Crave Cafe is a not-for-profit eatery in Morningside, Auckland, owned by a neighbourhood collective. A few locals came together to make Morningside a better place to live, asked residents what the neighbourhood needed most, and started Crave with all profit going back into the community.
The cafe has grown through several stages. Crave 1.0 opened in a tiny 20-seat space, followed by Crave 2.0, which more than doubled the cafe's size with a stage area for events, a PA system, an upstairs bar and meeting area, and a large custom community table. Crave 3.0, 'the new Crave', opened after 18 months of planning and renovating an old tyre warehouse, on the corner of Morningside Drive and McDonald Street, across the road from the original site.
Beyond coffee and food, Crave runs community initiatives including twice-yearly street parties with free food, free coffee and free connection for neighbours, and sells ethically crafted bags and satchels from Loyal Workshop, a Kolkata-based programme helping women escape the sex trade - Crave also uses Loyal Workshop leather straps on its aprons. The cafe caters for private functions and offers meeting rooms, and its menu of Main, Drinks and Kids options updates regularly with seasonal ingredients, with the cabinet changing daily.
Crave Cafe sits in Morningside, Auckland, but it isn't run like a typical cafe. It's owned by a neighbourhood collective - a group of locals who got together some years ago wanting to make Morningside a better place to live. When they asked residents what the neighbourhood needed most, addressing social poverty came out on top, so they chipped in and started Crave, with all profit going back into the community.
Crave's story runs through several distinct chapters. Crave 1.0 opened in a tiny 20-seat space, built around the idea of giving neighbours a place to connect and belong. Two years later, Crave 2.0 more than doubled the cafe's size, punching through into an adjoining space to add a stage area for events, a PA system, an upstairs bar and meeting area, and a large custom community table - a physical expression of the connection Crave was built around.
After five years in that form, Crave moved again. 'The new Crave', as it's been called, opened after 18 months of planning, renovating and painting up an old tyre warehouse, on the corner of Morningside Drive and McDonald Street, across the road from the original site.
Crave's mission goes well beyond serving coffee and food. Twice a year, the cafe hosts street parties with free food, free coffee and free connection, aimed at helping neighbours get to know each other. The cafe has also partnered with Loyal Workshop, a Kolkata-based programme that helps women escape the sex trade, selling their ethically crafted bags and satchels in store and using their leather straps on Crave's own aprons.
Crave's food offering is built around Main, Drinks and Kids menus that update regularly to bring in seasonal ingredients, with the cabinet changing daily. Beyond the day-to-day cafe, Crave caters for private functions and offers meeting room hire - bookings of up to 12 people can be made through an online form, while larger groups, events and venue hire are handled directly by the team. The cafe has also catered offsite events, cooking and delivering food fresh and hot for functions like birthdays.
Crave's community ethos comes through in feedback from regulars, who describe a place that makes a real effort in the local community and helps other people, alongside praise for the food, generous servings and fast service even during busy weekend periods.
Crave Cafe is open Monday to Friday from 7am to 3:30pm, Saturday from 7am to 4pm, and Sunday from 8am to 4pm, at 6 Morningside Drive in Morningside, Auckland. For anyone after a coffee, a meal, or simply a sense of connection to the neighbourhood, Crave's not-for-profit model means every visit puts something back into Morningside itself.