May 2025 update: Congrats to Proud Mary for ranking as the fourth best coffee spot in a global round-up! Find out why it's considered one of the world's greatest here. We last visited the venue in April 2025 for a caffeine fix and a bite to eat, and yep, we still rate the place a red-hot five stars.
- Lauren Dinse
Read on for our original listing written in 2015.
*****
It started out as one of the first cool, third-wave cafes in Melbourne. Now it’s a coffee empire. Proud Mary, she wears many fancy hats: unbelievably popular warehouse style café in Collingwood, wholesale coffee roasters stocking some of Melbourne’s best venues and training ground for award winning baristas (alumni including Kris Wood of South Melbourne’s Clement and John Vroom of Kew’s Ora.)
Coffee is a glorious and ever evolving affair here – pour over, syphon, French press, espresso, stove top, aero drip – this is where we go to watch and learn. If you can get a seat on the mothership we suggest you get something to eat too. The menu favours breakfast. Goes well with coffee, natch.
Years into their tenure nothing’s slipping – the Proud Mary crew are showing us how it’s done. In fact, they were recently named in a list of the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops as the fourth best across the globe.