: 274 Barkly St, Brunswick

15. Stagger Lee’s, Fitzroy

Serving Proud Mary coffee beans, this popular Fitzroy cafe is very specific in the way it goes about its business each day. There are no blends at Stagger Lee’s, so all coffee lovers will find single-origin espresso and filter coffee, both masterfully delivered by a Mahlkonig EK 43 grinder for clean, precise extractions.

The Proud Mary crew works closely with Brazilian farms to source superior single-origin beans that have been engineered to work beautifully with milk. Those who prefer black coffee will usually find two rotating options behind the bar, which also has a big enough kitchen to work in a sizable cafe menu where bacon sandwiches and Spanish baked eggs go down well for the mid-afternoon crowd.

Address: 276 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

16. Everyday Coffee, Collingwood

With its larger roastery in Collingwood and a smaller cafe in Melbourne CBD, Everyday Coffee is another strong presence in Melbourne’s advanced specialty coffee scene. Food-wise, don’t expect much but refined classics using top-shelf Victorian produce.

When it comes to coffee, Everyday proudly displays a selection from Melbourne’s most creative roasteries alongside the team’s roasts, which are mainly used for espresso and filter coffee.

The hard-working La Marzocco Linea takes good care of the city crowd that snakes around the block come lunchtime.

Address: 36-38 Sackville St, Collingwood

17. Padre Coffee, Brunswick East

With the coffee roaster in Brunswick East and a small outpost in South Melbourne Market, Padre Coffee is another big name for Melbourne’s coffee snobs.

While Marinus Jansen’s background isn’t in coffee, the co-founder put together a talented team that sources green coffee beans from around 30 estates to create house blends alongside several single origins. Their light and slightly fruity Daddy’s Girl blend works beautifully for espresso, and it is often cited as one of the most adaptable signature blends coming out of Melbourne.

If grab-and-go is your vibe, stick to the city store. But you’ll want to make your way to the East Brunswick original for the regular schedule of barista, roasting and cupping courses, with Padre doing its part in fostering the inescapable growth of Melbourne’s position as one of the best cities in the world for coffee lovers.

Address: 438 Lygon St, Brunswick East

18. Dukes Coffee Roasters, CBD

An icon of Flinders Lane, Dukes Coffee Roasters is carved into the heritage Ross House while also operating an appointment-only roastery and training centre out in Richmond. It’s another well-oiled engine holding up Melbourne’s undying love of coffee, offering its blends and single-origin beans sourced primarily from South America and Africa.

Most people looking for organic coffee in Melbourne CBD would head straight here, so if you’ve got a good coffee machine at home, this Flinders Lane spot should be your first stop.

The team’s openness to experimental roasting techniques has given Dukes a wide range of flavours, so many locals make it a point to check back in every so often to see what’s new. As such, there’ll be a queue on any day of the week, so bring your patience as much as your love for Melbourne coffee.

Address: 247 Flinders Ln, Melbourne

19. Omar and the Marvellous Coffee Bird, Gardenvale

Once the world’s sole exporter of coffee, the country of Yemen is integral to the culture. You’ll find that several of Melbourne’s best coffee shops pay homage to Yemeni legends, which is where Omar and the Marvellous Coffee Bird gets its odd name.

Shaped after a sheik named Omar, who, according to legend, discovered coffee, this cafe does much more than just make great coffee. The educational approach to coffee culture means anyone can drop in for either a brew class or simply to chat with the highly educated baristas for some tips.

Address: 124 Gardenvale Rd, Gardenvale

20. Bench Coffee Co., CBD

Bench Coffee Co. can be found in The Walking Arcade off Little Collins Street in Melbourne CBD. The boutique coffee roaster is one of the busiest in the area, powering the cups of plenty of nearby cafes, including the Japanese-styled Saint Dreux and Bench outposts on 580 and Slater Street.

The Little Collins Street flagship brings it all together, stocking Bench’s best beans and offering all the standard coffee orders, including iced filter, cold brew and even an espresso tonic.

Given the team’s obvious love of Japan, best expressed through Saint Dreux, it’s pretty much mandatory that first-timers also order the uji matcha and black sesame buttercream biscuit sandwich to go with their coffee order.

