8 Cafes in Geelong You Must Visit Today

I’m on a mission to discover the best cafes in Australia. This time, I’m visiting fabulous cafes in Geelong.

After a really hard couple of years of COVID. Cafes are doing it tough. Cafes have always been a popular place for me to meet friends, catch up on the news, or just relax. Now sadly, you can walk through any town in Australia and see cafes who have had to close their doors.

I want to help in any way I can. I have decided to dedicate my blog to finding the best Cafes in Australia and shine a light on them. It’s time to get out and support these wonderful cafes. I have already uncovered fabulous cafes in Collingwood, amazing cafes in New Farm and brilliant cafes in Richmond.

I want to go right round this beautiful country of ours and narrow in on regions, cafes and coffee roasters to find exactly where the best cafes are.

Where is the best espresso bar? Who serves up a killer piccolo latte? Do cafes in Geelong have a better recipe for chai latte than those cafes in Surry Hills? What’s the answer to the age-old question; cappuccino verses latte. Who serves the best bubble tea in Geelong?

I'm so excited. I can’t wait to find out!

The Geelong West Social Club

Located at 1B Yullie Street Geelong. The Geelong West Social Club is the place to be. On any given morning, this lovely little cafe is packed with mums with prams, lycra-clad cyclists and suit-wearing businesspeople all huddled together waiting for their daily coffee fix.

The space has a strong Scandinavian influence. The menu at the Geelong West Social Club is simple but amazing. There are a few delicious looking cakes and pastries and a selection of bagels supplied by Melbourne’s NY Bagels. It pays to get in very early, as this little café is super busy and the bagels sell out most days.

The Social Club sources its delicious coffee beans from Coffee Supreme and they certainly know how to pour a great cup.

Coffee Cartel Brew Bar

Located at 1-80 Little Malop Street Geelong. The Coffee Cartel Brew Bar is one of the smaller cafes in the city. It only has one communal table and a few seats by the window. Nonetheless, its coffee is on point and always draws a big crowd.

Opened in 2014, the Brew Bar showcases the amazing coffee roasted at the Cartel’s Geelong Roastery. After hours, the cafe becomes a training facility to teach skills ranging from coffee tasting and latte art, to whisky and tea pairing.

One of the goals of the Brew Bar is to change attitudes towards coffee. Prices for a single brew range up to $10. Encouraging the idea that not all coffee is created equal and that a carefully farmed, processed and roasted coffee is worth paying a bit extra for.

The Coffee Cartel deal only with traceable coffee that is high grown and high-grade, ensuring the highest quality is met at all times. From crop to cup they add value and sustainability to the farmers and families of coffee growing countries across the world.

In terms of food there is a nice selection of sandwiches and amazing looking muffins for that mid-morning break. The main focus here is on the coffee. It is fabulous.

King of the Castle

Located at 24 Pakington Street Geelong. King of the Castle first opened in a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in 2013. It’s now housed in a refurbished auto repair shop, just down the street from the original site. The fit-out has stayed consistent with their industrial roots. The space also has a commercial kitchen, gelato stand, coffee bar and a cabinet stocked with mouth-watering choccy cakes.

The menu is all locally sourced and has a wide variety of delicious eats. From Anzac hotcakes, to vegan, gluten-free sticky black rice with poached peach and almond custard. One of my favourites here is the Crispy Cauliflower Tacos. Its fried turmeric cauliflower bites, corn tortillas, slaw, pickles, house made vegan aioli, jalapenos, mint and coriander, sesame seeds, shallots and sweet potato fries. If you’re after something sweet for breakfast, the Apple Crumble Porridge is absolutely out of this world. Its creamy vanilla oat porridge, cinnamon crumble, rhubarb, stewed apple, sultanas, coconut yoghurt and maple syrup.

Eddy and Wills

Located at 130 Church Street Hamlyn Heights. Eddy and Wills takes the cafe experience back to basics. Despite a quiet residential location. An ethos of simple food, great coffee and even better service has allowed this warm little café to establish a big following of loyal locals and visitors alike.  

