Project One Cafe

Project One is a busy specialty cafe at Shop 1, 1 Powderworks Road, on the corner where it meets Pittwater Road in Narrabeen. It opens before 6am on most days and the footpath tables out front take dogs, which makes it a natural pit stop mid-way through a lagoon or beachside walk on Sydney's northern beaches.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor footpath tables, not inside, and the frontage is partially shaded, which helps on warmer mornings. Staff are known for being genuinely good with dogs and water bowls are often out, though bringing your own is the safe play. The cafe sits on a main-road corner, so park your dog close to the table and away from the kerb line if foot traffic bothers them.

Worth knowing

The coffee runs on Veneziano beans and the crispy pork banh mi has a local following, alongside lemongrass chicken rolls, breakfast rolls, rice paper rolls and a cabinet of homemade sweets like carrot cake and cheesecake. Hours are 9am to 3pm Monday, 5:30am to 3pm Tuesday to Friday, and 6am to 2pm on weekends. Street parking on Pittwater Road is busy; the residential streets off it are quieter.

Pair it with

The lagoon loop is right there: the multi-use trail around Narrabeen Lagoon runs about 8.4km and dogs are welcome on lead for the full circuit, with sections of Berry Reserve and Middle Creek Reserve closed to dogs entirely, so read the signage. Ocean beaches across the Northern Beaches, including Narrabeen Beach itself, are off limits to dogs, though the adjacent footpaths are fine on a leash.

For proper off-lead time, Progress Park at North Narrabeen allows dogs off leash with water access to Mullet Creek. The Narrabeen Lagoon Loop page covers the walk in detail, and FOUR Knots Cafe is another dog-friendly stop in the suburb.

More options are on the NSW dog friendly cafes guide and the Narrabeen destination page.

Max: the banh mi here is the point, so order it and walk it down to the lagoon trail rather than lingering on a busy corner. The footpath tables are a bonus, not the destination.