Presto Eatery

Presto Eatery is the busy brunch cafe on Commercial Street East in the centre of Mount Gambier, and with more than 800 reviews behind a 4.5 rating it is one of the town's best-known coffee stops. Dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables, so a CBD walk and a proper breakfast fit in the same loop.

The dog setup

Dogs join you in the alfresco and outdoor dining areas, meaning the front footpath tables and, depending on the day, the side tables; indoors stays people only. Staff are reported as dog-friendly and water bowls often appear, but bring your own portable bowl for busy spells. Keep your dog settled and on-lead beside the chair, because Commercial Street foot traffic is steady through the morning.

The vibe

It is a bright, bustling room doing specialty coffee and an all-day list: corn fritters and french toast cover the sweet-savoury ends, eggs benedict is a fixture, vegan options are genuinely on the menu rather than an afterthought, and the chai latte has its own following. Staff are repeatedly described as friendly even at peak brunch hours, and wait times on weekends are the one recurring gripe.

Pepsi: corn fritters, a chai for the human, and the whole footpath to people-watch from.

Getting there and parking

The eatery sits at 37 Commercial Street East, in the heart of Mount Gambier. Street parking runs along Commercial Street and the surrounding blocks, free in most of the CBD. It is flat, walkable country for a dog, and the Blue Lake precinct is a short drive south.

Close by with the dogs

The Blue Lake Loop is the town's signature walk and pairs naturally with breakfast. The Hastings Cunningham Reserve Fenced Dog Park covers off-lead time, and Breaking Bread is the other dog-friendly table in the CBD.

More picks are in the South Australia dog friendly cafes guide and the Mount Gambier destinations page.