Review Short Black Cafe - Richmond

Coffee was ok but thats about it. Place looked tired, and the cookies were stale. It is cheaper than other options nearby. I don't see a connection between the other reviews which are so positive and the place that I walked into...

The owners and staff were super friendly and the food is great! Will be back soon as I really loved the coffee

Excellent coffee, vegetarian breakfast well presented & with a good choice of ingredients. Four stars only because of ambience.

This is a busy little cafe. The juices are fresh and tasty, The breakfasts are fantastic. And we had a seafood pasta for lunch, that also was great.

Friendly staff, enjoyed the food, good value.

We met at Short Black with friends this morning and were very happy with the food and the service. They were short staffed, but the lady who ran it was a one-woman army! Man, she worked hard, kept her cool, and did such a great job. I learned that all the chairs in their courtyard + a bunch of supplies had been stolen during the lockdown. Pretty damn awful when cafes are struggling. Grrrrr. Anyway, we were so impressed by the boss-lady and the food and the service that we left a massive tip. An excellent, well-run little cafe. Very happy to recommend it.

This place has been around for a long time and have always found the coffee to be great. Plus the owners and staff are really lovely - always helpful and nice to have a chat to when they have time. We had some lovely fresh cakes with our coffee with was nice and hot. On the weekends this place gets busy so you may have to wait for a table - well worth the wait. Takeaway available. Dietaries catered for. Wheelchair friendly. Kid friendly. Pram/stroller accessible. Reasonable parking out the front.

Super convenient and so cheap! The quality of food that they serve is certainly above average in the area and for a much more competitive rate. I will always consider myself a loyal customer as it's right across the road from me and the service is superb. Love it. I go for the food but come back for the friendly service and experience.

I was in Melbourne for work and had breakfast 3 mornings at this lovely cafe. The staff were super friendly and attentive, even remenbering our drink order from the first day! The food was outstanding, especially the omelettes. My fellow colleagues loved the coffee and the freshly squeezed juices were delicious (with staff being flexible with the combination of flavours we requested). All this for very reasonable prices...would highly recommend to anyone and will be certainly going back if I'm ever in the area again! Thank you Short Black!!!

Stopped in for a very yummy chicken caesar sandwich and soy chai latte before a long drive back to Canberra. Good price. Lovely young lady at the door was very helpful. Will definitely visit again :)

Short Black - Robert and Arleen and the staff are delightful. We feel like family so go every day for our coffee fix. They know how we love it, hot! Just right every time. The have the best variety of brrekky and lunch.

Best Coffee in Melbourne. The staff make you feel most welcome. Great food at reasonable prices.

Popped in quickly to grab a takeaway as they are close to my hairdresser, so nice and convenient. This end of Bridge Road is a bit quieter compared to the other end, so finding a cafe that was open was a dilemma. However, Short Black make a really good cuppa and the staff were really nice. <br/><br/>The vibe is friendly and I would be happy to grab another coffee next time I have a hair appointment.

This place has been around for a long time and have always found the coffee to be great. Plus the owners and staff are really lovely - always helpful and nice to have a chat to when they have time. <br/>We had some lovely fresh cakes with our coffee with was nice and hot. On the weekends this place gets busy so you may have to wait for a table - well worth the wait. Takeaway available. Dietaries catered for.<br/>Wheelchair friendly. Kid friendly. Pram/stroller accessible. Reasonable parking out the front.<br/><br/>

We only had fresh juice here as the food did not look inviting as it was all wrapped up in glad wrap and the sweets were in their original boxes. It's probably more hygienic than places which openly and artistically present their food as flies wouldn't be able to get to the food but presentation is important to tempt the eater.

My go to for coffee. Come here every morning for my coffee fix, always friendly and great coffee. Don’t mind a bacon and egg muffin and piece of banana bread either

We love Short Black, great coffee and always get served with smile. Always a busy cafe, can always count on them for a yummy creamy coffee with quick efficient service

Good place. Obliging too. A simple place without any air of grandeur. They served me late in the day here probably long after they should have been closed. I was sent outside onto Bridge Road to enable cleaning of the cafe proper but that was a good thing. It was nice sitting outside. I ordered a cappuccino and a tomato, ham and cheese toastie. Couldn’t have been happier. The toastie was a good. Inexpensive but large and full of flavour. Good seeded bread used as well. The coffee was good too. Rich, creamy and substantive. They could have told me to nick off here but they didn’t. Love it. It’s worth love and points.

I went to Short Black with my girlfriend. We had the Mediterranean and Asian scrambled eggs. The food was delicious and price friendly. It might not look like a fancy place on the outside but the owner is the chef at this cafe and cooks with passion. I asked to substitute the tomatoes with spinach and they didn’t fuss at all. Appreciated the small gesture. Cheers would come again.

