Riviera Cafe

Riviera Cafe works a morning-only shift at 29A River Street in Woolgoolga, and it has become the town's coffee benchmark: Allpress beans, fresh-made paninis and in-house baked goods, served from a small shop locals also know as the Riviera Top Shoppe. Dogs are welcome in the casual outdoor seating out the front, which is exactly where you want to be after a walk on Woolgoolga's dog beach.

Dogs out the front

The front outdoor area is the dog zone: a small, cosy setup with lounge-style seats where a leashed dog tucks in comfortably beside you. There is no table service outside, so you order at the counter inside; if you are on your own with the dog, tie up briefly at the door or take turns with a friend. Water bowls are not always out on busy mornings, so bring your own to be safe.

The coffee and the cabinet

The coffee is the reason people queue: consistently rated among the best on the Coffs Coast, pulled from Allpress beans. The paninis are made fresh, with the salmon panini the recurring favourite, and the cabinet runs to croissants, muffins and toasties baked in house. This is a morning cafe, not a lunch destination: doors open at 6am on weekdays and 7am on weekends, and the kitchen winds up around midday, sometimes 1pm in season. Come early or miss it.

Getting there

River Street is Woolgoolga's main strip, a short drive north of Coffs Harbour on the way to Grafton, with street parking along the strip and the beach end of town a couple of minutes on foot. The cafe sits up the hill side of the street, easy to spot from the Woolgoolga Lake turnoff.

Pair it with

Woolgoolga Back Beach is the town's designated off-leash beach under City of Coffs Harbour rules, though dogs go back on lead when Little Tern breeding season signs go up. After the sand, grab the table out the front here. Further dog friendly coffee is at the Drop Stop Cafe up the road or the Sandy Beachouse heading south, and the Coffs Harbour dog off lead beach covers the big-city alternative.

More options are on the New South Wales dog friendly cafes guide and the Woolgoolga destination page.