SALIS cafe

SALIS cafe is a family-run kitchen at 178 Carlisle Street, on the Balaclava end of St Kilda, doing honest Balkan comfort food with barista coffee. The burek, served the traditional way with yoghurt, is the crowd favourite, and the cevapi in fresh bread, stuffed peppers and a rotating list of house-made cakes keep regulars coming back. It is a small, warm room, and the team has a reputation for making a fuss of dogs that walk in with their humans.

Where the dog goes

Per its listing details, dogs are welcome both inside and out, which is rarer than it should be on a busy shopping strip. The footpath tables on Carlisle Street are the easy option for people-watching, and indoor seating is a genuine fallback when the weather turns. Keep a short lead at the tables and carry a bowl if your dog drinks a lot; there is no dedicated dog menu, just the standard kindness of the staff.

Worth knowing

Doors open at 7am on weekdays and 8am on Saturdays, and the cafe is closed Sundays, so this is a weekday-breakfast-and-lunch spot. Vegan options sit alongside the meat-heavy Balkan classics, and the house-made cakes and lamingtons cover the sweet tooth. The matcha is worth the detour too.

Getting there and parking

SALIS sits on Carlisle Street a short walk from Balaclava station, with trams running along Carlisle Street itself. Street parking around the shops is metered and tight at peak times, so arriving on foot with the dog is the easy option.

Pair it with

The Peanut Farm Reserve off-leash area is a short walk east, and the St Kilda Harbour dog beach covers a sand-and-swim run. For a second coffee, Hello Sparrow is the suburb's other dog-friendly regular.

The St Kilda destination page pulls the suburb's dog-friendly venues together, and the VIC cafes index lists more.