Review Home.one - Brunswick

Love home.one! Wonderful micro cafe, with a brilliant message, and a plant based menu. Sensibly priced quick bites and perfect coffee. Have come back time and time again for the delish porridge 👌

Coffee with a purpose - meaningful encounters: coffee started to spread in Europe through coffee houses. These were melting pots where people met, exchanged, discussed ideas and experiences and learnt from each other. Hence, coffee is bringing people together. That is what I love most about coffee. Every morning I pass a tiny little café on my way to the office called “home.one” by For Change Co.. As I have seven coffee machines available in my own lab, I usually do not order coffees on my way to work. Yet, I like the positive vibes and the look of this particular café. The baristas kept greeting me very friendly. Therefore, I decided to change my routine and stopped this week to order a flat white. While waiting for my coffee, I spotted a QR code on a board and started to read the story about this place and the people involved in the underlying project: “home.one is a flagship social enterprise that exist with the mission of eliminating youth homelessness in Melbourne: it is a micro café nestled into a bustling corner of Brunswick that serves coffee all day alongside artisanal porridge, delicious toasties and homemade treats. In addition to its core impact activities, home.one is hugely innovative in its consideration of the environment – the café uses 100% renewable energy, is totally vegetarian, and has a composting partnership for its coffee grounds.” In their impact report you can read more about their five pillars of sustainable change: a) housing, b) employment, c) education, d) confidence, and e) community. I very much enjoyed my flat white: the milk was well textured to the right temperature and the coffee from Five Senses Coffee [Dark Hourse blend] cut very well through the milk. It was a great harmony between the coffee and the milk. I am very happy to see that specialty coffee is also about taking care of each other and our community in general. Thank you for the delicious flat white, the positive vibes, and the friendly “good morning” every time I pass. Should you be around Brunswick, please go and have a look, it is a lovely place, with very nice people (both the baristas as well as the customers). It is absolutely worth it.

This place is so cute. Order from the window and sit outside in the 'parklet'. I ordered an oat milk latte which was very tasty and a brekkie toastie. The bread on the toastie was so lovely but there was too much conflicting flavours with the aioli, bbq sauce and sourkraut. I will be back to try the other toasties though.

Some of the best toasties I've had with generous amount of fillings and quality ingredients. The one with mushroom, pesto and sun dried tomato in particular, was outrageously good! All vegan, and for a good cause, too. Definitely recommend!

First the kine and this, what's going on with Brunswick cafes? Ppl who work there are too cool for hospitality, makes me feel like they are paying me money and I owe them something. The worst Chai I've had in Melb, besides the sprinkle of cinnamon on top, the rest is just milk with no spice nor tea flavour at all. The concept and intention is great. I wish I could support this shop but unfortunately I won't go back again.

Good coffe and friendly staff, close to Anstey station so you can pick your coffee on the way

Amazing! This place has the best breakie sandwich I have ever tasted in my life! Staff are friendly.

I've been enjoying a after gym sandwich and muffin from Home.One for a few weeks now. So great that its on my way home and all vegan! The soy iced chocolate is amazing too!

Inspiring space with an inviting community feel. Serving beautifully crafted coffee and small bites. Highly recommend.

Three-Bears have the most creative and gosh darn delicious breakfast menu! So so yummy, and all for a good cause!!!

They have really nice filter coffee, the apple crumble porridge is to die for and they happily accomodate dietary requirements. Best of all its for a great cause. Huge fan of the indoor seating on weekends too. Great job guys!

Amazing food, amazing location and amazing service. Definitely recommend

The coffee and food is delicious! This place has an amazing atmosphere ands its full of amazing people!!

Delicious porridge, great coffee & a wonderful business model. Thank you - See you again, soon!

Porridge was fantastic, can’t wait to try a bagel next time. Wonderful cause �

Lovely chai (made with loose leaf) served with a smile. Really welcoming feels

Great coffee and great food. Thanks for encouraging me to try oat milk! Goodbye soy caps, hello oat milk cappuccinos! Great initiative too, and great space.

Such a super cute little social enterprise cafe. Literally just a window, but there's plenty of outdoor seating around. Prices are affordable, staff are friendly and vegan options are abundant. I tried a mushroom toastie filled with vegan aioli, caramelised onions and some pesto (I think). Needed a bit more salt but was otherwise great.

Such a cute place, with such a good purpose! The bagels we had were delicious, the staff were very warm and friendly, and the coffee was fantastic too!

Amazing porridge on a winter's morning and always top notch coffee! Hole in the wall joints are my favourite thing about Melbourne and this was no exception. Love to see a that it's a cafe going towards a great cause of helping youths experiencing homelessness as well.

I’ve only visited home.one a handful of times to grab a quick coffee and each time has been a great experience whether it was with the staff or the quality of food (the peanut butter bagel was amazing!!). It’s a small cafe that only has seating on the outside so it’s ideal for those that want a quick bite on-the-go. <br/>Later on I found out that it’s a not for profit that helps young Australians who may be facing homelessness. I don’t usually write reviews but I think that everyone in the area should try this place out. You get your amazing Melbourne coffee and also support a great cause! IT”S A WIN-WIN :)

Staff are friendly and I love the compact hole-in-the-wall style layout. Coffee is amazing and it tastes even better knowing that my money is going toward a good cause!

