Coffee of the 52

Coffee of the 52 operates from Shop 29, 52 Bay Street, Rockdale, a small Colombian cafe pouring Toby's Estate coffee alongside homestyle South American plates. It opens 8:30am to 5pm Tuesday to Sunday and closes Mondays, and dogs are welcome at the footpath tables out front, which makes it a handy sit-down stop a short walk from the station.

The dog setup

The outdoor footpath seating along Bay Street is where dogs go rather than the small interior. Water bowls are often put out for visiting dogs, but bring your own to be sure, and keep your dog tucked in against the table since the footpath carries steady foot traffic between the station and the shops.

Worth knowing

This is a proper Colombian kitchen, not a toasted-sandwich counter: ajiaco built on three potato varieties with shredded chicken and guascas, arepas including the loaded La de la Tierra, empanadas, Bandeja Paisa and cazuela de frijoles, plus a scrambled-egg special with white corn arepa. Portions run generous and the food is homemade, with a cosy feel reviewers consistently mention. One caution: wait times can stretch when it is busy, so treat it as an unhurried stop rather than a quick coffee between errands.

Getting there and parking

Bay Street is the main Rockdale strip, an easy walk from Rockdale Station on the T4 line. Street parking runs along Bay Street with public car parks nearby as backup. Check the hours before a Monday trip since the doors are closed that day.

Same-street dog-friendly coffee includes ROAR CAFE and Boschetto Cafe, and the Brighton Le Sands Walking Path is a short trip away for a bay-side leg stretch. More in the NSW cafes index.

Pepsi: footpath table, a bowl of water, and the humans arguing over who gets the last arepa. Solid Bay Street arithmetic.