Bam Bam Italian

Bam Bam Italian is a lively wood-fired Italian restaurant on Belgrave-Gembrook Road in Avonsleigh, up in the Dandenong Ranges, and it runs one of the more genuinely dog-friendly setups in the hills: a covered front verandah where dogs are proper guests rather than a grudging exception. The kitchen turns out wood-fired pizzas, homemade pasta and arancini, with eggplant and mushroom pizzas for the vegetarians and a solid vegan and gluten-free spread for mixed-diet groups.

Dogs at Bam Bam Italian

Dogs are welcome on the covered front verandah, which has heating for the cool Dandenong evenings and enough space between tables that a dog is not underfoot. Water bowls are provided, so you can leave the travel bowl in the car. The venue maintains its own dog-friendly page, which tells you this is policy rather than a lucky waitress, and booking ahead is worth doing if you want to guarantee a verandah table, especially for weekend lunch when it fills fast. Go early evening midweek if you want the verandah to yourselves.

Max: wood-fired pizza crusts, a heated verandah in July and a water bowl that refills itself. The Dandenongs understand a working dog's needs.

The vibe

Family-run and family-friendly: there is a fenced, turfed playground for the kids, a private room for gatherings, and the kind of noise that says nobody minds your dog doing a lap of the verandah. Hours run from 5pm Monday to Thursday, 5pm to 10pm Fridays, from 11:30am on weekends, closing 8pm Sundays. Rating averages sit high across nearly 900 reviews, driven by the pizza and the service rather than the view.

Getting there and parking

Find it on Belgrave-Gembrook Road, Avonsleigh, about two minutes' drive from Emerald township, with free on-site parking. It is an easy detour off the Emerald and Cockatoo circuit, and the hill roads are narrow, so take the bends at hill speed after dark.

Close by with the dogs

Emerald Lake Park's walking tracks are five minutes away for a pre-pizza lap of the lake, and Pepi's Land dog off-leash area in Emerald covers the off-lead run. For a second dog-friendly session, The Railway Dog in Emerald is the local pub stop. More dog friendly pubs sit under Victoria, and everything else nearby is listed for Avonsleigh.

Worth knowing

The verandah is covered but the hill weather rolls in sideways, so winter bookers should still bring a jacket. The fenced playground means kids on the move; well settled dogs will have the easiest time. Weekend lunch is the busiest service, and the dog-friendly section is finite, so book rather than gamble.