We’re strolling down along Bridge Road, Richmond in the one fine day and accidentally passed this humbly looking cafe called – Short Black Cafe. Checked out their menu and quite amazed by the variety of dishes (around 60-70 options) offered by this cafe;. From the Italian food (pasta, risotto, gnocchi, bruschetta), some of Asian style food, burgers, fish and chips, mainstream brunch dishes and salad.

Friendly cafe and with a variety of affordable meals! Honestly for the price it was quite good so I can't complain haha<br/><br/>Give it a try if you don't mind average plating compared to expensive pretty meals from other cafes

It was brunch time so I called into this little cafe today. For a small place it was quite busy. The service was really nice. <br/><br/>Based on previous Zom reviews I read that said the coffee was really good I ordered a coffee. <br/><br/>I started w a strong skinny latte which was pretty average to say the least. In fact it was so bad I couldn't finish it. Even more disappointing as it was my first coffee for the day! <br/><br/>The BLT was great but let down by some cheap bread which was dry and thin. <br/><br/>Overall this place was alright, with some highlights but some lows too. But when I left this cafe was buzzing w ppl which was good.

A decent cafe located at bridge road. Came here for a take away coffee and breakfast. The food is very pretty average but good value for money. Huge portion for a small stomach like me. Coffee is great. A good place to have a quick breakfast if you live nearby.

Best fried chips ever. It’s the first time I’ve been here but won’t be the last. Friendly service. <br/>Mushroom Risotto is beautiful too and well cooked. It’s a must try.

What a relief to find a place that has all day breakfast & good gf options. It’s not the most glam place in the world but the staff are friendly, the good is excellent (the best porridge) & the atmosphere is really nice. Oh, and great value too! Porridge was just $8.50<br/>On this horrible rainy day in Melbourne it’s a little haven

Gee getting a latte on Bridge Road was a bit of a struggle...as most of the coffee places I remember are now all boarded up, a little sad really. However we did find this cafe which was nothing fancy but did offer great out door seating and served great ice coffee and latte with their own coffee blend. It was nice and smooth.

After a run, nothing tastes better than fresh mango blended into honey yoghurt. Great service and friendly staff :) will come back here again!

Same owners as Paesano Restaurant in Knox, the menu, layout and ambience at Short Black Cafe is quite similar to those at Paesano, but with a slightly smaller feel in the Camberwell sister venue. Staff service is accommodating and friendly, though when we visited the staff could have used a bit more knowledge about the menu and venue. As at Paesano, the 24 month aged Prosciutto is the best we've had in Melbourne! Served with pancetta, ham and salami, as well as field mushrooms, olives and sardines, their antipasto platter is one you must try when visiting either of these restaurants. Their Tiramisu freakshake was also delicious, with real Tiramisu cake inside the shake, as well as on the plate too. Decadence to the max.

Ordered a cappuccino which was far too hot, I couldn't even hold the cup after it was doubled. Coffee is over extracted, milk is burnt, and $4.50 down the drain.

ummm what can i say...i was devastated the amazing little Italian cafe next door shut down so being time poor and Hungary and time poor i settled... coffee tastes like dirt... breakfast was thrown together in less then ten minutes... Its clear this place is only open to make money and takes no pride in their food or coffee... I would only eat here if I was desperate or a tradie with a hangover who forgot their lunch....

Hi-vis tradie style cafe serving morning classics like egg 'n bacon rolls. Somewhere your grandparents are likely to choose and order and extra-hot, extra-large mugachino.<br/>Can't comment on food, gets decent big portion style reviews from friends caught out, but don't come looking for serious coffee. Outlet shoppers only.

Don't judge a book by it cover - great little place for a quick bite to eat!<br/><br/>The decor is not super trendy or anything but the food is generous, tasty and cheap. Their BLT & bacon & egg toasted sandwiches are the best and portions are quite large. (almost couldn't finish my BLT)  Service is efficient, friendly and effective. <br/>Oh, the coffees are good too, especially at only $3.

Our go to cafe in Richmond. Lovely staff, a charming non pretentious venue and delicious food at reasonable prices. Big portion sizes with the eggs Benedict and linguine carbonara. Would recommend.

Home to the biggest baddest Parmigiana within a 25 m radius. Yes that's right, you can't find a better Parma within 1/4 of a 100 metres. The price - meal size ratio calculated scientifically using  t_{1/2} = {ln 2}/{ε + β+}. This is really good stuff guys and means that you get maximum food for minimum price, sometimes i find myself questioning how they turn a profit out. Staff are almost always new meaning that they don't have time to learn that you are the, warm, 1/2 strength, decaf, mocha guy.

