Koala Tavern

The Koala Tavern is a busy suburban pub on Moreton Bay Road in Capalaba, in Brisbane's bayside Redlands, with a large sunny beer garden that welcomes dogs alongside counter meals, a kids' playground and regular live entertainment. Open from 10am every day, it is an easy stop after a park run rather than a destination you need to plan around.

Dogs at the Koala Tavern

Dogs are allowed in the outdoor beer garden but not inside, and they need to stay on lead and under control while you are there. The tavern also runs its periodic Paw-fect Pals event for dogs and their owners, which does not run on public holidays, so check the venue's own events page before making a special trip for it.

The vibe

This is a proper family tavern: a big beer garden, a playground next door, roast chicken and rotating meal specials, plus live bands and karaoke in the public bar of an evening. That mix means it gets lively on family nights, so if your dog prefers calm, an earlier weekday visit is the easier bet. Known plates among regulars include the chicken schnitzel and barramundi.

Pepsi: beer garden on one side, playground on the other. Lively is an understatement on a Friday.

Getting there and parking

The address is 36-40 Moreton Bay Road, Capalaba, with a large dedicated customer car park on site, an easy stop off the main road from the surrounding bayside suburbs. Trading runs 10am to 4am daily.

Close by with the dogs

Work up the appetite first at the Gundagai Drive Park Fenced Dog Park, with the Windemere Road Park Fenced Dog Park another nearby enclosure. Coffee the morning after works at O'GABEE and Co Coffee Roastery in Birkdale.

More dog-friendly venues are in the Queensland pubs guide, and the Capalaba destination page covers the suburb.