Blitz Bar Mentone

Blitz Bar Mentone is a self-serve acai and coffee bar at 1 Como Parade West, directly across from Mentone station and a few minutes' walk from the bay. It is a quick, healthy stop rather than a long sit-down meal: build-your-own acai bowls from a big toppings bar, organic specialty coffee, matcha and smoothies, with a fully dairy-free, vegan and gluten-free menu. The team are openly dog-keen, which makes it an easy bookend to a beach walk.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the outdoor seating, and the best plan is the footpath tables out front, where one person can stay with the dog while the other builds a bowl at the self-serve counter. It is an urban Como Parade setting, so this is a footpath spot rather than a courtyard, and water bowls are often out. Keep your dog leashed and close, because the footpath is high-traffic with train commuters and prams passing constantly.

Worth knowing

The draw is the custom acai build: pick a base, then work through fresh fruit, granola and drizzles, or order one of the signature menu builds. Coffee and matcha cover the humans, and everything on the menu suits dairy-free and gluten-free diets. Hours run 8am to 10pm every day, which is unusual for a cafe and makes an after-dinner acai run or a post-beach evening stop genuinely workable.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits directly across from Mentone station on the Frankston line, so car-free arrival is about as easy as it gets. If you drive, free street parking runs along Como Parade West and the surrounding side streets, though the spots right out front turn over quickly on weekend mornings.

Close by with the dogs

Mentone Beach is minutes away, with the off-leash sand at the western end between Charman and Plummer Roads, and the foreshore path runs alongside for a longer loop. Mentone Beach Dog Off Leash Area is the obvious pairing, and Reg Marlow Reserve covers fenced off-lead time a short drive south. Among the local cafes, Busy Boy on Mentone Parade is famous with dog owners for its biscuits-and-cuddles service, and Chain of Fools sits across the road from the sand if you want a full sit-down brunch instead.

More options are on the Victoria dog friendly cafes guide and the Mentone destination page.

Pepsi: build the bowl before you clip on, not after. The toppings bar is self-serve, and a dog on a tight footpath lead is a third hand you do not have.