Not the best. Not particularly clean, no atmosphere, sickly sweet lattes, very average breakfasts - other meals may be nice but avoid the French toast and pancakes. Silver lining being they only charge average prices for average food so you don't feel ripped off by the substandard experience.

10/10. Very good parma and customer service. Would eat again! :-D

For the best poached eggs at a cafe give Short Black Cafe a try. You won't be disappointed. Terrific value for money. Try the Aussie breakfast at ony $13<br/>

Oh my gosh, this place does amazing burgers. I've come here a few times with friends and family and I have thoroughly enjoyed every time. The staff are super friendly and the outdoors area is quite charming. I'd highly recommend this café as a standout on Bridge Road.

Amazing coffee with great prices. Sometimes it will take a while to get your coffee but it will be well worth it once the amazing froth hits your lips on the way to work. I recommend getting up an extra 10 minutes earlier and stopping by before catching the tram to work. Also make sure you get the Large, it's only 3.50.

We found this place by accident about a year ago and have been coming here ever since. It's not a fancy brunch place with overly creative dishes to bring friends from out of town but it is a brilliant local cafe packed with all the lunch/breakfast staples you could ever want. The menu range is HUGE and everything is super affordable. Everything I've tried so far has been delicious and the portions are more than generous. Always takes me half an hour to choose what I want because there are sooo many good options! I also love the all the fancy brunch spots in Richmond, but this is a total winner in my books and somewhere to return to again and again. Also, the staff are super lovely and happily let us bring our dog out into the cute back courtyard. Plus, how can you not love a place that serves breakfast all day?!

Dined here for lunch on Saturday with 3 girlfriends and a bub. We managed to land a sunny spot outside on the footpath which was a great spot to watch the world go by.  No high-chairs which was a bit odd for a cafe but we managed without one...just!  The food was delish!  Menu is a pretty mixed bag so there is lots to chose from, including different cuisines.  2 of us ordered the beef burger and chips (it is massive!) and couldn't finish it.  We are big eaters but this was like a double sized burder with 2 x eggs in it.  We will go halves next time.  Pene pasta was ordered and that was also huge!  More like 2 x main serves.  Very tasty and plenty left to doggy bag.  Coffee was also good - will definatley return and try other things on the menu if I can look past the delish pasta options.  Very reasonabley priced too.

Don't hit it, just miss it.. There are plenty of other place that serve better coffee AND BETTER FOOD!

If you hit Bridge Road early this is certainly a decent place to stop to breakfast. Feeling hungry (as always) I chose the bacon and egg Turkish roll. The bread was nice and fresh, the egg lovely and gooey and the bacon plentiful. It was a decent sized serving too and at under $10.00 good value. M'Lady was far more conservative and went for the fruit toast which came with butter and jam. I have to admit one noticeable difference between places is how they serve their accompaniments. Whilst little packets are fine, serving butter, jam, cream etc in their own bowls is so much nicer! The coffee was good as well. We both had a cuppa and they disappeared quickly - then we were on our way again to shop till we dropped in Bridge Road! Short Black Cafe is good. If thei

This is one of the worst cafes I have visited. Awful coffee, stale and crumbly dessert when it should have been moist. The waitress kept loitering despite the restaurant being less than half full and it wasn't even 9pm. Do NOT recommend.

Worth a visit. I have been here twice now. Once for breakfast. Delicious. And now for lunch. Chorizo and scollop salad. It is Devine. $15 which is more than reasonable. The staff are busy. There are a lot of people here, but the service has been quick both times. The coffee hot, and the staff friendly and professional. A perfect stop while shopping on bridge road.

A cute place with cute girls working. Food was delicious, I had a lamb shank with mashed potatoes and a banana smoothie. Friendly service and tasty food

Currently waiting 45 min on a basic breakfast, girlfriend has been served hers and is almost finished. Coffee was reasonable, but won't be back

Yum. Ive been here twice in 3 days. Food is great. Would recommend the honey soy chicken asian salad and the the chefs special seafood salad. Servings were huge!

HUGE servings, great value, quality dishes, excellent customer service.

Amazing menu, service, warm venue and yum food for a good price. As in the title. this place had amazing food and a great menu where everything looked yum!

Used to live down the road, now I cross the river to come here. Good food and coffee at a great price.