For a more focused experience, head to Bench’s roastery and production space at 38 Breese Street in Brunswick.

Address: 321 Little Collins St, Melbourne

21. Acoffee, Collingwood

Polished and bright, Acoffee moves away from the requisite grunge of Collingwood and towards something that better aligns with the team’s core values of transparency and simplicity.

With a very pleasant minimal design, this masterful coffee lab is powered mostly by lighter, more subtle roasts. Black or white? Doesn’t matter. These blends have been designed to work perfectly no matter your coffee order, although the filter coffee is generally the best way to play in this bright spot.

Acoffee began life as a wholesale roaster working out of South Melbourne, but the impact it has had on Melbourne’s coffee scene wasn’t apparent until this Collingwood favourite opened with its calming interior.

Address: 30 Sackville St, Collingwood

22. Rumble Coffee Roasters, Kensington

After years spent supplying Melbourne’s best cafes with its roasts, Rumble Coffee Roasters opened its espresso bar in 2021 on a quiet street in Kensington. The bar, which is the face of Rumble’s larger roasting business, acts like a cellar door for the operation, where guests can also keep a close eye on the roasting area.

This sense of theatre helps set Rumble apart from the many coffee shops scattered around Melbourne. There’s a rich stock of blends, single origins and a rotating filter coffee of the week selection, served alongside sweet and savoury pastries.

Rumble’s very transparent approach to provenance even reveals how much each grower is paid for their crops. Considering this, take some time to ask your barista whatever you want to know about Melbourne’s coffee culture; education is highly valued at this Melbourne institution.

Address: 8 Thompson St, Kensington

23. Blume Coffee, Abbotsford

Blume Coffee owner Angus Gibb operates this humble community roaster out in Abbotsford, pumping out great quality, honest coffee daily. Unlike a lot of Melbourne’s top coffee shops, Blume is less about growing an empire and more about providing a cosy, welcoming space where locals can start their morning or break up their day.

Gibb works with ethical suppliers to source green beans for his product, which usually rotates through several single-origin coffees as well as two seasonal blends. But it’s the vibe that keeps regulars coming back, presenting a tiny, converted garage that is now very much one of the coolest places to hang out in Abbotsford.

Address: 2 Yarra St, Abbotsford

24. The Premises, Kensington

Owners Alex Anderson and Kate Holloway have worked across Melbourne’s leading coffee roasters, including St ALi, Seven Seeds and Brother Buda Budan. The pedigree is strong behind the bar at The Premises with their small team of baristas maximising the best of Seven Seeds coffee beans.

Holloway has put together a menu of light cafe favourites to play around with the different flavour profiles of each brew. Think of dishes like slow-roasted pulled pork and homemade chutney, going down extra smooth with light-bodied coffee that would appeal to both enthusiasts and casual sippers.

Address: 202 Bellair St, Kensington

25. Chiaki, Collingwood

When the sun falls, Chiaki turns into an izakaya with traditional Japanese food and a long list of sake. By day, however, this Collingwood favourite is a humble cafe coming from co-founders Mo Zhou and Kantaro Okada, along with Alicia Feng, who also runs another one of Melbourne’s favourite coffee shops, Calere on Gertrude Street.

Ochazuke, a full-flavoured Japanese broth dish poured over rice and toppings, is refined with local produce and makes up most of the food offered here. Coffee, however, comes from Five Senses and several guest roasters that Feng has connections to in China and Japan. This offers some vastly different flavour profiles than what you’d find at most of the coffee cafes in Melbourne.

Address: 49 Peel St, Collingwood

26. Calere, Fitzroy

Calere is one of the smallest coffee shops in Melbourne, attached to Mo Zhou’s underrated fine diner Gaea on Gertrude Street. Zhou’s partner, Alicia Feng, runs the show with a range of roasts sourced from Ona Coffee.

Having one of Australia’s best coffee roasters on the shelf certainly helps Calere pump out those consistently excellent coffees, offered as either filter or espresso. Beans from regular guest roasters are also available, and Feng keeps a small batch of fresh pastries for the grab-and-go crowd.