I have visited a few times now for coffee and food. I really like the minimalist vibe of the hole-in-the-wall cafe. I recommend getting the mushroom bagel, it's amazing especially with cream cheese added. For coffee I always ask the barista what they have in single origin and filter - it changes every week.

Porridge, bagels, and coffee, oh my! Super great joe and quick breakfast Such a fun little nook to stop by with friends (or myself) to grab a quick caffeine fix or to have a nice afternoon in. It's cool to see the staff interact with one another, and the fact that proceeds help eliminate youth homelessness is AWESOME.

Have amazing porridge and bagels here regularly, and it's definitely my favourite spot for a coffee, specially on my way to the train. It's not for profit so you make a difference everyday by doing nothing irregular or at extra cost. Love their team, love their idea! 5 stars

Never been more impressed by porridge. Staff are super friendly and I found out many are volunteers as profits from the cafe support young people experiencing homelessness. Good vibes all round.

The food and coffee here is outstanding; staff are all so friendly and it's amazing that they're non-profit and staffed mainly by volunteers!! Everyone feels like a friend here, and staff are great at explaining their impact in the community too. I love the general community vibe, so many families and an amazing range of cafe dogs too :) :) :) :) Love this place.

Delicious food, great quality coffee and all for good cause! The staff are super lovely & the whole menu can be made vegan👌🏻👌🏻 big fan of the apple crumble porridge and the banana/peanut butter bagel

Amazing overall experience at home.one! They have a fantastic model and the staff are lovely and welcoming.<br/>I was recommended the savoury porridge, I was at first apprehensive about this choice but it was a delicious alternative to regular porridge. Containing; groats, mushroom, dukkah crusted pumpkin, basil pesto, cashew cream, pine nuts, cherry tomato, crispy kale chips, shallots and bagel chips. Coffee was perfect. Can’t wait to try the bagels next time!

I think it’s a great initiative, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the bagels and I thought they were overpriced. I’m not sure how they’ll fair in winter as there is only outside seating with no cover. Coffee was good though

I was attracted by the not-for-profit concept, and now I'm just in love with this place. Even by Brunswick standards, the coffee is excellent. My personal menu favourites are the peaking 'Duck' (Vegan) bagel and the chocolate.one (banana, cacao, salted date-caramel) smoothie.

This place is pretty good. I recommend it. Always like trying new places. I did enjoy my food. I got porridge. Pretty hard to stuff up porridge. But good concept. Perhaps I will come back. Coffee was ok.

Great little cafe underneath a beautiful building in Brunswick. Coffee was brilliant and the porridge was delicious. Keen to come back here to try the bagels, but overall a fantastic spot to hang out with a coffee! Love it!

Can't go past a non-profit café that doesn't compromise on quality. <br/>My personal favourites are the 'daily grind' bircher (overnight oats infused with cacao) and the peking 'duck' (all vegan) bagel.

incredible coffee, and a delicious completely vegan friendly menu, as a coeliac being able to enjoy a naked (bageless) 'duck' bagel was such a wonderful surprise- the social impact is just the cherry on the top!! ask the staff about their social impact, and the fact theyre totally fossil free! (and how!)

Amazing coffee and food - the porridge is delicious!! Its a perfect spot to go a pick up a coffee or a smoothie on a Saturday following a morning run

Great coffee and food (had an incredible smoothie!) Staff were really friendly. Amazing concept too! Would definitely recommend!! Love love love

What a great concept- I love what these guys are doing to contribute to our community. The food is fresh, made with yummy, quality ingredients, and the coffee is delicious.

Unreal porridge and oats, a perfect breakfast spot. Super keen to check out the bagels soon! Coffee was incredible too, the blends are out of this world. Great find!

Fantastic atmosphere, with very friendly staff. I have had a coffee and choc one, both were delicious. I will be coming back for more! Can't wait to try the 'daily grind' it looked great! Big fan!<br/><br/>Ps. With 100% of their profits invested into eliminating youth homelessness and feeding hungry school kids this social enterprise is something I strongly support. <br/>

Deadly coffee & bites within one of the most amazing communities. I want to live here! The "Daily Grind" oats was fantastically delicious and filling. Coffee was terrific and I ended up goig back for seconds. The coffee and food filled my belly, whilst the cafe's purpose (eradication of youth homelessness) satisfied my soul! I will definitely be coming back regularly to try out their full menu. Well done everyone involved.

Yummmo, what a nice little find! Grabbed the (vegan) Peking Duck bagel which was super delicious, along with a ripper coffee! Learnt that home.one invests 100% of its profits into two awesome initiatives: Crêpes for Change (youth homelessness) and Eat Up (feeding hungry kids)! Great food and coffee as well as contributing to great causes, I'll definitely be back!!

You really can't get any better. Delicious food that is beautifuly presented, friendly and kind staff, and did I mention the food? It's AMAZING. I had the Morning Grind bircher. Absolutely brilliant! Definitely coming back for more. 💛💛💛