Common Folk South Yarra

Commonfolk is a specialty coffee shop where you’ll find quality brews, excellent pastries and a laid-back, nostalgic fit-out. In 2010, co-founder Sam Keck opened its first iteration, a coffee shop and roastery in a Mornington backstreet, before expanding to Frankston, Beaumaris and South Yarra.

The South Yarra outpost is the most coffee-focused of the lot. Set in an inconspicuous black shopfront off Toorak Road, the cosy cafe offers espresso, pour-over, batch brew and frozen coffee. You’ll also find Commonfolk’s house blends, including Godfather and Progress St, as well as single-origin beans that rotate weekly. You can also buy cold brew and bags of beans from the Mornington roastery to go.

Those consistently excellent beans help explain why there’s such a loyal takeaway crowd here. You’ll find punters chatting with the team during lulls in the morning rush hour or on their lunch breaks, a brown paper bag in one hand while they wait for their coffee.

Inside the bag? It’s probably something from Commonfolk’s tight yet considered food menu, which focuses on hearty snacks and pastries. It might be a cheesy jaffle, a sweet slice, a nutty snack bar or a seeded bagel with avocado and goat’s cheese. While the menu is designed to grab and go, there are a few dine-in spots both inside and outside the quiet cafe, where you can stop, sip and do your crossword.

While you do that, you can feel good knowing that 20 cents from your coffee went towards The Cup That Counts, a Commonfolk-run initiative that supports small-scale coffee producers overseas and helps vulnerable youth improve their hospitality skills locally.