Benito’s

This is a small, but really good café in Little Collins Street. Unassuming but very popular, the atmosphere is welcoming in a comfy, grungy way and the service is great. I like it.

Nice place to be undistracted with a partner, be it life partner, business partner, partner in crime or an intimate one. never fails me in getting up close and personal here one on one! ;)

Skipping out on meetings and hiding in Benito’s is the only thing I miss about being a 9 to 5er. Oh, and the money. But mostly it’s Benito’s, so I try to visit whenever I’m in the city.
It’s behind an unassuming doorway in the ‘corporate banking’ area of Little Collins, but as soon as you’re inside the wooden booths and vintage luggage rack makes you feel like you have stepped into a railway station diner in a stylish noir film. The nostalgic atmosphere makes me order things I usually wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) — a G&T with my mid-​morning toast (hello, Hendrick’s), or a buttery pasta in the late afternoon.
At lunchtime it does pack out with suits, so it’s best to book or stick to brunch or mid-​afternoon drinks. The kitchen is pretty flexible and I’ve never had trouble ordering food at odd hours.
Benito’s also functions as a bottle shop — you can buy limited selection of specially local and Italian wines — check out the blackboard on the back wall for current varieties.