Lovely cafe,awesome service from girls who make you feel welcomed with a smile! Coffee was great,had breakfast and it was huge!! Very well priced too,so as Arnie says 'I'll be back'

Nice little find on bridge rd! Great service,had the Parma for lunch....wow!! Coffee was nice too,all in all,I will definaty be returning;-))

Somebody save me. Why I stopped here, I'll never know. It looks ordinary and it's dirty. The chicken Caesar isn't a Caesar. I'm not sure what it is and the croutons are not croutons. Not sure what they were either. After asking about their chicken focaccia, they said it contained cheese n stuff. 'What kind of stuff?' I asked. 'Probably just the regular stuff'. No idea. None. Appalling. Sorry.

Good burger with the lot. I probably shouldn't have had a big burger with the lot and a milkshake before I worked a shift at the cardiac ward at Epworth Richmond Hospital. But I've lost a lot of weight recently, I'm in great shape and I hadn't had much to eat that day, so I reckoned my cholesterol count could handle it. Short Black puts out a thick, juicy burger, good egg, bacon cheese and the standard veggies on top. But no beetroot! That's the second one with the lot that I've eaten recently which didn't have Australia's signature (but bizarre) contribution to burgerdom. Have people here finally wised up and dropped that oddity?<br/><br/>The burger was pretty standard. The chips were coated with a salty flavouring that made them taste a bit better than standard fries (but not as good as the seasoned ones from Schnitz a little further down Bridge.) What I remember most about this meal was the banana milkshake. It was more milky than thickish, but had a vibrant banana ice cream flavour. At $4.50 for enough shake to fill a pub beer pint glass, it was a sweet deal.

Fabulous lunch!. We just had a fabulous lunch there and are looking forward to going back again and again. I had a smoked salmon bruschetta which was up in the sky! I have lived in the Northern Europe for a few years and thought I have had the best smoked salmon dishes. But the one I had at Short Black was even much better.<br/><br/>The coffee is good too and the all-day breakfast menu seems very tempting too! I am planning to back for a brunch again to try one of those big breakfast dishes!

Never Again. My recent experience ensures we will never return....<br/>Waiting for 1 hour and 40 minutes out in the courtyard for our meals, not being brought our drinks upon repeated requests, and purposely having staff walk past and ignore us when trying to find out how much longer our order would be.<br/>Never returning again. (either will the other 3 groups of customers who were treated the same way & did the exact same as us!)<br/>What makes it worse- being bad mouthed when leaving after having enough! Staff should learn to have some decency and communicate with patrons, and at least make an effort .

My new favourite little spot, nice simple variety, easy prices, and for a cheap coffee it's actually really good!

Great Value. Good food, plenty of food and not expensive.

Short black cafe does anything but come up short. On a stretch overrun with quaint cafes and eateries it can be hard to stand out from the crowd; however the short black cafe on bridge road achieves this with nonchalance. with both indoor and alfresco dining options, the cafe's friendly staff and delicious food offer customers into a culinary wonderland. although there are a small number of items on the menu, the quality of the meals more than makes up for it: the sumptuous $15 chicken burger was the best meal i have eaten in melbourne.<br/><br/>so next time youre on bridge road and a-hankering for some top notch grub stop by the short black cafe, you wont be disappointed.

The Bacon, Egg and Cheese toasted Turkish is the perfect hangover buster!<br/>Friendly service too.

Went there yesterday and had a chicken and mushroom risotto which was awesome and my wife had a chicken parmigiana which was also excellent. Will go back there for sure! Five stars from us! Prompt friendly service too!

Best chicken burgers and eggs Benedict on bridge rd!!

Great! So cheap and yummy. Not the most gourmet food - relatively basic menu, but delicious. Good vibe, had great service yesterday

The cafe had a nice atmosphere, but the coffee was really bitter and the waitress seemed to be rushing everybody for their order. Take away coffees were well priced though.

The staff are friendly. However the coffee is terrible

Good food at a good price. The service is fast and friendly and the courtyard is a lovely spot to sit and enjoy a meal or a coffee.

Not bad coffee, Caesar not good but edible, fast friendly service. More a coffee shop than restaurant.

Poor service. Would have liked to enjoy this cafe, however a total lack of service will prevent me from going back. It doesn't take much to clean previous customers' mess off a table and offer a coffee to someone waiting half an hour to be served. We will be sure to go elsewhere next time.

Great food at very good prices given the area. Service is quick and attentive and servings are very generous. Love it!

Hesitant to review in case everyone goes there and we can't get in any more. Love it.

Excellent poached eggs. And I know my poached eggs.

Nice food at a decent price. Good quick service! Highly recommended.

Morning coffee. I pick up my morning latte from Short Black on my way to work. The coffee is pretty good and the price ($2 for a small) can't be beat. They know my order and start brewing as soon as I walk in.

Cheap good quality food, nice coffee, fast and friendly service. Do yourself a favour and grab a bite to eat after fossicking thru camberwell market.

Breakfast is pretty good value. Quick and friendly service.