Playground cafe and bar

Playground Cafe and Bar is the local strip hangout on Wills Road in Woolooware, doing specialty coffee and brunch from 6am and switching to pizza and cocktails on Friday and Saturday nights. Dogs are welcome in the outdoor areas, which makes it an easy regular stop for Sutherland Shire dog walkers.

The dog setup

There are two outdoor options: the street seating out front and the sunny rear courtyard, and both take dogs. The indoor dining room is inside-only territory. Water bowls are put out for dogs, which is more than most cafes manage, and standard etiquette applies: on lead, settled beside the table, off the furniture. The courtyard is the pick on a warm morning; the front tables suit a quick coffee.

The vibe and the menu

Regulars rate the coffee and the brunch specials, with Biscoff brioche French toast the order that keeps coming up, along with the chicken sandwich and the sticky chai. Staff get steady praise for being quick and genuinely friendly. Hours are 6am to 2pm Monday to Saturday and 7am to 2pm Sunday, with the Friday and Saturday night bar service running later. Weekday mornings are the quiet window if you want the courtyard to yourself; weekends fill with the pram-and-dog crowd.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits at 47 Wills Road near the corner of Cawarra Road in Woolooware's local strip. Free street parking on Wills Road and the surrounding streets is generally easy, and Woolooware station is walkable if you are arriving by train.

Make a day of it

Solander Fields is a short drive for an on-lead stretch, and the dog-friendly options at Cronulla are five to ten minutes away if you want a bigger outing, though seasonal beach leash rules apply. Toast 2230 is the other Woolooware option, with a sun-soaked outdoor deck by the water, and Blackwood Cronulla keeps water bowls ready for passing dogs. Mr Paisleys Cafe at Caringbah is another courtyard-style stop one suburb over.

More of the Shire's dog-friendly venues are on the Woolooware destination page, with the wider list in the NSW cafes index.