Urban Grooves

Urban Grooves runs out of 99 Grimshaw Street in Greensborough, in Melbourne's north-east, and trades the full day: from 7:45am every morning through to 9pm or later, with a 10pm close on Friday and Saturday. That span makes it part cafe, part restaurant, and the menu follows suit, moving from cakes and foccacia in the morning to chicken risotto, gnocchi and a seafood plate by night. Calamari is one of the recurring mentions on the plate list.

Dogs are allowed at the front outdoor dining area, with the Grubbio directory listing the venue under pets as dogs allowed and the Google listing attributes matching; visitors also report staff bringing water bowls out to the outdoor tables. The front-of-house setup means you are dining street-side on Grimshaw Street, so keep your dog tucked in close to the table while the evening foot traffic passes. Lunch and early dinner both work with a dog; it is the late sittings that are effectively indoor-only.

Worth knowing

The kitchen runs an Italian-leaning menu rather than a straight brunch line, so it earns its place in the suburb's eating order as the sit-down option when the cafe strip has wound up. The staff get consistent mentions for being welcoming, and the outdoor tables out the front are the established arrangement for dog owners rather than an informal workaround. Book thinking applies on Friday and Saturday nights, when the restaurant side fills and the front tables go quickly, so a midweek dinner with the dog on the front tables is the easy version. The kitchen's risottos and the calamari are the reliable orders, and the all-day span means a late-afternoon arrival sits comfortably between services.

Close by with the dogs

Greensborough's dog circuit is close at hand: Malcolm Blair Reserve's fenced dog park covers the off-lead run, while Prelude Coffee and Bagels and Roast 66 handle the daytime coffee stops. The Greensborough destination guide collects the suburb's dog-friendly venues.