Jack's Grill by SMITH ST. FOODS

Jack's Grill by Smith St. Foods is the pub-style grill inside Cronin's Hotel at 29 Belinda Street in the middle of Gerringong, and dogs are welcome to sit with you across the hotel's outdoor beer garden. It runs on classic bistro fare done generously, which makes it a straightforward dinner stop when you are travelling the South Coast with a dog rather than leaving it behind at the Cronin's Gerringong Hotel rooms upstairs.

The dog setup

Dogs sit in the outdoor beer garden and courtyard areas, not in the indoor bistro, bar or gaming rooms. The beer garden is spacious and relaxed, and it is a normal sight to see well-behaved dogs settled beside tables while locals eat. Staff usually bring a water bowl out, but it is worth carrying a collapsible one so you are never caught out. Keep your dog on the lead and settled at your table throughout the meal.

The food

The kitchen leans to hearty pub staples: steaks, chicken schnitzels and parmi, barramundi, burgers, pork belly and lamb shoulder, with cheesy garlic bread as a regular side order. Portions run large, and the beer-garden setting suits a long, unhurried weekend lunch. Service hours change across the week, so check the venue's page before planning an early or late visit.

Getting there and parking

The address is 29 Belinda Street, right in the Gerringong village centre, so it is an easy walk if you are staying in town. Street parking runs along Belinda Street and the nearby roads and is usually simple to find, though weekends get busier as the coast fills up.

Make a day of it

The Gerringong Headland dog off-leash area is a short drive from the hotel and is a designated off-leash reserve under Kiama Council rules, so a run along the headland before a table in the beer garden is an easy pairing. For more tables where a dog is welcome, The Hill Bar and Kitchen on Fern Street keeps a semi-enclosed terrace over Werri Beach, and Clay Coffee Collective pours coffee into a shaded courtyard a few doors off the main strip.

Full listings for the area are on the Gerringong destination page, with every NSW venue of this type in the NSW restaurants index.