Piegirl

Piegirl is a dedicated pie-and-coffee shop on Millaroo Drive in Helensvale's business pocket, and it declares its dog policy itself: an Instagram post spruiking the shop as extra dog friendly, right down to the paw-print hashtags. It is a weekday-morning operation, open from 5am and shut on weekends, so the dog-friendly window is a working-week one.

The dog setup

Dogs join you at the alfresco tables out the front, which is the natural spot anyway since inside is order-and-takeaway territory. The team is friendly and quick, and there is free onsite parking plus easy street parking on Millaroo Drive, so in-and-out with a dog is painless. Bring your own water bowl to be safe.

Worth knowing

The pies are the whole show: pepper steak, bacon pie and a curry steak among the gourmet range, sausage rolls, and frozen gluten-free pies and family-size pies to take home. Coffee earns its own praise in reviews, with sandwiches and sweet treats rounding out the cabinet. Trade runs 5am to 2:30pm Monday to Friday at the shop; on weekends the Piegirl crew turns up at markets like HOTA instead, so check their socials if you want them on a Sunday.

Getting there

You will find it at 16 Millaroo Drive, just off the Gold Coast Highway end of Helensvale and an easy hop from the M1, which makes it a sensible stop for tradies, office runs and dog walkers cutting through the northern Gold Coast.

While you're out there

Pair the pie run with a walk: the leash-free area at Mangrove Jack Park is the nearby off-lead option, and Xenia Park Fenced Dog Park gives the secure run. Fellow Helensvale dog-friendly cafes include Three tree frogs Helensvale and Pi & Pine Cafe if you are doing the suburb's coffee lap.

More of the area is on the Helensvale destination page and the Queensland cafes list.