The Lighthouse Restaurant

The Lighthouse Restaurant sits right at the tip of Cleveland Point on Shore Street North, with Moreton Bay and North Stradbroke Island on three sides and the 1864 wooden Cleveland Point lighthouse next door. It runs a seafood restaurant, a bar, a cafe and a fish and chippery takeaway from the one complex, so there is a way in for nearly every kind of visit, from a full lunch to an ice cream at the end of a bay walk. The restaurant is at 237 Shore Street North, Cleveland, about 30 minutes east of Brisbane.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the open-air, non-enclosed bar and cafe seating looking over the bay, while the enclosed indoor restaurant stays humans-only, as is standard for Queensland dining rooms. The practical move is to arrive with your dog leashed, ask for an outdoor table and keep them settled beside you; the venue borders Cleveland parkland, so a short leg-stretch before or after is easy. Water bowls are not guaranteed, so bring your own. Weekends and sunset hours are the busiest stretches at the point, and the outdoor tables are the first to go.

The vibe

This is bayside seafood done properly: the Moreton Bay bug and prawn linguine, a seafood platter for two, and seasonal local catches in the restaurant, with the takeaway kiosk next door doing classic fish and chips, burgers and ice cream from 10am. The cafe pours breakfast and coffee from 7am, so early walkers can build the whole morning around the point. The heritage-listed lighthouse beside the car park is a rare wooden hexagonal survivor from 1864 and a good photo stop with a patient dog.

Getting there and parking

Free public parking sits at the point itself, and it fills quickly on weekends and at sunset; if the main lot is full, street parking runs along Shore Street North a 100 to 200 metre walk away. The restaurant and bar trade from 11am to 9pm daily. The point is also a launching spot for a bay walk, and the off-leash sand at GJ Walter Park is a short drive back along the shoreline.

Close by with the dogs

Make a day of it with the water: Raby Bay Dog Beach lets dogs off lead on the western side of the harbour, and the Raby Bay Harbour precinct adds more dog-friendly alfresco tables if the Lighthouse car park is full. Both pair well with a drive out to the point for a late lunch.