Sunny's Margate Beach

Sunny's Margate Beach is the beachfront cafe, bar and restaurant on the ground floor of The Sebel Brisbane Margate Beach at 1 McCulloch Avenue, Margate, looking straight across Moreton Bay toward Margate Island. It opens from 6:30am daily, running to 8pm Monday to Thursday, 9:30pm Friday and Saturday and 9pm Sunday, with a rooftop bar upstairs on weekends. Dogs are set up for on the outdoor patio at ground level, which makes it a straightforward coastal breakfast or afternoon drink stop with the dog beside you.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor front patio, where yellow umbrellas shade the tables right against the waterfront, and the lower bar area has historically allowed dogs Monday to Saturday. The indoor restaurant and the rooftop are not dog zones, and management occasionally restricts particular outdoor sections, so mention the dog when you book and confirm where you are seated on arrival. Water bowls have been put out on the lower deck before, but treat that as a bonus rather than a given and carry your own travel bowl.

On the plate

Breakfast runs from 6:30am with the usual smashed avo and breakfast burgers, and the bistro covers lunch and dinner with salt and Szechuan pepper squid with sesame aioli, slow-braised lamb ragu through rigatoni, and classic fish and chips. The rooftop adds its own bar bites, from fried scamorza with salsa verde to chargrilled sourdough and katsu burgers, plus coastal cocktails and local beers on tap. Live music sessions land on Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, and the rooftop does 180-degree bay views for anyone visiting without a dog in tow.

Getting there and parking

The venue sits on the Redcliffe Peninsula seafront at Margate Beach, about half an hour north of the Brisbane CBD. Parking runs along McCulloch Avenue and the adjacent esplanade streets, easiest on weekday mornings and busiest around weekend breakfast and sunset.

Close by with the dogs

Make a walk of it: Clarks Beach is the local sandside stretch, Dru Point Fenced Dog Park gives an off-lead run nearby, and Appelflap Cafe covers the dog-friendly coffee option up the road.

More options are on the Queensland dog friendly restaurants guide and the Margate destination page.