Anna’s Cafe In Lara

Anna's Cafe In Lara is a cozy local spot on The Centreway, the main shopping strip in Lara between Geelong and Melbourne, and dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables out front. It is a solid pick for a coffee and cooked breakfast while you are working through the shops, rather than a destination cafe in its own right, and regulars treat it that way.

The dog setup

Dogs sit with you at the spacious footpath tables along The Centreway, and the outdoor precinct is generous by strip-shop standards. Like any cafe kitchen, the inside is people-only, so claim an outside table when you arrive. Keep your dog leashed and settled close to your chair because the tables sit near foot traffic, and bring a water bowl to be safe rather than assuming the cafe keeps one on hand. Staff have been known to send out a puppacino for well-behaved regulars.

The vibe

This is a warm, community-minded cafe with table service and friendly, efficient staff even when the strip gets busy. The menu runs to classic cooked breakfasts such as eggs benedict, scrambled eggs and smashed avocado, plus raisin toast and toasties, with hearty, sensibly priced lunch plates including chicken parmigiana. Coffee gets consistent praise from regulars, and the salt and pepper calamari has its fans at lunch.

Getting there and parking

The cafe is at Shop 2A, 48-50 The Centreway, with free street parking out front and a larger free car park serving the shopping complex nearby. It opens daily from 7:30am to 3pm, so it is a breakfast-and-lunch room rather than a late-arvo one. The Lara railway station is a short walk if you are coming up the line from Geelong.

Worth knowing

Best treated as a quick coffee stop with the dog rather than a lingering brunch, especially if you are already walking the strip or pairing it with an off-leash run nearby. Mid-morning on a weekday is the calmest window; the strip hums on Saturday mornings.

For a proper run before breakfast, the Hovells Creek Reserve fenced dog park is the local pick, with Seagull Paddock in Norlane a short drive up the highway. The Xpresso cafe is the other dog-friendly coffee stop in Lara if this one is full. More options sit under the Victorian cafes listing and the Lara destination page.