Food area · Melbourne, Australia
Opening a cafe or restaurant in Melbourne CBD
What stands out
1,374 food and drink places are on the map within 1 km: one for every 15 residents, against one for every 41 in the surrounding 3 km. That many usually means people come from elsewhere to eat.
Town Hall is the nearest station or bus station, 330 m away.
The map shows 192 offices within 1 km: weekday lunch trade that resident numbers miss.
- Residents within 1 km
- 21,000
- Median age 29.5, against 31.3 within 3 km
- Largest adult age group
- 25–34
- 33% of residents, against 31% within 3 km
- Food and drink places within 1 km
- 1,374
- One per 15 residents, against one per 41 within 3 km
- Trade from people who live elsewhere
- High
- 6 stations and 192 offices within 1 km
Measured from Swanston Street at Bourke Street on 17 October 2026. Residents and places within 1 km, compared with everyone within 3 km.
1Who lives here
About 21,000 residents within 1 km
More teens and students 15–24 (30% more) live here than in the surrounding area, and fewer children 0–14 (20% fewer) and seniors 65+ (15% fewer).
Figure 1
Share of all residents, by age group
Within 1 kmSurrounding area, 3 km
Each bar is the group’s share of all residents. The tag on the right: how much more or less common the group is here.
2Which kinds of place fit
Bubble tea and Burgers match the residents most closely
This shows how well the usual regulars of 10 common kinds of place match the residents, against the surrounding 3 km. It’s a rough guide, and your own concept may draw a different crowd.
| Kind of place | Match with residents | Already within 1 km | Free check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubble tea | Good match | 36 bubble tea and tea shopsFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: bubble tea |
| Burgers | Good match | 41 burger placesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: burgers |
| Fried chicken | Partial match | 24 chicken placesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: fried chicken |
| Pizza | Partial match | 22 pizza placesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: pizza |
| Sushi | Partial match | 111 sushi and Japanese placesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: sushi |
| Coffee shop | Partial match | 343 cafes and coffee shopsFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: coffee shop |
| Pho or noodles | Partial match | 30 Vietnamese and noodle placesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: pho or noodles |
| Brunch cafe | Partial match | 336 cafes and brunch placesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: brunch cafe |
| Bar | Partial match | 176 bars and pubsFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: bar |
| Bakery | Partial match | 52 bakeriesFar more per resident than the wider area | Check it free: bakery |
3What’s already here
1,374 food and drink places within 1 km
One for every 15 residents, against one for every 41 in the surrounding 3 km. That many usually means people come here from elsewhere to eat.
Most-tagged cuisines on the map: Chinese (98), Japanese (92), coffee shop (82), Korean (43), Italian (42) and burger (37).
The nearest named places to where we measured
- VapianoRestaurant, Italian 30 mnorth-east
- Crossways RestaurantRestaurant, Indian 70 msouth-east
- El JannahFast food, chicken 70 meast
- Miilk Cake StudioBakery 70 meast
- Soul CafeCafe 80 mnorth
- ARURestaurant, Asian 80 msouth-east
- Gopal‘s Vegetarian Indian RestaurantRestaurant, Indian 80 msouth-east
- Sushi SushiRestaurant, sushi 90 meast
OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers and misses some places, so the real counts are likely higher.
4What brings people past
6 stations, 192 offices and 2 schools within 1 km
These bring in people who don’t live here, so your customers can look quite different from the residents above.
- 6 stationsNearest: Town Hall, 330 m south-east
- 192 offices
- 2 schoolsNearest: Holmes Grammar School, 730 m north-east
- 53 universities and collegesNearest: Box Hill Institute, 350 m south
- 43 supermarkets and mallsNearest: TK Maxx, 140 m north-east
- 104 hotels and hostelsNearest: The Westin Melbourne, 290 m south-east
- 42 attractions and museumsNearest: Bourke Street Mall, 70 m west
5Limits
What this page can’t tell you
- Residents aren't diners. Workers and visitors who live elsewhere aren't counted, and the ages are 2020 estimates.
- The map misses places, and says nothing about how busy any of them is.
- Nothing here covers the lease: rent, visibility and parking.
Two checks only you can do: count who walks past at your hours, and test the rent against cautious sales. For census counts, see the ABS Census QuickStats for Greater Melbourne.
Nearby food areas
Straight-line distance between the points we measured from, not by road.
All Melbourne food areas comparedEvery food area we’ve checked