Wild Honey Café

Wild Honey Cafe sits on the New England Highway at Cabarlah, in the building that used to house the district's cuckoo clock shop. It has become a proper highway stop between Highfields and Crow's Nest: Merlo coffee from 6:30am, a bacon and egg roll for the drive, and an outdoor garden area where dogs are welcome while their people eat at the tables.

The dog setup

Dogs join you in the outdoor seating areas, which run across an extensive garden space rather than a token strip of footpath. The cafe lists itself as pet friendly on local dog-owner forums, and staff are used to four-legged guests waiting under the tables. Water and shade depend on which table you pick, so carry a bowl on hot Darling Downs mornings. Dogs stay on lead, and the garden edge runs onto the highway frontage, so park the lead short if your dog is a wanderer.

Worth knowing

The kitchen covers breakfast and lunch with dishes like avocado smash on Turkish bread and display-cabinet pastries, cakes and fresh pies. There is an in-house retail corner with local artisan goods, a kids' play area with an old cattle dray, and a fireplace inside for winter. The cafe is closed Mondays; it opens 6:30am the rest of the week, with evening trade on selected nights later in the week. If you are after a guaranteed daytime table with the dog, the morning and lunch windows are the safe bet.

Getting there and parking

The cafe is at 9913 New England Highway, Cabarlah, about ten minutes north of Highfields. There is off-street parking on site and wheelchair-accessible entry and seating. Highway traffic is constant, so walk dogs on lead from the car.

Close by with the dogs

The Harris Park dog off-leash area at Highfields is the closest fenced run for burning off a bacon roll, and the Chocolate Cottage makes a sweet second stop in the same village. For a proper stretch of legs, the Table Top trail on the Toowoomba range is worth the extra drive.

More options are on the Queensland dog friendly cafes guide and the Cabarlah destination page.

Max: bacon and egg roll under the garden tables, then a splash in the creek at Harris Park on the way home.