The East Pantry

The East Pantry is the busy neighbourhood cafe and restaurant on Centreway in Keilor East, doing all-day breakfast, woodfired pizzas and a steady dinner trade out of a sharp modern fit-out. It is a genuinely dog-friendly operation: the covered outdoor seating at the front is where dogs go, and staff are used to them. Hours run 7am to 4pm Monday and Tuesday, to 8:30pm Wednesday and Thursday, to 9pm Friday, 8am to 9pm Saturday and 8am to 4pm Sunday.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome in the covered outdoor seating at the front of the cafe, reached straight from the street so there is no threading a leashed dog through the indoor dining room. Staff will often bring a water bowl out unprompted. The one caveat is crowd pressure: the tables fill fast on weekends and the cafe also hosts small functions, so keep your dog leashed and tucked in close, and book the outdoor section ahead if you are coming at peak brunch with more than one person.

Worth knowing

The menu stretches across the whole day: eggs benedict and brunch plates through the morning, woodfired pizzas from Wednesday to Sunday, and heartier plates like chicken parma, salt and pepper calamari, the wagyu burger and pork ribs in the evening. There is a kids menu and gluten-free options, and the 1,100-plus reviewer count suggests a venue that handles volume without losing quality. Dinner service does not start until Wednesday, so plan weekend mornings for the dog-table visit.

Getting there and parking

The cafe sits at 14 Centreway in the Keilor East shopping strip. There is a free public car park directly in front of the shops plus extra street parking nearby, so the walk from car to outdoor table is short.

While you're out there

Brimbank Park is about five minutes away with riverside trails along the Maribyrnong, and dogs are welcome on lead through the general park areas. Spring Gully Reserve's off-leash area is the local spot for an off-lead run, and Green Gully Reserve's fenced dog park in Keilor adds separate big and small dog sections with agility gear. If you are cafe-hopping, Mister Hoffman in Niddrie is the next postcode over.

More dog-friendly eating around Melbourne is on the Victoria restaurants list and the Keilor East destination guide.

Max: Brunch under the awning, a parma the size of my head, and a river walk after. Book me in.