52 South Cafe & Restaurant

52 South Cafe & Restaurant is a family-run cafe at 52 Marys Hope Road, Rosetta, blending Sri Lankan cooking with Tasmanian cafe fare, and it runs a casual outdoor dining area where dogs are allowed. It sits on a quiet residential road, which keeps the dog-side of things calm, and it stays open to 8pm from Tuesday through Sunday for dinner as well as brunch.

The dog setup

Dogs are permitted in the outdoor seating area only, leashed and settled beside your table; the indoor dining room is off limits. The low-traffic street makes arrival and settling easier than most suburban strips, and the staff have a reputation for warm, attentive service, but confirm water bowl availability when you arrive rather than counting on it. Evenings with live music lift the noise, so a mid-week dinner suits a noise-sensitive dog better.

Max: A quiet street and slow dinners are my kind of table. Ask for the edge seat and I will nap through the kottu.

The food

The Sri Lankan side of the menu is the draw: rice and curry, kottu, egg roti, devilled specials, fish buns and short eats, washed down with Sri Lankan milk tea or a falooda. The cafe side covers all-day brunch standards and pizza, so mixed groups of curry fans and toast-and-bacon regulars both leave happy. Takeaway is available if you would rather eat at the park.

Getting there and parking

The cafe is on Marys Hope Road in Rosetta, easy to reach from Hobart or Glenorchy via Main Road, with on-site parking plus free street parking on Marys Hope Road. It is roughly a 20-minute drive north of central Hobart, and the Brooker Highway route drops you close to the river parks on the way in.

Pair it with

Montrose Foreshore Community Park is minutes away, a dog-friendly stretch of Derwent River foreshore with BBQs, parking and paths that link into the GASP sculpture trail towards Berriedale, though dogs stay on lead on the shared paths. Closer options include the Montrose cafes and the fully fenced Chapel Street Reserve Dog Park in Glenorchy. More listings are on the Rosetta destination page and in the TAS restaurants index.