The Little Elephant — Restaurant in Melbourne

We wanted to discover new area in the neighbourhood and have decided to grab some lunch at nearby cafe. It happened The Little Elephant was the closest one to us and was conveniently open until 2pm as per the info outlined on the internet. We have taken our pooch with us and walked for 20 minutes in 30*C sunny weather and were really looking forward to some nice bite of food and a cold drink.

We have arrived at 1.40pm and there were people sitting outside chatting but as we have approached the 3 staff behind the counter we got told that the only thing we can order were the take away coffees.

No sandwich offered, no seat given the cafe was officially closing in 20mins just take away coffees or nothing.

We understand if the cafe was closing at 2 and we walked past at 2.15 and the take away option was the only option but we got turned away during their business hours.

Change your opening hours to 1pm or 1.30 and then offer patrons take away coffee past that point. We have left feeling hot, hungry and thirsty.

If we could give 0 rating we would given the circumstance and the lack of care but we are giving 1 star instead for at least being “offered” take away coffees we didn’t opt for in a 30* heat.

We would not return back as we don’t know when you actually service people. We went to “Table Birds” cafe instead that are located only few minutes walk away and we’re provided with the lovely service, nice food, variety of drinks, deserts, seat and shaded table to have our lunch at.

That’s all from us. Thanks...

Wouldn’t suggest this cafe for anyone with dietary requirements, as they couldn’t be less accommodating. Booked a table here for Mother’s Day and despite calling them ahead of time and the menu specifying they would adjust due to allergies they weren’t interested so had to grab some chips at the local milk bar instead. Please don’t label things GF if you are not willing to offer an alternative to ensure it is safe for those living with coeliac disease. Best to mark it as low gluten option e.g Gluten free bread cooked in a toaster with gluten is no longer gluten free. It’s not that complicated. I did suggest using a clean pan to cook it instead but felt the chef had labelled it as too hard basket and was told they won’t serve me. Hopefully you don’t behave this way with someone that has a nut allergy too. Very disappointing experience.

EDIT: And that response reaffirms exactly how I was treated. The poor waitress was left to be the piggy in between the manager and chef and no conversations held directly with me. You may have seen the other reviews referring to the rudeness experienced in your cafe and perhaps this was related to management too. I am clearly not the first and am certain now that I will not be the last. Happy to...

Drove past this place and thought must come back with husband to try. So we went and had coffees (soy lattes and flat white) and he had multigrain toast with bacon and hashbrowns, while I had avocado smash on multigrain with corn, goats cheese and a side of halloumi. Note avo smash came with poached eggs which husband ate as I don't like eggs and again I wonder why every avo smash at every place has to come with poached eggs? The coffees were really nice and venue has all your milk alternatives covered (soy, oat, almond) and food great. Generous serving size and couldn't finish mine. An interesting menu too. Lots of seating inside and outside and I was tempted to takeaway a delicious looking muffin, but resisted. Location is near some cute street art as well. 23.8 group of us for coffee and muffins. I had a soy latte and a cheese and...