The Best Cafes and Coffee Shops in Brighton, Melbourne

Located on Church Street, Brighton Soul serves vibrant, picture-perfect breakfasts and delicious coffee, making it the go-to café on the bayside. Customers can choose between the quirky indoor space or the relaxed outdoor area, both of which provide the ideal atmosphere to laze the day away. Must-try meals include Matcha Japanese pancakes, Nutella and Oreo Megashake, Blue Hippie smoothie bowl, and the pork, ginger and chive dumplings.

Situated on the homeward bound platform of Middle Brighton train station, Track Three Espresso is a trendy café renowned for serving artisan coffee and a contemporary menu. Established by Mannie Dittmer, Track Three Espresso caters to famished commuters and locals with a breakfast, lunch and tapas menu. The café also showcases seasonal coffee blends from Clark St Roasters. The name was inspired by Dittmer’s affinity with vinyl records, which only stop spinning on Friday nights when the live music takes over.

Established in 2009 by Frances Roberts and Gabrielle Evans, Marmalade is a cozy cafe known for its generous gourmet breakfasts and extensive lunch menu. For breakfast, the eclectic café offers house-baked sweet and savoury muffins, assorted pastries and fresh croissants and a long list of a la carte options and organic fair-trade coffee. Meanwhile, the tantalizing lunch menu offers homemade soups, pasta, salads and toasted Turkish melts and wraps, made using seasonal produce from the kitchen garden. Marmalade has also recently launched a French provincial style dinner menu on Fridays and Saturdays.

Elvis sang “wise men say, only fools rush in,” but you’d be a fool not to rush to this bayside café. With a relaxed vibe, Wise Men Say on Martin Street is the kind of place at which you could easily spend an entire day. Serving Axil coffee and soul food such as ricotta hotcakes, Japanese salmon croquettes and chicken crumpets with candied bacon and mustard maple, Wise Men Say know how to put the soul in soul food.

Eye-catching with black and white striped awning out front, The Little Ox leaves a big impression on everyone who walks into the corner café. Coconut almond milk porridge, sticky pork belly match burgers, and ricotta hotcakes with caramelised pineapple, lemon curd, crushed macadamias and fresh mint sit comfortably beside brunch classics on the menu. The Little Ox also brews top-notch house-blend coffee, courtesy of RedStar Roasters.