We started with one warm brownie.

Berriko's opened in 2018 as a small dessert bar — one kitchen, a short menu, and the kind of loaded waffles and Nutella crêpes that people started sharing on their phones before we could get their coffee to the table.

We only wanted to do a few things well: a warm brownie that tasted the way brownies are supposed to taste, a pour-over coffee that wasn't an afterthought, and desserts that felt like a night out, not a takeaway box.

Customers came for the Dark Obsession at 10pm and stayed asking for something to eat before dessert. So we put burgers on the menu. Then grilled melts. Then a proper souvlaki and a few Indian-leaning dishes that don't hold back on spice.

Before we planned it, Berriko's had become an all-day diner — the kind of place you come to for coffee in the morning, a burger at midnight, and a brownie at 2am.

Nothing sits under a heat lamp. Every crêpe is poured to order, every burger patty smashed when you pay, every waffle pressed while your cream is being whipped.

It's slower than a chain. It's also the whole point — food you can tell was actually cooked for you.

Berriko's is independently Australian-owned and operated. Three sites across Melbourne: Dandenong (our flagship, open 24 hours), Ormond (till 2am), and our Docklands pickup kiosk at Southern Cross Station.

You'll usually find one of us on the floor, in the kitchen, or behind the counter. That's the only way we know how to keep three busy diners running to the same standard.

South Yarra is coming soon. Canberra and Hobart are on the way. A few more after that if we get them right.

The menu will keep growing. The standard won't change.