Burnside, Fitzroy

Chris Handley, Sean Albers and Jona Gunn have been in the business for years, and aspirations of starting their own cafe finally came true when they opened Burnside earlier this year. Originally looking at the city, the Fitzroy space became available, so they gutted the whole place to let more light in.

Simple and Good

With an ethos that champions simple, high quality ingredients, Burnside is all about good food, good coffee, and good service. The menu is brief, and sandwiches in the cabinet change all the time. Today there’s a pastrami sandwich on Brasserie Bread New York Rye with dill pickle, horseradish mayo, Monterey Jack cheese, and sauerkraut. A vegetarian number also graces the cabinet, heaped with mushrooms, broccolini, and herbed feta on Brasserie Bread seeded baguette. It’s the type of food that the guys themselves would want to eat every day.

Genuine Conversation

Honest conversations with regulars are interspersed with a bit of banter and a bit of a chuckle.”They’re a great bunch of regulars.” Sean pauses and adds jokingly, “bordering on criminals”. But ultimately, it’s knowing what every regular drinks and remembering their names – that’s what brings people back through the door. There’s no facade at Burnside. Everyone genuinely cares.

Why Burnside?

The name of the cafe was inspired by a skatepark in Portland, Oregon. But many have pointed out that Burnside was also an actor, a musician, and even a civil rights lawyer. Burnside is an allusion to freedom, and the notion that there’s a bit of a rascal in everyone. But in the end, it came down to coin toss between two names, and Burnside won.

Burnside
87a Smith St, Fitzroy, VIC
Mon to Fri 6.30am-4pm
Sat to Sun 8am-4pm