At Tom's Cafe

At Tom's Cafe is a small suburban cafe at Shop 1A/26 Derribong Drive, Cordeaux Heights, at the foot of the Illawarra escarpment south of Wollongong. It opens early and closes by mid-afternoon, and dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables while you work through a breakfast or a coffee, which makes it the easy local stop for a morning walk circuit in the suburb.

The dog setup

Dogs go in the outdoor seating area only, on a leash and settled. The team has a reputation for being genuinely welcoming, but if you have a larger dog or you are coming at a busy time, it is worth ringing ahead on 0424 071 941 to check they can fit you. There is no dedicated dog menu, just a relaxed pavement-style setup where a well-behaved dog is fine.

The food and coffee

The menu covers breakfast and lunch with the classics done well. Regulars point to the bacon and egg roll, the thick milkshakes and the housemade sweets, and the coffee runs on Seven Miles beans, with chai lattes getting a mention too. Hours are Monday to Friday 7am to 2pm, Saturday 7am to midday and Sunday 8am to midday, so weekend visits need to be early.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits in the local shopping complex on Derribong Drive, with parking at the complex itself, so the walk from the car with a dog is short. Cordeaux Heights is a residential pocket, and the surrounding streets are quiet enough for a leashed leg-stretch before or after breakfast.

Close by with the dogs

For a proper run, Figtree off leash dog area is the nearest dedicated off-leash option, a few minutes away, and the Mount Kembla Memorial Track just west offers a leashed bushwalk on the escarpment. If you are heading down the hill to the coast afterwards, Lee and Me in Wollongong is another dog-friendly table.

More options in the region are on the Cordeaux Heights destination page, and the full list is in the NSW cafes index.