The Village Door

The Village Door is a small European-style brunch cafe at 156 Pakington Street, in the middle of the Geelong West strip. Dogs are welcome on the outdoor timber deck, which is the seating you want anyway since the room inside is tight and books up.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor deck tables on a lead. Indoor seating is limited and popular, so it pays to aim for an outside table, and water bowls are not guaranteed, so bring your own. The deck is compact, so a settled dog sits closer to other diners here than at sprawling venues.

Pepsi: the deck fills early because the room inside is tiny. If we are not out there by nine I am waiting on the footpath, and I will make it everyone's problem.

Worth knowing

The kitchen leans European, with a generous Brekky Platter that gets named again and again, plus solid gluten-free and vegan options and well-made coffee. It trades daily from about 8am to 3pm. It is a compact venue, so booking ahead helps on weekends; mid-morning on a weekday is the relaxed run.

Getting there and parking

Parking is on-street along Pakington Street and the side streets, and it tightens through the late-morning brunch window. The strip is walkable from central Geelong, and buses run along Pakington Street.

Close by with the dogs

The cafe sits on the walkable Pakington Street strip, so it is an easy on-lead loop past other dog-friendly spots like Sodi Cafe and Two Sisters Cafe. For green space, the Barwon River corridor is a short drive south for a riverside walk.

More dog friendly cafes in Victoria and other dog friendly spots in Geelong West are on PawScapes.