So when Francesca Giglio opened her own place in north Sydney she didn't think it would close three years later.
It survived the health crisis, but now her Ambrosia Food Creation is a victim of the high cost of living.
That's hit the cafe's profit margin hard, and Francesca plans to close the venue soon.
"No one really wants to or accept this price increase, like we must accept it -- for the ingredient, for the rent, for the wages -- so all the wages are going up so now having a worker, it's really tough between all the taxes and superannuation and the actual rates, it's going crazy like."
Australia's cafe industry is the world's biggest outside Europe per capita, and worth just over $6.6 billion.
But that can't rescue it from customers having less money to spend.
Jack Hanna is a former World Latte Champion.
He closed his eatery The Goodsline in downtown Sydney last month, just two years after it opened to positive reviews.
"It was quite worrying because we just didn't know where, whether or not our week was going to be a good week or a week that was going backwards. So it was quite stressful for a while because you just didn't know."
Hospitality venues made up about one-third of Australian small businesses advertised for sale before the health crisis.
Selling agents say the percentage is now closer to half, with asking prices discounted by up to a half of historic market values.
It could be some time before Australia's love of coffee is back at full strength.