Address: 1/166 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

27. Wood & Co., Brunswick

Aaron Wood’s small backyard operation began in 2015, providing small-batch roasted coffee around Melbourne. Wood & Co. grew into a wholesaler before firming up a physical presence in 2019 with this handsome, uncomplicated cafe.

You can pop in to grab a quick can of cold brew or hang around for the most delicious, blended espresso in the area. The menu covers all the usual styles of coffee, enhanced by Wood’s acclaimed blends like Twin Peaks and Sunshine.

While most regulars would pop by for a quick takeaway coffee, there are a few scattered seats for anyone who wants to dine in.

Address: 369 Albert St, Brunswick

28. Core Roasters, Brunswick East

Core Roasters is another fine example of just how experimental Melbourne’s coffee scene has become over the years. Walk straight into that tiny yellow and green facade to find a long coffee bar decorated with gorgeous pastries – trust me, you want a char siu pork tart – and three coffee machines, some custom-built or rigged to perform well above expectation. Who needs a La Marzocco when you can recreate it with sheer ingenuity, right?

The staff at Core Roasters are highly technical and will perform all sorts of miracles to alchemise different flavours into your cup of morning buzz. Details matter here, lifting elements of certain beans through exceptional attention to detail.

We recommend the latte – house-made kaya is infused into the cup with steamed milk and topped with toasted coconut and palm sugar. The $6.50 Kaya latte is something you can only get from Core Roasters, which is why it’s worth travelling for.

Address: 14 Barkly St, Brunswick East

29. The League of Honest Coffee, CBD

“Weird obscure coffee shop down weird obscure laneway" is a common occurrence in Melbourne. The League of Honest Coffee is that coffee house that you kind of just stumble on when walking down Melbourne CBD’s many tight laneways. This one can be found down Exploration Lane.

The Padre Coffee team have nailed the simplicity here. You won’t find much in the way of food – just some Noisette pastries to go – but there’s always an extensive list of single-origin beans from around the world. Pick your terroir, and the affable team will milk out those fine details like it was a competitive sport.

I often prefer The League simply because it’s not as busy as some of the other coffee shops in Melbourne CBD. It’s lesser known, but just as fantastic as city favourites Patricia and Traveller.

Address: 8 Exploration Ln, Melbourne

30. Disciple Roasters, Brunswick

Think of Brunswick’s famous Disciple Roasters as a cellar door for coffee, curated by the founder of Monk Bodhi Dharma to deepen and expand the idea of what specialty coffee tastes like in Melbourne. The cafe has very high standards, but like any good wine bar, the baristas aren’t going to turn their nose up if you don’t know the difference between filter and pour-over.

Some coffees on the menu can fetch well over $200. We’ve never been brave enough to hand over that much cash for caffeine, but even the most haughty coffee cultist has complete faith in Melbourne’s most experienced baristas.

Address: 16 Black St, Brunswick

31. Brioche by Phillip, CBD

The mistake many visitors make when visiting Melbourne is assuming that it’s only the specialty coffee shops that know their way around a bean and its provenance. Bakeries get in on the action as well, often sourcing their stuff straight from some of the best roasters in the game.

For Brioche by Phillip, that source is Five Senses coffee. The B Corp-certified roaster has been seriously impressing coffee snobs across Australia since 2020. This French bakery understands just how to maximise their blends. Plus, you can grab an authentic French baguette and one of the bakery’s award-winning sourdoughs.

Address: 114 Russell St, Melbourne

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Melbourne coffee so famous?

Melbourne’s coffee is so famous because there’s a strong commitment to sourcing high-quality, ethically sourced beans and providing a wide range of specialty coffees. The scene has been built off the back of Greek and Italian immigration after World War II, and so the city’s coffee heritage runs deeper and has evolved over a long period of time.

Who has the best coffee in Melbourne?

Patricia Coffee Roasters, Monk Bodhi Dharma and Traveller Coffee are the frontrunners when we’re discussing who has the best coffee in Melbourne.

Is Melbourne coffee strong?

Melbourne coffee is strong because there’s a reliance on double shot espresso in milk-based drinks, often imparting a more intense, robust flavour while balancing that out with the characteristics of high-quality beans.

Planning a trip to Melbourne? Check out more of our recommendations here:

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