Cafe Nookie

Cafe Nookie works out of a tiny shopfront at 268B Cleveland Street, on the Surry Hills side of the Redfern border. It opens 7:30am to 2:30pm on weekdays and 8:30am to 12:30pm on weekends, and the tight little room pushes nearly everything out to the footpath. The coffee is the point here: a flat white that locals rate among the area's best, from a one-person operation with a devoted regular crew.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor footpath seating, which is where everyone sits anyway given the size of the room. Water bowls are commonly put out for visiting dogs, though a backup bowl in your bag is never a bad idea on Cleveland Street. The footpath is narrow and passes a steady stream of pedestrians and dogs, so keep the lead looped close and the spot tidy.

Worth knowing

This is a coffee-and-a-snack stop, not a brunch destination: banana bread, ham and cheese croissants, cookies and the occasional homemade sweet cover the cabinet. Weekend mornings close at 12:30pm and the queue of regulars builds early, so mid-morning weekdays are the calmest window with a dog.

Getting there and parking

Central and Redfern stations are both a short walk, which is the practical way in. Street parking around Cleveland Street is scarce and metered, with short stays the norm.

Close by with the dogs

Frog Hollow Reserve is a few minutes up Crown Street for an on-lead stretch of grass, and Ward Park sits on the other side of the suburb. Paddock on Crown is the bigger sit-down dog-friendly option if you want to upgrade from coffee to a proper meal.

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

Max: this stop is one flat white wide. Order, take the footpath stool, and let the regulars' dogs do the socialising.