Lennox Gelato & Coffee Co

Lennox Gelato & Coffee Co trades from Ballina Street in the centre of Lennox Head, and it keeps hours most cafes would not dare: from 8am through into the evening, often past 9pm in the middle of the week. That makes it both the morning coffee stop and the after-dinner gelato run, with dogs welcome at the outdoor tables for either shift.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the outdoor and footpath seating out front; inside is people-only. It is a quick-stop kind of place, so a dog that is happy standing or settling at your feet while everyone chooses flavours will fit right in. The footpath sits back from the main flow of Ballina Street, and the strip is calm enough for social dogs in the evening.

Worth knowing

The gelato is the headline, with a wide and changing range of flavours, and the salted lime sorbet and dulce de leche come up in reviews more than most. The coffee side is taken seriously too, rated by locals among the best in town, so the split-order stop, one gelato, one long black, is a workable compromise. Servings are generous.

Getting there and parking

The shop is on Ballina Street, the main thoroughfare through the village, with free street parking along the strip and public car parks nearby. It gets busy on weekends, and easy to reach on foot if you are already in the village centre.

While you're out there

Seven Mile Beach is a short stroll away, with the off-leash section north of the surf club, and Seven Mile Beach Dog Beach Car Park puts you right at the sand. Lennox Head Boardwalk makes a good pre-gelato loop, and Papaya is the village's other dog-friendly table.

More options are on the New South Wales dog friendly cafes guide and the Lennox Head destination page.

Pepsi: a gelato shop open past nine is my kind of civic planning. Salted lime sorbet for me, the boring vanilla spoonful for the humans.