Little Pegs Cafe

Little Pegs Cafe is a small, highly rated specialty coffee spot on Charters Towers Road in Hermit Park, and it is explicitly dog friendly, right down to staff who are genuinely dog obsessed. The Townsville Bulletin has covered it as one of the city's proper coffee destinations, and it sits within a small strip of shops on one of Townsville's busiest arterial roads.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the shaded outdoor seating area. Indoor seating is minimal at the best of times, so the outdoor tables are where you will end up anyway. Keep dogs on lead, as it is a high-traffic stretch of Charters Towers Road and there is no fenced run next door.

Worth knowing

This is serious specialty coffee: rotating single origins, batch brew, cold brew, iced long blacks and a dirty chai that gets regular mentions. House-made treats cover peanut butter muesli slice, banana bread, brownies and rotating muffins, and there is a cheese toastie for something savoury. Hours are Monday to Friday from 6am to 1pm, Saturday from 6am to 11am, closed Sunday. Early is the way to go, before the morning coffee run picks up.

If the queue is deep, you can order ahead through the cafe's Bopple ordering page and pick up without leaving the dog waiting.

Getting there and parking

It is at 82 Charters Towers Road, Hermit Park, among a small strip of shops south of the city. Free street parking is generally available around the shops, and the entrance is flat and accessible from the road.

Close by with the dogs

For an off-lead run first, the Townsville Main Dog Park and Rossiter Park fenced dog park at nearby Aitkenvale are the closest fenced options, with Orleigh Dog Park by the river in West End as another. Coffee alternatives nearby include Botanical Style in the same suburb and Bloom Espresso in Pimlico. More dog friendly cafes in Queensland are worth a scan for road trips.

Max: go early, get the dirty chai and a seat in the shade, and the staff will fuss over you before your humans get a word in.