Best cafés for freelance workers

Thousand Pound Bend

Melbourne

The hipster warehouse HQ is a godsend for the youthful mobile worker. Couches, eclectic furniture and the most colorful crew in the city could make Thousand Pound Bend the number one WiFi-enabled venue in the city. However with a distinctly under-30 student customer base, anyone sporting a wrinkle may feel slightly vintage. Grab a couch, a burger and plug in some earphones to get the most out of this too-cool-to-go-to-school workspace.

Penny Farthing Espresso

Northcote

A freelancer’s heaven in the urban hippie heartland of Northcote. The relaxed High Street cafe brims with local writers, musicians and NGO workers seeking a laptop haven, designer coffee and delicious fare. The bicycle-inspired decorations, fast WiFi and eclectic mix of creative customers ensures that Penny Farthing remains a favourite with Melbourne’s sustainable set who set up shop on large wood tables for hours, if not days at a time.

Le Miel et la Lune

Melbourne

New on the scene, the recently opened Le Miel el la lune (translated from French to Honey and the Moon) is a quaint little cafe just off the main drag of Lygon Street, Carlton and close to Melbourne University. The cozy French-inspired cafe and patisserie serves up delicious bite-size delights and café fare for local student types who fill up the soft-hued space. The only drawback is that Le Miel et la lune and its WiFi service is only open until 4pm weekdays and there are few power-points to plug in your laptop. Though it may be worth investing in a battery pack just to sit there.

Auction Rooms

North Melbourne

North Melbourne’s coffee house is a fantastic place to work from for the mobile crowd. The funky space with massive floor-to-ceiling windows that look out to the North Melbourne landscape has great WiFi, oodles of power points and a wide variety of coffee and tea options to keep creative juices flowing. Auction Room waiters provide friendly service when ordering; and even better service when they leave you and your laptop alone for an entire afternoon.

Joe’s Garage

Fitzroy

The old boy has been around for years with the best WiFi in the food business. A favorite with backpackers and travelers for generous servings of pub-style food and cheap cocktails, Joe’s Garage is the place to work from if you like your music loud and eye candy prolific. With a spare table almost always up for grabs in the large grungy space and up-till-late opening hours, Joe’s cannot be beaten as a fantastic red-eye workspace.

Time Out Café and Bar (Federation Square)

Melbourne

The ultra-central Time Out Café and Bar, along with Federation Square, is hooked up to a free WiFi Internet service. You can pull up at an inside booth in the ultra-modern Time Out Café and Bar or grab an umbrella-topped table outdoors for a cityscape view without the dreary 9-5 office block job. Visitors to Melbourne are the mainstay here and the café is a handy option for transport-reliant mobile workers. For the wallet weary amongst us who can get the Melbourne weather on their side, a nice little slope of Federation Square will also do the trick nicely.

Nineteen Squares

St Kilda

The tiny and cozy Nineteen Squares, hidden behind hectic Acland Street, is a fantastic find for beach-bound freelancers. The quiet wood-decked cafe staffed by tattooed women warriors offers affordable fare, a world music selection and the cool St Kilda crowd as a backdrop. The interior is super small but you can easily find an outside table to grab some rays as you smash your latte and bash the laptop.

Chimmys

Richmond

Plenty of wood tables fill the warm Richmond café and bakery, which offers delicious pastries and speedy WiFi. Not having to compete with many other mobile workers for table space is a plus, as is the peacefulness of the café outside of lunch hour. Chimmys is a great option for the laptop-enabled to fill up with smells of baked goods and only be slightly distracted by passing Bridge Road foot traffic.

State Library of Victoria / Mr Tulk / Moat Bar & Café

Melbourne

OK, so the State Library of Victoria is not exactly a café, but possibly has the best free WiFi-ed workspace in Melbourne. The imposing building is filled with students, grizzled writers, and only the occasional eccentric. Though no food or drink is permitted inside the library, two fabulous cafes form part of the complex including the library’s own Mr Tulk and the Moat Bar & Café tucked under the Wheeler Center, which are both touting baguettes, salads, booze (!), and some hot as hell academics.