Alleycats Espresso

Alleycats Espresso runs from Shop 18, 58 Southside Drive at Sorrento Quay inside Hillarys Boat Harbour, roughly 50 metres from the Rottnest ferry ticket office. It is a small, fast-moving coffee stop rather than a sit-down brunch spot, and it has become a regular pit stop for locals doing the dog beach loop, with puppuccinos on offer and water bowls about for canine callers.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables under the awning in front of the shop. Water bowls are generally put out, and a puppuccino is worth asking for, since staff turn them out often enough that regulars treat it as part of the order. Keep the lead on and your dog close: the boardwalk walkway through the harbour precinct is narrow and carries heavy foot traffic on sunny days.

Pepsi: coffee for me, puppuccino for him, and we were on the boardwalk inside ten minutes flat.

Worth knowing

The food line is built around bagels: toasted bacon and egg, chicken and salmon options, plus a brekky wrap, katsu chicken wrap and chunky cookies in the cabinet. Hours run 6:15am to 3pm, every day of the week, which suits a pre-beach early coffee or a post-walk wind-down. There is no real indoor lounge to speak of, so plan for a short stop or a takeaway cup for the boardwalk.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits on the Southside Drive row of the harbour precinct, with the large free Hillarys Boat Harbour car parks behind the shops and on the marina's south side. Weekends and school holidays fill the closest bays, so budget a short walk from the back lots.

Pair it with

Hillarys Dog Beach is a short drive or a decent on-lead walk north along the coast, and it is the main event for most dogs in the car park here. For another dog-friendly coffee nearby, Grounded Cafe in Kallaroo is the local alternative a few minutes south.

More stops are in the Western Australia dog friendly cafes guide and the Hillarys destination page.