Atomica Caffé

Atomica Caffé is the real deal – great coffee, not frills and certainly no gimmicks.

It’s a bit scruffy round the edges, but what long-standing Fitzroy cafe isn’t? It’s a darkish den, with chequered floors, open brickwork from before it was trendy and a certain skater-boy aesthetic that makes it cool to wear t-shirts and avoid the corporate crush.

Owner Toli Avgerinos has been steering this ship since 1996. Roasting and blending its own coffee on site, Atomica definitely know what it's doing, even supplying beans to other cafes, often as tailor-made mixes.

Choose from ten or so blends and a flux of single origins to take the magic home, or pull up a stool at the bar and swing your sneakers while baristas turn out perfectly smooth lattes and cappuccinos – all while jostling and bantering with colleagues.

It’s not flashy, but when the coffee is this good, you really don’t need window dressing. That’s all part of its reputation as the unpretentious kid on the Brunswick Street block.