The Best Brunch in Preston
Preston’s brunch scene doesn’t follow the Melbourne playbook. You won’t find too many spots doing the standard $24 smashed avo on sourdough with a deconstructed latte on the side. What you will find is a suburb that treats brunch as an extension of its multicultural identity — Colombian arepas for brekkie, Turkish gözleme at the market, and a few all-day spots that remind you brunch doesn’t have to involve a $19 grain bowl.
Here’s where to get your weekend morning fuel in Preston, and what to order when you get there.
Skinny’s — High Street
Best for: Breakfast sandwiches and American-style comfort food
Skinny’s is what happens when someone takes the school canteen memories you didn’t know you had and upgrades every element. The breakfast sandwiches are the main event — thick-cut toast with egg, bacon, hash browns, and house-made sauces that elevate the whole thing from “tuckshop special” to “genuinely excellent brunch.”
The menu also does hoagies, American-style subs, and playful small plates that change with the seasons. It’s not a place for a delicate three-course brunch — it’s a place for a big plate of food and a coffee that holds its own against anything in the inner north.
The space is casual and unpretentious, which is exactly right for the food. No exposed brick affectations, no succulents in concrete pots. Just good food served quickly in a space that doesn’t try too hard.
Arepa Days — Dundas Place
Best for: Something completely different from the usual brunch suspects
Arepa Days brings Colombian arepas — thick, griddled corn flatbreads — to Melbourne’s brunch table, and it’s one of the best brunch decisions you can make in Preston. The arepas come loaded with everything from scrambled eggs and cheese to pulled pork, shredded chicken, or black beans with avocado.
The coffee program leans into the Colombian heritage: rich, full-bodied brews served alongside sugarcane juice and spiced hot chocolate for those mornings when a flat white won’t cut it. The space on Dundas Place is small and fills up fast on weekends — arrive before 9:30am or expect a short wait.
This is the kind of place that makes you realise how stale Melbourne’s brunch scene can get when every cafe is fighting over the same poached-egg-and-smashed-avocado crowd. Arepa Days isn’t trying to out-Brunch Brunswick. It’s doing its own thing, and it’s doing it brilliantly.
George Jones — Murray Road
Best for: Refined brunch with actual table service
George Jones occupies that sweet spot between “casual brunch cafe” and “proper restaurant that happens to serve breakfast.” The menu covers the classics — eggs benedict, French toast, ricotta hotcakes — but elevates each one with quality ingredients and careful execution.
The ricotta hotcakes, in particular, are worth the trip. Fluffy, golden, served with seasonal fruit and a drizzle that makes you forget you’re in Preston and not at some $35-a-plate brunch spot in South Yarra. The coffee is excellent — they use a local roaster, and the baristas clearly know what they’re doing.
The space has a more polished feel than most Preston cafes, with enough room that you don’t feel like you’re elbowing strangers. It’s popular with families on Saturday mornings and couples on Sundays — expect a wait between 10am and noon.
Moon Rabbit — High Street
Best for: Quick, affordable, community-focused brunching
Moon Rabbit is the neighbourhood cafe at its most genuine. It’s small, it’s affordable, and it’s the kind of place where the staff know the regulars by name. The menu does jaffles (yes, toasted sandwiches in a jaffle iron — the nostalgia is real), house-made slices, and solid breakfast options that won’t break the bank.
The coffee is consistently good, the service is fast, and the vibe is warm without being saccharine. It’s not a brunch destination in the “plan your Saturday around it” sense — it’s a brunch spot in the “I live two streets away and this is my local” sense, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Jackson Dodds — Plenty Road area
Best for: Creative brunch dishes and a proper Melbourne cafe experience
Jackson Dodds has been serving Preston’s breakfast crowd for a while now, and they’ve earned their reputation. The menu is inventive without being gimmicky — think dishes that combine unexpected flavour profiles with the kind of execution that tells you the kitchen actually cares.
The coffee program is a genuine draw. They take their beans seriously, and it shows in every cup. The space is larger than most Preston cafes, which means you’re less likely to wait on a busy weekend morning — though “busy” is relative. This isn’t a Fitzroy brunch spot with a two-hour queue. It’s a Preston brunch spot where you might wait 10 minutes.
The Market Option: Preston Market Brunch
Best for: Budget-friendly and multicultural
This isn’t one cafe — it’s an entire market full of brunch options. The Preston Market on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings offers the most diverse brunch experience in Melbourne’s north.
Start with gözleme from the Turkish ladies near the centre of the market. They roll the dough by hand, fill it with spinach and cheese or mince and onion, and cook it on a griddle while you watch. It costs around $10 and it’s the kind of meal that makes you question why you ever pay $22 for brunch at a sit-down cafe.
Then grab a Lebanese pastry from one of the bakeries, a fresh juice from the fruit vendor, and a coffee from one of the market’s small cafe stalls. Total cost: under $20 for a feast. Total time: as long as you want to spend wandering the stalls.
The market gets crowded from about 10am on Saturdays. Go at 8am if you want the full experience without the crowds, or come at 9am and accept that you’ll be navigating some tight aisles.
How Preston Brunch Compares to the Neighbourhoods Next Door
Northcote’s brunch scene is more established and more polished. You’ll find places like Ophelia and Napier Quarter doing high-end brunch with wine pairings and chef-driven menus. If you want “brunch as a culinary experience,” go south to Northcote.
Thornbury’s brunch offering is smaller but growing. It’s more about casual cafe culture with a side of craft coffee. If you’re in the area, it’s worth checking out what’s popped up recently — the suburb changes fast. See our Thornbury guide.
Reservoir, to the north, is less about brunch culture and more about affordable, multicultural food at all hours. If you want a $10 pho for breakfast (no judgement — it’s delicious), Reservoir has you covered.
Preston sits between all three, cherry-picking the best of each without fully committing to any single approach. The result is a brunch scene that’s more diverse and more affordable than most inner-north suburbs.
Brunch Tips for Preston
Go early on weekends. The popular spots (Skinny’s, George Jones, Arepa Days) fill up between 10am and noon. Arrive before 9:30am and you’ll get a table without waiting.
Don’t sleep on weekday brunch. Several of these places serve breakfast all day or until 2pm on weekdays. A Tuesday brunch at Skinny’s is the same food with none of the weekend crowd.
Preston Market on Saturday is the move. If you want the most variety for the least money, the market brunch is unbeatable. Bring cash — some stalls don’t take cards.
Budget: Expect to pay $15–25 per person for a brunch plate and coffee at a sit-down cafe. At the market, $10–15 gets you a full meal.
What We Skipped and Why
We focused on brunch spots that are genuinely in Preston — not the nearby Northcote or Thornbury spots that sometimes get misattributed to Preston on Google Maps. We also skipped the chain cafes and the hotel breakfast buffets because nobody reads MELBZ to find out that the Olympic Hotel does a continental breakfast.
We didn’t include any bottomless brunch options because Preston doesn’t really do them — that’s more of a Northcote and CBD thing. If bottomless mimosas are your priority, head south.
We also left out a few newer spots that haven’t been open long enough to judge. We’ll review them once they’ve settled in.
Explore more brunch guides nearby: → Best Brunch in Northcote — 20 min walk south → Best Brunch in Thornbury — 10 min walk → Best Brunch in Reservoir — 5 min bike ride north
This guide was researched and written by the MELBZ team. Prices and hours are accurate as of March 2026 but should be confirmed before visiting. MELBZ is an independent Melbourne guide — we don’t accept payment for listings.
