Joe’s Garage

I have previously loved this place. Prior to being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, I used to like their food but have not been able to (safely) eat it for 3 years, however I used to love the atmosphere and went there most weekends to hang out for a few hours… good decaf coffee and cider.
They now have new owners and the coffee is now a ridiculous price that I (and my friend who also has gone there for years) are not willing to pay. My friend had a small/​regular size mocha decaf and it cost $ 5. My long black decaf was $ 4.50. I was never previously charged $ 5 for a normal/​regular size one, decaf or not. I was never charged before at Joe’s for ordering decaf. I can get decaf in the city for $ 3.50. since I live in the city, why would I bother going to Joe’s for expensive coffee? No reason.
I will never bother again. Thanks new owners for wrecking a nice hang out place.

Food very generous portions and my Mustard Chicken was delicious. Service was not up to my standard of attentiveness. It was not busy on a Thursday night and the waiter did not fill up on a missing meal. Appeared bored when I asked about it. Pity.

I think Joe’s Garage has a confused identity, presenting as part bar, part restaurant, part coffee shop. Not sure it has mastered any of these yet. The coffee is very average for Brunswick Street. The better alternatives would be Industry Beans or Grace café, just round the corner. The ideal customer here (at least during daytime) is the family with teenage boys, as the portions are huge. The food itself is basic bistro quality, nothing to write home (or Unilocal) about, but does a teenager really care as long as the parma can sink a ship and the club sandwich is three times deeper than even the largest mouth can accommodate?

*Free wi-​fi.* As an American who loves living in Melbourne I nonetheless find myself often nostalgic for prevalent wi-​fi. Joe’s has free Wi-​Fi, the great coffee Melbourne is known for, laid back Aussie waitstaff, and is a great place to sit for hours, eat, enjoy coffee, and have work meetings.

This is a really cool diner on a hot day, the customer service was friendly and welcoming. I couldn’t eat all of my sliders so they put it in a take away container for me. The burgers are good, they make their own patties. If only I could eat more but so filling. the art work is amazing, paintings are by Baggott. Plenty to choose from and prices moderate. While here visit Christine’s next door for your 50’s style dresses.

Yum yum yum been here 3 times now with my partner and can honestly say that breakfast lunch and dinner were all good. Huge portions of great food no way could you walk out and still be hungry. From the Spanish omelette. To Cajun chicken burger to the paella they were all great.
Service was great… Friendly staff. Reasonably priced for the food you get will definitely be back to eat my way through the menu. No need for a suit and tie to go out for tea here but one of the best places I’ve been to in Melbourne

Lack in quality food, too much on the menu and just wonder on the freshness??? Had a burger and advacado tastes old, the combination of the burger was odd taste and I think if your going to put something on the menu taste test it first across all your staff and see how many people like it… Back to basics… Prices are ok, service was ok and that was the one star it deserves apart from that the food is below average and the décor needs an uplift the place has no ambience… Does anyone know somewhere to eat where the food is actually fresh and clean except the Vegie bar which is the only place I recommend so far in this area oh and Los amantes is very home cook meal quality of food… Close to mamas cooking that’s what I look for when I go out to eat. Simple, good, healthy and made from scratch not processed!!!

Massive portions, good tasting food and their milkshakes brought me to the yard.
I’ve been here twice, each time the service has been good, the food tasty and the price right.
I’m sure that there are cooler, more hip places to eat nearby — but I bet they are full of hip and cool people.

Great honest place for breakfast & lunch … this is before the café scene gone funkier and boutique in Melbourne … needs a revamp though.

Great atmosphere. Food well prepared. Attentive staff. Wide choice on menu. Always delivers, never disappoints.

Gross! Two stars for the two coffees that were the only two good things.
My French toast was ridiculously eggy. They were basically soaked in eggs and served in that same uncooked state. And then they added the leafy top end of the strawberry. Wtf am I supposed to do with that?
The green energy fruit drink thing was gross too. The look, texture, and taste of it was similar to that of the candy science kits you get as a kid. Just gooey and sugary. Then I noticed that they didn’t use fresh fruit (which, in their defense, they don’t claim). They use canned fruit in their syrup. They should have just opened a can of their mangos, put a straw in there, and served it.
My partner asked for eggs and chorizo. But the server claimed they don’t serve chorizo. Partner points out the Spanish omelette with chorizo. The answer was, «oh…(blank stare, blink, blink, blink)…I dunno?» And that was the end of that.
Walked out completely unsatisfied. There are heaps of better places to go for breakfast than this place.

I had a pretty bad experience here. My food was just bad: greasy and bland. The service acted like they were grudgingly doing me a personal favor by taking my order (and I cut servers a lot of slack, having been one myself). And they do not in fact have free wifi, or at least it wasn’t working and didn’t seem to have been for a while.
The whole experience felt lame.

Maybe it’s the secret indie hipster living inside of me, but the thing I love the most about Melbourne is it’s secretiveness. You never know where you will stumble across a café, bar or restaurant. For this reason I am not a big fan of Joe’s. It just smells and looks a bit… corporate-​y?
However, memories of Joe’s include: Sitting across the street and stealing their wifi and perhaps if I was slightly peckish buying a sandwich and stealing their wifi. In fact, as I looked around the café, everyone appeared to be on their iPhones or laptops which only led me to conclude that EVERYONE WAS HERE TO STEAL THEIR WIFI.
Their chicken focaccia is quite tasty and the pizzas are cheap and filling but in Summer this place is kinda gross. For all its corporate-​ness you think they could splash out on an air-​con?!
Look, if you’re a bit pov (like me) head here to steal the wifi, I guarantee you won’t be the only one, but otherwise find something with a bit more character — it’s Melbourne for goodness sake!

The menu can be a bit hit and miss. The pizzas are pretty standard, the pancakes are a good safe option and the, apparently, best milkshakes in town are best avoided. There’s noting wrong with them it’s just that they are so ordinary, it’s kinda insulting to be dubbed the best. Service can be shaky too, even on an empty day. So when it gets busy don’t expect much from them at all.

With a name such as Joe’s Garage I’m not really sure what you expect food-​wise. Yet despite these concerns it always seems to be a popular hangout for brunch, lunch and dinner with its very big space quite often filled.
Because of this we decided to check it out. The service was really slow and the food took a really long time to come out. The food itself was ok but nothing to really write home about. One thing I would say in their defence is that the portions are pretty massive so you do get a really big feed.
Overall, I think there are way better places for brunch in the area so I’m unlikely to be back.

When a menu «Legendary Pancakes» how could you refuse. I guess it also says 20 minutes wait, I can assure you it is worth the wait. These pancakes are amazing, stuffed with blueberries and fluffy as a cloud, what more could you want.
I cannot speak for the rest of the menu as I have never ordered anything else, I can only assume that it’s not very good otherwise everything else would be «Legendary». I will only come here for the pancakes and stay to finish them.

Every time I search for cafes in Melbourne with free wifi Joe’s Garage appears on my screen. Reason enough to check it out if you ask me!
It was breakfast time when I visited and apart from myself and a few regulars the place was quiet. I was greeted and seated (what a poet I am!) and asked if I wanted coffee straight away. Thanks for asking, the answer is YES.
My latte was Melbourne standard good and arrived quickly. I ordered raisin toast for breakfast which come with butter, jam and a strawberry, yum!
My server was friendly and fast however she was much faster then my wifi, which considering I appeared to be the only one using it was a let down.
This place is always busy when I pass by at night and I wouldn’t mind checking it out then when the atmosphere would be more lively.