Best Cafes & Brunch Spots on Carlisle Street

Carlisle Street has always been a morning street. In Balaclava, this stretch is where locals go for bagels before work, long brunches on weekends, and some of Melbourne’s best specialty coffee. Along the strip sit old-school roasters, laneway cafes, Jewish bakeries and a few places doing brunch their own way. Here are the hot spots right now.

Quick Picks

• Best specialty coffee: Indus Specialty Coffee for serious coffee and genuine expertise
• Best vegan and plant-based: Monk Bodhi Dharma for vegetarian brunch and specialty coffee down a Balaclava laneway
• Best grab-and-go: Glicks Balaclava for fresh-baked bagels from 6am, a Balaclava institution since 1968
• Best long brunch: Las Chicas for a long brunch and one of Carlisle Street’s classic courtyard cafes
• Best for something different: Cafe Southall for Indian cafe food that breaks away from the usual brunch rotation
• Best coffee heritage: The Coffee Company for hand-roasted beans on Carlisle Street since 1969

The Cafes

1. All Things Equal Cafe

All Things Equal is a social enterprise cafe on the corner of Carlisle and Westbury Streets in Balaclava. Around half the staff are people with disabilities, employed at an award wage as part of a structured training and employment program. The kitchen leans high-protein and plant-forward, with generous portions and a menu that goes beyond standard cafe fare. The room is bright and welcoming. It earns its following on the merits of the food and coffee, not only the mission.

Good for: Brunch, families, groups

Price range: $$

Nearby pick: Glicks Balaclava for a fresh bagel before or after

2. Las Chicas

Las Chicas at 203 Carlisle Street has been a Balaclava brunch staple for more than two decades. The menu covers everything from eggs every way, brekky burritos, the Bikini Blowout Benedict and plenty for longer lunches, built around locally sourced sustainable produce and served with ST ALi coffee. There is a covered courtyard out back, a relaxed bare-brick dining room, and no bookings on weekends. Weekend mornings fill up early.

Good for: Long weekend brunch, groups, coffee lovers

Price range: $$

Nearby pick: Batch Espresso for a quieter second coffee further up the street

3. Batch Espresso

Batch Espresso is a small cafe at 320 Carlisle Street with a chessboard-tiled floor and a small menu that sticks to what works. Breakfast staples dominate, but there are a few less expected dishes — kedgeree alongside more familiar cafe fare. Coffee is consistent, service is personal, and seating is limited. Packs out on weekends but moves at a good pace.

Good for: Breakfast, solo diners, coffee regulars

Price range: $$

Nearby pick: Wall Two Eighty if you want more space and a longer sit-down

4. The Coffee Company

The Coffee Company at 260 Carlisle Street has been hand-roasting coffee in Balaclava since 1969. Less a cafe than a roastery and retail shop. Here you can watch the beans being roasted in-store, choose from single origins and blends, and have them ground to order for any brewing method, including Turkish. Still one of the best places on Carlisle Street to buy coffee beans.

Good for: Coffee purists, bean buying, watching the roasting process

Price range: $

Nearby pick: Indus Specialty Coffee if you want to sit down and drink in

5. Monk Bodhi Dharma

Monk Bodhi Dharma is at the rear of 202 Carlisle Street, down a laneway beside the Woolworths carpark in Balaclava. A converted warehouse-style space with exposed brick and a long communal table. Coffee runs to single origins, pour overs and batch brew from Disciple Roasters. The food is fully vegetarian, with most dishes adaptable to vegan. The signature chai is worth ordering alongside breakfast. Open since 2009 and still one of the best brunch spots on the Balaclava strip.

Good for: Specialty coffee, vegetarian and vegan brunch, a slower morning

Price range: $$

Nearby pick: All Things Equal Cafe for another plant-forward option on Carlisle Street

6. Indus Specialty Coffee

Indus Specialty Coffee is a small cafe on Carlisle Street run by Ajay, a certified Q Grader and former national coffee championship judge. Fair trade beans, roasted in St Kilda. The food is compact: Mediterranean sandwiches, jaffles, and homemade brownies, with a takeaway window for a quick stop and limited seating inside. Small, focused and serious about coffee.

Good for: Specialty coffee, grab-and-go, quick weekday stop

Price range: $-$$

Nearby pick: The Coffee Company if you want to buy beans to take home afterwards

7. Tomi Your Local Italian Mate

Tomi at 310 Carlisle Street does Roman-style pizza al taglio by the slice alongside focaccia, panini, pastries and espresso. The dough is properly fermented with a crisp base and light interior. A good midday stop when eggs on sourdough is not what you are after. In the evenings, it shifts to aperitivo mode with a wine list and Italian small plates.

Good for: Quick daytime bite, Italian coffee, pizza by the slice

Price range: $-$$

Nearby pick: Batch Espresso for a full sit-down breakfast nearby

8. Wall Two Eighty

Wall Two Eighty at 280 Carlisle Street is one of the busier cafes on the strip, especially on sunny mornings when the pavement tables fill early. The menu leans into Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours rather than standard brunch staples, and the room has the easy familiarity of a place built around regulars rather than weekend hype.

Good for: Brunch, coffee, a relaxed morning

Price range: $$

Nearby pick: Glicks Balaclava two doors down if you want a bagel alongside

9. Glicks Balaclava

Glicks has been baking on Carlisle Street since 1968. Kosher bagels, challah, rugelach, dips and pastries, open from 6 am. There is usually a queue, and it moves quickly. Not a cafe in the sit-down sense, you grab your order and eat on the street or take it home. No guide to morning food in Balaclava is complete without it.

Good for: Grab-and-go, bagels, early mornings

Price range: $

Nearby pick: Wall Two Eighty for a coffee to go with it

10. Cafe Southall

Cafe Southall is an Indian cafe and restaurant on Carlisle Street, drawing on the food culture of Southall in West London, known for its South Asian restaurants and cafes. Less smashed avocado, more masala. The menu features homemade curries, chai and dishes you will not find on any other brunch menu in Balaclava. A strong option for vegetarians and anyone who wants a genuinely different morning out.

Good for: Indian brunch, chai, vegetarians, a change of pace

Price range: $$

Nearby pick: Monk Bodhi Dharma for another vegetarian-friendly option on the strip