The St Kilda Hotel

The St Kilda Hotel is the only pub in the township of St Kilda on the northern Adelaide coast, serving locals and travellers for over a century from 2-10 Fooks Terrace. Dogs are welcome in the outdoor beer garden and alfresco seating, which makes it a reliable stop after a walk along the Samphire Coast.

The dog setup

Dogs join you at the outdoor tables, kept on a lead and settled. Water bowls are usually easy to come by and staff are friendly towards dogs, but if the weather turns and you want to eat inside, ask at the bar first rather than assuming: indoor dog access is up to staff on the day, not a standing rule. Weekday lunches are the quiet window; weekends fill with the playground crowd.

The vibe

The kitchen does value-driven pub fare: 300g house-crumbed chicken and beef schnitzels with your pick of toppings, salt and pepper squid, garlic prawns, oysters and fish and chips, with a kids menu that makes the family equation easy. The hotel trades from 11am daily with the kitchen running lunch and dinner sittings, closing earlier on Sundays. It sits right next to the famous St Kilda Adventure Playground, so expect kids on bikes and a busy, unpretentious room.

Max: The picnic tables out front are the go with a dog, and the squid is the pick of the menu if the tide has been kind.

Getting there and parking

St Kilda is about 30 minutes north of Adelaide via Port Wakefield Road. Parking is free on-site and along Fooks Terrace and the streets around the playground precinct, and the entrance and seating are wheelchair accessible.

Worth knowing

The St Kilda Mangrove Trail and Interpretive Centre next to the foreshore has been closed at times for boardwalk repairs, so check the City of Salisbury site before planning a mangrove walk. The foreshore and playground paths remain open for an on-lead leg stretch, and the fenced dog park at Baltimore Reserve is on the drive back towards Adelaide.

The SA dog friendly restaurants guide and the St Kilda destination page cover the rest.