Tailem Bend Bakery

Tailem Bend Bakery sits on Railway Terrace and has become the compulsory stop on the Adelaide to Melbourne run, famous enough for its Ned Kelly pie that travellers detour for it. Pies, pasties, sausage rolls and donuts come out in volume, and the atmosphere is busy country bakery all day. Being a South Australian food retail bakery, dogs stay outside: leashed dogs sit with their owners at the street side spots on Railway Terrace or in the park across the road while someone orders inside.

The dog setup

The dog arrangement here follows standard SA food premises rules rather than a venue policy: no dogs inside, but the street side outdoor spots and the park across the road make it workable. One person holds the dog at a street table while the other queues, or order takeaway and eat in the park with a clear view of the bakery. The outdoor seating has been reported by visitors as workable, and locals use the park strip for exactly this. Bring water in summer, since the Murraylands sun is serious and the footpath gets no shade after mid morning.

Worth knowing

This is a bakery, not a brunch cafe: the counters move fast and the seating is functional, so plan for a short stop rather than a lingering one. Hours run 7:30am to 3:30pm on weekdays and 8am to 2pm on weekends. Railway Terrace parking is free and plentiful, and the bakery is visible from the highway route through town. It also works as the lunch leg of a day trip paired with the motorsport park on the edge of town, though that venue has separate entry rules for dogs.

If you are mapping dog friendly bakery stops for the trip, Cafe Nova in Gawler is a good dog friendly call on the Adelaide side of the drive, and the dog friendly cafes in SA list covers the rest of the state. The cafes in VIC page picks up the route south of the border.