When Thomas Kelly opened Standing Room in Melbourne University’s Union House in 2013, it quickly gained a loyal following. The hole-in-the-wall joint was one of the few spots where you could get a decent coffee on campus.

Since then, Kelly has held (and continued to grow) Standing Room’s fan base, opening up other outposts at RMIT, Monash University and across the Melbourne CBD, as well as a full-service cafe in Fitzroy North.

But the second iteration of its Parkville home base – only 200 metres away from its first site – remains a favourite. Set in the groundbreaking Melbourne School of Design, the focus here is producing great coffee with Standing Room’s house blend, plus excellent filter coffee and batch brews.

Small, easy-to-eat breakfast options, such as sourdough toast, fruit toast, bagels, muesli and granola, as well as the much-loved Butterbing cookies and a selection of pastries are available to grab-and-go.