Wild Cherry Coffee House

Wild Cherry Coffee House occupies shop 13 at 221 Christine Avenue, Varsity Lakes, a compact coffee shop built for the early shift: it opens before dawn most mornings, from 5am on weekdays, and shuts things down by late morning (midday Sundays at the latest). The focus is coffee done properly, with filter and cold brew alongside the usual espresso range, and a small fast cabinet rather than a kitchen menu.

The dog setup

The unusual part is that dogs are welcome inside as well as at the outdoor tables, which makes this a reliable wet-weather and heat-wave stop when most Gold Coast alfresco areas are off the menu. Water bowls are usually out and the staff have a friendly reputation with pets. The room is small, so it suits a calm dog that settles in tight quarters; if yours needs space, take a table outside.

Worth knowing

Cabinet food covers bacon and egg rolls, ham and cheese croissants and rotating gluten-free and vegan slices, with smoothies and pressed juices filling out the drinks list. The filter coffee is the thing regulars come back for. Everything wraps by mid-morning, so plan this as the first stop of the day, not the second.

Getting there and parking

Free parking sits out front with more in the adjacent plaza carpark, and the shopfront is street-level and wheelchair accessible. Christine Avenue runs a few minutes off the M1 and connects through to the Varsity Lakes lakeside paths.

Pair it with

The Frascott Park Fenced Dog Park is minutes away for a proper off-lead run before the coffee, and UE Bagels covers the brunch upgrade later in the morning. For a sit-down lunch, The Brooklyn Wine & Tapas is the suburb's other dog-friendly table.

More options are on the Queensland dog friendly cafes guide and the Varsity Lakes destination page.

Max: beat the 5am opens by arriving second, not first. Order the filter, take an outside table, and let the regulars' dogs make friends.