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Is this Australia’s cheapest coffee? Popular cafe bucks the trend and lowers cost to an astonishing price

Bombshell price drop could ignite trendy inner-city coffee price war

READ MORE: Cafe owner sparks fury over divisive menu item

By PAUL SHAPIRO, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Published: 00:16 BST, 5 October 2025 | Updated: 00:16 BST, 5 October 2025

A popular café visited by celebrities and footballers has bucked a nationwide trend and lowered the cost of its coffee to an astonishing $3.

Café Piccante in Fitzroy North, inner Melbourne, has announced it will drop the cost of all regular coffees to a flat $3.00.

The bombshell price cut is against the norm in Melbourne where coffee drinkers are now paying up to $7 for a standard barista brew at some fancy inner-city cafés.

That $7 price tag doesn’t include add-ons like extra shots, or having your coffee with ice and cold milk instead of being hot and frothy.

Most cafés also charge extra for the wild range of ‘milks’ people choose to pair with their coffee.

The mastermind behind Piccante’s price drop plan is Jianni ‘J’ Mauro, who told the Daily Mail the idea came about because of the cost-of-living crisis.

‘We just wanted to help people out who may be doing it a bit tough, it’s not much but it’s a start,’ Mr Mauro said.

Mr Mauro said his café will trial the $3.00 coffee price one Wednesday each month to see if it’s feasible, but hasn’t ruled out making it more regular.

Piccante Cafe owner Jianni ‘J’ Mauro will drop the price of coffee to $3

Café Piccante is popular on weekends, with celebrities and footballers visiting the business

‘Three dollars is cheap. We want to see how it goes. It’s not something we’re going to commit to forever, but we’ll trial it and see if it’s affordable,’ he said.

The bold move to cut prices comes despite most other places raising them to cover increased costs.

In January this year, Australian Restaurant and Café Association chief executive Wes Lambert said he feared the cost of a coffee ‘could reach double digits’.

‘It isn’t unfathomable,’ Mr Lambert told the ABC.

However, Piccante’s price cut will mean nothing to the cafe’s regular crowd of diehard locals, TV personalities, former Hollywood movie stars and champion AFL footballers who desperately wanted Melbourne’s best-kept secret under wraps.

But the cat is out of the bag now, as the Daily Mail can reveal Piccante is already among the cheapest inner-city cafés in Melbourne and possibly Australia.

Regular coffee is only $5 and that doesn’t matter whether you want oat, soy, macadamia, almond or any other new crazy type of milk.

Also, lots of cafés charge extra for ice lattes now, but not Piccante.

J serves his famous muffin and coffee deal to a loyal customer

The iconic Fitzroy North cafe has been owned by the Mauro family since 2018

And the iconic Fitzroy North café, owned by the Mauro family since 2018, only recently raised prices across the board.

Eggs cooked your way on sourdough toast now cost you $12 at Piccante, while on the other side of town, in say Richmond or South Yarra, you’re looking at $22.

A full veg breakfast, which comes with sourdough toast, two eggs, grilled tomato, hummus, avocado, spinach and mushrooms, has skyrocketed up in price to $20.50.

The ‘J’s Big Breakfast’ has risen in price to $26 but includes everything the veg brekky does but with bacon, sausage and a lamb cutlet.

The café is famous for its half serves of all breakfasts, which are available to customers for half price plus $3, so you can get the J’s Big with full lamb cutlet and a strong latte for $21.

Piccante also has a $15 burger and beer deal.

Daily Mail witnessed the hearty and big serving-sized meals being delivered to customers, none of whom looked upset.

Piccante also has a $15 burger and beer deal

Regular diner Lauren Trotter said Piccante is ‘such good value’.

‘You walk in and it feels like stepping back a bit — the prices remind me of years ago. It’s like 2005 again,’ Ms Trotter said.

‘The meals are generous, the service is warm, and the food’s good, yet you don’t feel like you’re overspending.

‘A lot of Melbourne cafés these days put more energy into their image than into the food itself.

‘I don’t mind paying $30 for breakfast if it’s excellent, but too often it’s not. At Piccante, the vego omelette is $17 and it’s filling and it’s tasty.

‘I’m also a fan of the half breakfasts, poached egg, spinach, avo, and mushrooms for $15. Add a coffee and you’re out the door for $20.

‘At most cafés, that same $20 just gets you toast and a coffee.’

Ms Trotter admitted she hesitated to share her thoughts because the café already gets busy on weekends.

J’s family including his sister Angelica (right) help run the cafe.

‘I love the family who run it, though, and they deserve the support,’ she said.

Piccante is in a high-density café area with easily more than a dozen coffee shops in a kilometre radius.

The café has led the pack with low-priced value for money and pioneered the popular Fitz North $10 bacon, egg, cheese muffin and coffee deal, in which you can get hash brown added in for an extra $2.

Now a couple of the other cafés have copied the idea while delivering poorer quality at a higher cost.

Piccante owners expect the $3 coffee deal will heat up the local café wars.

‘Look, if more places sold their coffee for cheaper then everyone wins,’ Mr Mauro said.

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Is this Australia’s cheapest coffee? Popular cafe bucks the trend and lowers cost to an astonishing price

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