Riverlife Cafe

Riverlife Cafe is the community cafe run out of Riverlife Baptist Church at 47 Jennifer Street, Seventeen Mile Rocks, mixing paid and volunteer staff with a genuinely dog-friendly outdoor dining area. It is a calm, low-key place for a coffee rather than a brunch destination, and it prices and paces itself like the community venue it is.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the outdoor dining space, which has a dedicated hydration station so water is always on hand rather than on request. Keep dogs leashed while seated, standard practice for a shared space that also serves families and church regulars. The outdoor area is the dog zone; plan on sitting out there rather than inside.

Worth knowing

The cafe pours Parallel Roasters coffee and Love Tea's organic range, with a rotating menu of fresh, simple snacks and light meals and dietary accommodations available, plus free Wi-Fi. Hours are church-tied: Tuesday and Wednesday from 8am to 11:30am, and Sunday mornings around the services (roughly 8:15 to 9am and 10:30 to 11:45am), with Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday closed. A free community lunch runs on Wednesdays. Double-check the windows before you go, because they are tighter than most cafes.

Getting there and parking

There is on-site parking at the church, and the Translink bus to Rocks Riverside Park stops at the bottom of Jennifer Street, so it is an easy reach whether you drive or bus. The surrounding blocks are quiet and flat, which keeps the walk from the car short even with a dog in tow. For the walk either side of coffee, the off-lead space at Baxter's Reserve Dog Park and the fenced Delapine Place Park are both close, and Sheena's coffee kiosk is the other local pour.

More of the south-west is on the Seventeen Mile Rocks destination page and the QLD cafes list.