Occasionally I discover a real gem, and this is certainly one of them. Switchboard café goes where no one would have thought a café was possible, which tells me these guys are using their bean. These innovative entrepreneurs have wedged themselves a café in what was probably a store room and a shop window. Effectively a nook. I love it. This place has class and the guys are passionate about delivering you your custom made brew for the morning. The end product was as expected delivered in a unique old style orange glass, and the long macchiato was as smooth as silk. No bitterness and I could have sat on it for hours. Good work guys, welcome to the three bean club. 
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Also, worth noting that SwitchBoard was originally created by two lovely gals named Kate and Jade in 2005. The chaps who have taken over have done a great job of maintaining the original style and fabulous quality. Nice simple food and always great coffee.
Fantastic! Thanks for that.
I paid “The Switch Board Cafe” a visit last week, and I was shocked to find out that they charge $3.80 for a large size cup of takeawy coffee, I can not understand this mark up for a cup of coffee, I have had plenty of coffee’s in the Melbourne CBD, and the most I have paid would be $3.50 for a large size takeaway cup,and at $3.80 I can not justify the price tag attached to the coffee however good the coffee might be.
well, brunetti/porta via at the melbourne law faculty charges about $4.20, and much more for soy- i’d count my blessings!
I have been a Switchboard customer for about 2 months after finding it by chance. I used to pay $3.20 for a coffee closer to my work, which I bought out of convenience. Since finding Switchboard I now walk further and pay more because it’s a much nicer coffee and the boys working there are always friendly.
Went to switch and was happy that the girls had pioneered the new melbourne espresso. B (”
Double shot flat white no sugar rules
Extra big thumbs up!!! Supreme is rockin it at the momment!
The coffee here is always fantastic..
A legit cafe. Good coffee. Cheers boys
For those who moan about price, a (good) large takeaway coffee starts at $4.50 back in New Zealand. Seems like a steal for $3.80
i love it so much!
I’ve recently moved to Melbourne and have made it my part time hobby to check out the Melbourne cafe scene. So far Switchboard would be my fav – friendly relaxed service, SUPER cool set up: love the tiny ‘shop window’ seating space and hole-in-the-wall serving counter all in the opulent old-time arcade like surrounds… and the coffee – mmmm best flat white so far….. smooth, ‘butterscotch’ aftertaste, good temperature…. delicious.
The switchboard is the sweetest little cafe, the atmosphere is great and the coffee even better.
The bedheaded baristas at Brother Baba Budan, a tiny café and specialty bean importer, serve up a latte so revered that the lines frequently stretch out to the sidewalk. The café—named for a 17th century Sufi who allegedly introduced coffee beans to India from Yemen—is deadly serious about its coffee, but has a playful approach to interior decorating, as witnessed by the dozens of wooden chairs dangling mysteriously from the ceiling. In keeping with the current coffee snob trends, many of the roasts here are medium, which they claim allows you to taste more of the bean and less of the burn of the roast. Order a flat white*, long black**, cappuccino, or latte from the day’s two choices of beans and then grab a seat at the communal table with hip twenty-somethings and wait patiently for your creamilicious treat to arrive. The food menu is limited to fresh-baked pastries in the small case by the register—the raspberry brioche is supreme. BBB is part of a community of cafes that have raised the coffee bar (ouch!) in Melbourne—other great finds a little farther afield include Balaclava’s Batch Espresso, Collingwood’s Proud Mary, and the extremely small and painfully cute café, Switchboard.
The best part of my working day is walking down Collins street just before 8.30am to get an always amazing coffee at Switchboard. I don’t even have to order and the guys there make my coffee just perfect. Definitely one of my favourite places to get a hot skinny latte.
I myself used to be a Barista and have been training other baristas for more than 10 years. I have been searching for a coffee place that sells the best coffee in the CBD for a very long time. I’ve finally found this place. The coffee is consistently amazing and with the best value too.