The menu is great with a wide range of dishes. For breakfast, there is a delicious Veggie Breakfast with eggs, halloumi, roasted tomato, mushroom, spinach, potato rosti on seeded sourdough toast. If you are at Eddy and Wills for lunch the Thai Chicken Salad is great. Its marinated chicken, asian slaw, cashews, sesame seeds, red onion, cucumber and crispy noodles with a coconut, chilli and coriander dressing. The Veggie Burger is also fabulous. It’s a veggie patty with beetroot relish, avocado, cheese, red onion, mayonnaise and rocket, served with crinkle cut chips.

The coffee is also on point at Eddy and Wills and is supplied by Brunswick's Code Black Coffee Roasters.  

Little Green Corner

Located at 42 Little Ryrie Street Geelong. Little Green Corner serves strictly seasonal food while creating minimal waste in the process. Its my kind of cafe.

Cordials are made from excess fruit. Organic milk is delivered in stainless steel pails and excess milk from the coffee machine is collected and made into ricotta. For those locals who have a well-stocked veggie garden, Little Green Corner is more than happy to trade coffee for produce.

The menu is made up of four delicious breakfast and lunch options. The menu is limited to showcase the seasonal produce from the Little Green Corner farm in nearby Waurn Ponds. In line with the spirit of minimal waste, there are no paper menus. Only a large felt letter board advertising the meals of the day.

Born & Bread Bakehouse

Located at 2 / 364 Pakington Street Newtown. Born and Bread opened in January 2013. The name is a tribute to the bakery’s history. The owner has followed in his father and grandfathers footsteps and become a third generation baker.

Born and Bread specialise in rustic breads made using time-honoured recipes. Ingredients include local organic flour, milk and butter. The seed and polenta sourdough is next level amazing.

On weekends, there is always a crowd out the door and up the street waiting to get a loaf.

63 Degrees Highton

At 87 Barabool Road Highton you will find 63 Degrees. An early starter in Geelong’s now oh so fabulous café scene. It’s a local icon. The café opened in 2006, followed with the opening of 63 Degrees Pakington Street in 2007. They are both great cafes and draw huge crowds on a regular basis, especially on weekends.  

The two cafes share a healthy, colourful approach to food. The menu is delicious and includes all the classics like smashed avocado and chilli fried eggs. My favourite breakfast dish here is the Winter Greens Plate with roasted broccolini, zucchini, cauliflower, beetroot and halloumi with poached eggs and spiced labna. For lunch the Baked Salmon bowl with spiced corn, quinoa, buckwheat, sweet potato, broccoli, avocado and pickled cabbage is delicious. If you’re after something on the go their Toasted Sandwich is definitely worth a look. It’s a toasted sandwich with salad on sourdough or white bread. You can choose from ham, cheese, tomato, bacon, chicken, avocado, spinach, egg, red onion, mayo, dijon mustard or chipotle.

Their coffee is from Clark Street Coffee Roasters in Melbourne. They even have a Martini-style shaken iced latte, and the roasted-marshmallow hot chocolate is pretty hard to pass up on a cold Geelong morning.

Bear and Bean

Located at 7 Warner Place in Geelong. Bear and Bean is the owner’s long-term dream brought to life.

The cafe is warm and inviting. I ordered a second coffee, just so I could hang around a bit longer. Their very friendly staff create an inviting and cosy atmosphere. The garden area is a great place to soak up some sunshine.

Bear and Bean are driven by their passion for flavours and aroma. They provide an unparalleled dining and event experience, whether you are there for breakfast, lunch, tapas, coffee, or drinks.

A priority at Bear and Bean is to keep their menu health-conscious and easy to take on the road. Those who have food allergies will be pleased to note there are gluten-free and dairy-free options available.

I had the Turkish Eggs with lemon, poppy sees and chive yogurt, poached eggs, spinach, chickpeas, caramelised onion, croutons and XO sauce. It was amazing.

The coffee blends are sourced from DC Coffee Roasters and there is also a great variety of smoothies, pressed juices and hot chocolates available.