Myrtle Street Grind

Myrtle Street Grind is a corner cafe at 2 Myrtle Street, Normanhurst, in a quiet, tree-lined pocket of Sydney's Upper North Shore, right beside Charles Curtis Park and its playground. The outdoor seating wraps the corner position, and this is a genuinely dog-friendly local rather than a merely tolerant one.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the shaded outdoor and footpath seating, on a lead and settled. Water bowls are put out for visiting dogs, and the corner spot gives more room to spread out than a typical strip cafe. It sits right next to the park, so a pre-coffee walk or a post-breakfast run-around for the kids and the dog is built into the visit.

Worth knowing

Specialty coffee is the anchor, pulled on a La Marzocco with Blacksmith Roastery blends and single origins plus a filter option, and the kitchen turns out bacon and egg rolls, chicken schnitzel burgers, katsu sandwiches and almond croissants with vegetarian choices on hand. Hours run from 8am on Monday and 7:30am Tuesday to Friday, with weekends 8am to 2pm Saturday and 8:30am to 2pm Sunday. Sunday mornings are the busy stretch for the outdoor tables, so arriving early makes the difference.

Getting there and parking

Free street parking is typically available on Myrtle Street and the surrounding residential streets, and Normanhurst station is a short walk for anyone arriving by train.

Close by with the dogs

For off-lead time, the Brickpit Park Fenced Dog Park in Thornleigh is the closest fenced option, a few minutes south, with the Thornleigh Dog Park as the alternative. Cafe Once Upon a Time near the station is the suburb's other dog-friendly coffee stop.

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

Max: park-side table, bacon and egg roll, and the water bowl arrives before the coffee does. That order is the whole Sunday plan.