A Newcastle cafe has gone from local favourite to social media sensation almost overnight after two viral TikTok videos sent hundreds of new customers through its door. 

The sudden boom came as owners Sevanna and Lachlan Matthews welcomed their second child. 

Bagus Coffee in The Junction has spent almost six years steadily building its reputation, but owner Sevanna and Lachlan were welcoming their second child. 

“We’ve always been the little quiet café in The Junction,” she said.

“Now it’s just mental.” 

The first video, created through the EatClub platform, has attracted more than two million views, while a second review by a local food blogger quickly surpassed 100,000 views despite the creator having only a small following. 

The impact was immediate. 

Lachlan opened the café as usual the following morning, but within 15 minutes knew something had changed. 

“He messaged me and said, ‘What the hell? We’re so busy and we’ve only been open 15 minutes,’” Sevanna said. 

What followed were the busiest trading days in the businesses history.

Customers queued for tables throughout the weekend, with Bagus selling out of food by 11am on Saturday despite operating with its usual five-person weekend team. 

Expecting another rush, the owners doubled their stock for Sunday, but still sold out before lunchtime.

“We’ve been doubling what we would normally do every day,” Sevanna said. 

“It has been life changing.

“We always wanted something like this to happen but never expected it to actually become our reality.”

The unexpected boom has forced the business to move quickly. 

Within days, the owners held an emergency staff meeting before interviewing new employees. 

Five additional staff members including baristas, a cook and a junior employee have since been hired to keep pace with demand. 

Stock orders have also been dramatically increased, with bakery deliveries rising from around a dozen of each pastry to as many as four dozen.

“We’ve tripled our milk orders, our bread orders and pretty much everything we can,” she said.

“Otherwise our display cabinets are empty by 10am.”

Many of the customers arriving are asking for the exact menu items featured in the viral videos, particularly Bagus’ cake batter cold foam coffee topped with sprinkles.

Other best sellers include the café’s corn and zucchini fritters, pancakes, cookie dough pastries and Kinder Bueno scrolls. 

Nearly every new customer mentions they discovered the small local business through TikTok.

“Everyone says they’ve seen the TikTok which is crazy to us,” Sevanna told the Newcastle Weekly. 

“They’re booking online and writing that they’re coming because of TikTok.

“Our regular customers can’t believe how busy it has become with all these new people coming in to see what we’re about.”

The experience has highlighted just how influential social media has become for small businesses. 

“We post on social media four times a week ourselves, but all it took was two people making videos and it completely changed our business overnight,” she said. 

“It’s so powerful.

“It also shows how valuable influencers can be.”

Neither influencer identified themselves while visiting the cafe.

“We had no idea they were there,” Sevanna said. 

“It was only when we got tagged afterwards that we realised.”

While the business boom has been exciting, it has also arrived during one of the busiest periods of the couple’s personal lives. 

Their second daughter, Oaka, was born earlier this week, joining two-year-old sister Oceana. 

Instead of enjoying a quiet newborn bubble, Sevanna has been onboarding new employees from hospital while Lachlan has balanced time between work and visiting his family. 

“We’re trying to manage a newborn and a business that’s exploded overnight,” she said. 

“The newborn bubble is definitely different this time because it’s been taken over by the chaos of the cafe.

“I feel like I need to be in the cafe at least 5 days a week.

“I’ve always been the face of the business and everyone knows me.

“So I’ve built relationships with all the customers and that’s why I feel like I need to be there, which I can’t be right now.”

Despite the whirlwind, Sevanna says the timing was something they simply had to embrace. 

“My partner keeps saying beggars can’t be choosers,” she laughed. 

“We’ve wanted this to happen for years, so we’re just going with the flow and hoping it’s all of the best.

“Now, I’ve got to keep up with all the trendy things at the moment that people are wanting. 

The owners are already working to maintain the momentum, introducing new menu items inspired by online food trends such as hot honey and developing more specialty cold foam drinks to encourage customers to return. 

However, Sevanna says protecting the café’s reputation remained her biggest priority. 

“We’ve built this business on consistency and good service,” she said. 

“I’d rather be understaffed than hire people who don’t fit what we’re about. 

“You can be busy, but if people don’t enjoy the experience, they won’t come back.”

For a café that quietly spent six years building a loyal local following, the past fortnight has been life-changing. 

“It’s everything we’d ever dreamt of,” Sevanna said. 

“And more.”

For more community stories:

• Tributes flow in for legendary Newcastle volunteer Sue Prosser
• ‘Helpful Trev’ parks the bus for the final time after 34 years
• Sleapy’s Day bigger than a ‘football game’, says founder

Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.