Sober-Friendly Bars and Venues
Brunswick Aces Distillery & Ginny’s Bar
Was previously 100% alcohol-free and now does serve some leaded bevs but is still Melbourne’s most dedicated alcohol-free bar and distillery. Their spirit of choice is a gin-style botanical-based spirit called Sapiir.
Mon - Fri 10am to 5pm
Cafe Gummo
When not hosting gigs or events, this antifascist dive bar-slash-community space is a great place to hang out sans-alcohol. Instead, grab a Club Mate and one of the regularly rotating snacks like $10 pierogies or $5 quesadillas.
Tues 5pm to 10pm / Wed 5pm to 11pm / Thurs 5pm to 1am / Fri 5pm to 3am / Sat 3pm - 3am / Sun 3pm to 11pm
Black Cat
They’re open all day and serve coffee until around 6 (depending on the day). Outside vibes tend to be rowdier while inside is nice for chill hangs on the couches or in a booth as long as the music isn’t too loud.
Mon - Tues 12pm to 12am / Wed - Sat 12pm to 1am / Sun 12pm to 12am
3000 Books
Indie community library and performance space in Fitzroy with 3000+ borrowable books. You’re welcome to borrow one and go but as a “meeting space and salon for thought exchange” the shop also invites patrons to linger.
Board Game Cafes
Marche Board Game Cafe
They’ve got hundreds of games to choose from but the Taiwanese food menu is just as big a draw with popcorn chicken, bao and lou rou fan, a braised pork belly rice bowl. Plus, the entire drink menu is alcohol-free with tea, milkshakes, fruit soda and mocktails.
Mon - Thurs 2pm to 11pm / Fri & Sat 2pm to 1am / Sun 2pm to 11pm
Pause Menu
Tucked down Rose Street, Pause Menu embodies the same chill cafe vibes as previous tenant Grace Fitzroy but is now open late for game nights and casual drinks. They do serve alcohol but also have mocktails like the Scottish Sour or Negroni Spritz plus coffee and vegan-friendly toasties.
Wed - Fri 5pm to 11pm / Sat 10am to 11pm / Sun 11am to 10pm
Temple Arden
Temple specialises in tabletop strategy games and hosts group game nights several nights a week. But they also operate as an all-day cafe with tea, coffee, Mörk hot chocolate and baked goods served until late.
Mon - Thurs 8am to 3pm / Fri 8am to 10pm / Sat 9am to 6pm / Sun 9am to 3:30pm
All-Day Cafes
sunhands
sunhands is a gem for several reasons. 1) The mixed plates. 2) They’re open on Mondays. 3) They serve coffee and non-alcoholic bevs ‘til deep into the evening, Thursday through Monday.
Hours: Mon 10am - 9pm, Tues & Wed 10am to 4pm, Thurs 10am to 9pm, Fri & Sat
Heartattack & Vine
sunhand’s established older sibling down the street on Lygon. Zero-proof cocktails and coffee all day from 8 ‘til late make it one of Carlton’s best meeting spots, date spots or pre-drink spots before catching a cheap Monday movie at Nova.
Mon - Thurs 8am to 10pm / Fri & Sat 8am to 11pm / Sun 8am to 9pm
Good Measure
When Good Measure first opened, it was a sleepy spot with Sade and vinyl and enough elbow room to work from your laptop undisturbed. Now, there are lines down the block for their Mont Blancs. But if you can get in, it’s a vibe.
Mon 8am to 11pm / Tues & Wed 8am to 5pm / Thurs 8am to 11pm / Fri & Sat 8am to 1am / Sun 8am to 11pm
Brunetti Classico Carlton
It’s unlikely you’ll ever struggle to find a seat here. You could probably manage to loiter outside without ordering something, but it’s hard to look past the cassata Siciliana and an espresso.
Mon - Thurs 6am to 10pm / Fri & Sat 6am to 11:30pm / Sun 6am to 10pm
Sleepy’s
A gem of Nicholson street serving up a rotating slate of community-driven pop-ups and refreshingly unpretentious hospitality. By day, find Cantonese-inspired breakfast and coffee and at night, go for non-alcs from Supermate, Heaps Normal and Monceau.
