Gymea Hotel

The Gymea Hotel is the big local on Gymea Bay Road, sitting directly opposite Gymea station in the Sutherland Shire. It is a proper multi-room pub with a bistro, sports lounge and regular live music, and for dog owners the draw is the large covered beer garden, where dogs are welcome year round, rain or shine.

The dog setup

Dogs settle in the covered outdoor patio and beer garden, which is roomy enough to tuck a dog beside or under a table even when the benches fill up. Come in from the street or the rear car park rather than cutting through the indoor bistro, and use the table ordering on your phone so nobody has to leave a dog unattended at the bar. Water bowls appear from time to time but pack your own to be safe.

Pepsi: a covered garden means my spot works in any weather. I take the mid-afternoon lull over the Friday night crush.

The vibe

This is a busy, family-friendly local rather than a quiet corner bar: schnitzels and seafood platters anchor the bistro menu, there are daily specials, and open-mic and live music nights fill the calendar. That energy suits confident dogs that shrug off foot traffic and chatter. The bistro itself is indoors, so plan to eat in the garden with your dog. Hours run from 10am until late most days, closing at 10pm on Sundays.

Getting there and parking

The address is 41-45 Gymea Bay Road, and the train is the easy option with the station directly across the road. If you drive, the hotel's large car park is at the rear; street parking on Gymea Bay Road gets tighter around mealtimes and weekends.

While you're out there

The Gymea Bay Road strip has plenty of footpath cafes for a morning coffee first, including Apex Espresso Bar and Bianchini's Gymea. If you are making a pub crawl of it, the Royal Hotel Sutherland is a few minutes down the line. You can browse more dog friendly pubs in NSW or see what else is happening in Gymea.