West End’s Cordeaux Social Club is a well-oiled machine, with a twist

“Absolutely the best coffee in the West End”. That’s how local John Maier describes his beloved Cordeaux Social Club.

He’s there almost every weekday—he doesn’t come on weekends “when all the yuppies are here”—and there’s even a coffee named after him on the menu: the John Magic, a hot double ristretto latte.

“The inside tip is that everyone who comes here should want John Magic… the best John Magic in Brisbane,” he says. “Better than Melbourne magic.”

For those who are not yet members of the club, Cordeaux has taken its place among the best coffee places in the city. Located on the corner of Montague Road and Cordeaux Street, this area is often crowded with cyclists, dog walkers, groups of friends and families; all enjoying the cafe food and welcoming atmosphere.

For owner Michael Jokovich, growing this cafe over the last three years (they celebrated their third birthday on October 31) has been a labor of love, but not without its setbacks, including a vital landmark that sets it apart from the usual cafe offerings in the city.

Belts tightened, Cordeaux flourished

One year. That’s how long ago he came up with the initial concept of Jokovich’s day-and-night relationship. Opening the cafe with her brother and aunt, she was confident that the nighttime crowd would win, while her brother supported the morning trade.

“It took about a year to realize that opening day and night was not sustainable,” he explains as he sits in the cafe’s courtyard on a sunny day.

“I quickly realized that this location, this environment, was probably better suited to day trading.”

On the contrary, the morning crowd forces them to open earlier; The doors currently open wide at 6am to a group of local caffeine addicts.

“There are a lot of customers who have commented and hinted that we should open a little earlier,” he says.

Unfortunately, the evening trading collapse was beyond Jokovich’s control. It was just a sign of the times.

“We noticed that when interest rates went up and conditions got tough… per capita spending in the evening became less and less,” he says.

Plus, since they’re in the West End, they’re just a stone’s throw away from some places. high-end, fine dining venues – to think Pilloni, Leyla And Rich and Rare. It has proven difficult to compete with these organizations.

“We’re not a high-end venue either; we’re a very casual environment, and so I think it’s difficult to position yourself in this competitive market,” Jokovich says.

But the appetite for Cordeaux remained after dark, prompting Jokovich to switch jobs.

If your social feed is full of Brisbane bites, you’ve probably seen their approach online, so this Brisbane Social Scene feature.

They hosted joint supper clubs with Bar Teknik and Club Gilates, as well as Dimmies and Tinnies (which, as the name suggests, featured dim sims and beers). But their semi-regular jazz nights had a big appeal.

“We’re very selective now about when we’re open at night, and when we do that, it’s for things like… pop-up dinners, special events… we get together every four to six weeks to put on a live jazz night with a local jazz band, things like that are still kind of fun for the community,” he says.

“We are constantly asked when we will do the next transaction [jazz night] and I think there’s a bit of an expectation around that… Because we don’t do it very often, people make an effort to open up, it’s always a good time.

Not ‘reinventing the wheel’

Jokovich attributes much of the cafe’s success to his team and their “old-school hospitality”; His baristas have been making coffee for more than two decades, and the chef grew up working in his family’s restaurants in Italy.

“We have a really great staff… they are lifelong hospitality workers, just like me, we just try to make everyone who walks through the door feel welcome,” he says.

“We were really lucky with the team we had.”

He admits that their approach isn’t rocket science and they don’t reinvent the wheel, but they focus on giving their customers a good time.

“We just try to offer consistent, affordable food, and the goal is to encourage people to come back as much as possible,” Jokovich says.

And it works. Regular customers Maier are proof of this.

“It’s a great pleasure to come to a cafe and see the same barista every day,” Maier says in this imprint.

As you sit there and watch the staff and the string of happy customers coming through the door on a weekday, it’s clear that luck has nothing to do with the likes of Maier becoming regulars; The Cordeaux Social Club team has worked tirelessly for three years to settle into the community and become one of the locals.

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