Mon & Tues 7:30am to 3pm / Wed - Fri 7:30am to 3pm, 5 to 10pm / Sat 8am to 3pm, 5 to 10pm / Sun 8am to 3pm
Cathedral Coffee
One of the few remaining holdouts of the Nicholas Building, Cathedral is a saving grace for late-night coffee dates in the city. They’re open ‘til 11pm on Wednesday through Saturday for snacks, lattes and cheeky Subway cookies snuck in from across the hall.
Mon - Wed 7:30am to 3:30pm / Wed - Fri 7:30 am to 11pm / Sat 8am to 11pm
Tea Houses
Yugen Tea Bar
Not one for the tight-fisted, Yugen should be reserved for the dates you’re trying to impress. Their teas range from $7 for South African rooibos to $19 for a 2007 pu’er from Yunnan or $105+ for a high tea set with several tea varieties and patisserie.
Wed - Fri 6 to 10pm / Sat & Sun 12 to 4:30pm, 6 to 10pm
Dropout Chaiwala
With locations on Spencer Street, Elizabeth Street and La Trobe Street, you’re never far from a Dropout Chaiwala. The stores sell Indian-style filter coffee and seven varieties of chai until as late as midnight at the Elizabeth Street store.
Mon - Sun 7am to 12am (Elizabeth Street)
Dessert Bars
Scoopy
One of the OG shaved ice spots is now in a newer, better, larger location on La Trobe Street after outgrowing its Brick Lane pop-up. You can now choose your own base and toppings, and there’s plenty of seating for groups of all sizes.
Mon & Tues 1pm to 10pm / Wed - Sat 1pm to 11pm / Sun 1pm to 10pm
Sulbing
Korean bingsu shop with British sensibilities (see red telephone box marking the entrance). It’s open all day until late and serves coffee and cakes if you’re not feeling a bingsu, though the yuzu matcha or injeolmi are a must-try.
Mon - Thurs 1pm to 10pm / Fri 1pm to 11pm / Sat 12pm to 11pm / Sun 12pm to 10pm
Pancake Parlour Melbourne Central
Open late, centrally-located, predictable, vegan-friendly. Nothing hits quite like a chocolate malt and a short stack at 10pm. They do serve alcohol, shockingly, but there’s also tea, coffee and housemade lemonade.
Mon - Thurs 8am to 11pm / Fri & Sat 8am to 1am / Sun 8am to 11pm
Mr HUGO
Not to be confused with Hugo’s Deli, this one’s a late-night Japanese crepe shop in the city. In addition to crepes and galettes, they serve specialty lattes (matchamisu, anyone?) and sodas topped with scoops of housemade ice cream.
Thurs 4pm to 11pm / Fri 4pm to 11:30pm / Sat 2pm to 11:30pm / Sun 2pm to 10:30pm
Tori’s
Tori’s may be the CBD’s cosiest cafe. The shabby chic collection of couches are always full but worth the wait, as are the matcha lattes, yuzu madeleines and burnt Basque cheesecakes. And they’re open ‘til 6pm, long after most city cafes have closed.
Mon - Sun 10am to 6pm
Chapelli’s
One of Melbourne’s few remaining 24-hour eateries (on Thursdays through Saturdays, at least). Settle in with a slice of lemon meringue pie and a long black and channel the late-night diner energy we are so desperately lacking.
Mon - Wed 6am to 3pm / Thurs 6am to 12am / Fri & Sat 24 hrs / Sun 6am to 3pm
Pellegrini’s
Yes, the coffee will be frothy, but that’s not why you’re here. It’s so you can pretend you’re in a 1950s-era New York-Italian luncheonette.
Mon - Thurs 8am to 9pm / Fri & Sat 8am to 10pm
Palette at Night
ICYMI, Korean cafe Palette also has a nighttime operation serving croffles, cakes and an alcohol-free drink range of specialty tea and coffee. There are also rotating specials like the sweet and savoury tomato and basilade.
Mon - Sun 7 to 11pm
Kumo
Fluffy souffle pancakes are the obvious draw at this subterranean dessert bar, which pulls lines all the way down Melbourne Central. But there are also ube lattes and hot chocolates made with “ceremonial grade” cacao.