Cafe Opera

Cafe Opera is a long-running breakfast and brunch cafe at 419 Nepean Highway in Chelsea, a few minutes' walk from Chelsea Beach, and it has a reputation among Bayside dog owners for welcoming four-legged visitors properly. The place to sit with a dog is the sheltered courtyard out the back.

The dog setup

Bring your dog through to the rear courtyard, which has its own access from behind the shops so you skip the highway frontage altogether. It is sunny, calm and well away from Nepean Highway traffic, and the front outdoor tables are also accommodating if the courtyard fills. Staff are known to bring out water bowls and the occasional treat, and the cafe is a popular post-walk stop for locals.

Pepsi: Ask for the courtyard when you arrive - it is the sunny bit out the back, well clear of the highway.

The menu

The kitchen leans classic brunch: pancakes and french toast, bacon and egg plates, avocado on sourdough, with gluten-free bread available. Reviewers consistently call out the friendly service, and the venue trades 8am to 5pm seven days, so late-morning walks work as well as early ones.

Beach before breakfast

Chelsea Beach is a few minutes' walk east, and City of Kingston allows dogs off lead on the sand before 10am during daylight savings and for most of the day outside summer, with leashed access in between. For a guaranteed off-lead run at any hour, the Chelsea Bicentennial Park off-leash area is close by, and Bonbeach Beach extends the same sand one suburb down the line. Jack The Lad on the same strip is the suburb's other dog-friendly coffee option.

Street parking runs along Nepean Highway with public parking behind the shops closest to the courtyard entry, and Chelsea Station on the Frankston line is a short walk. More of the area is on the Chelsea destination page, with the state list in the VIC cafes index.