Francis Bean

Francis Bean is a coffee-focused local on Mari Street, one block back from the Alex Surf Club at Alexandra Headland, and it welcomes dogs at its outdoor tables. It opens 6am to 1pm every day, runs on Campos coffee, and keeps the menu firmly in beachside breakfast territory, so the play is coffee and a bite after an early beach walk.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor seating on the sidewalk and courtyard. Keep leads on and dogs off the furniture, and bring water on hot days because bowls are not guaranteed. Staff have a friendly reputation with four-legged visitors, and the walk-in, no-bookings format means you can arrive straight off the sand.

Worth knowing

The draw is the coffee plus a tight list of light breakfast and lunch plates: acai bowls, bruschetta, breaky wraps and chai lattes. It is a small, steady local crowd rather than a destination brunch queue. Street parking on Mari Street tightens up at peak times; if it is full, try Alexandra Parade or the surf club car park and walk in.

The coastal boardwalk to Mooloolaba runs close by for a pre-coffee leg-stretch, Alexandra Headland beach is a short stroll across the road, and the whole stretch between Maroochydore and Mooloolaba is easy dog-walking territory on a lead.

Make a loop of it with the Alex Head to Mooloolaba foreshore boardwalk, a pub lunch at the Alexandra Headlands Hotel, or a second coffee run at Backstreet Cafe up the coast. More local picks are on the Alexandra Headland destination page and in the QLD cafes index.

Max: flat white, acai bowl, and a patch of sidewalk sun. That is the whole brief.