South West Bottega

South West Bottega is a family-run Italian cafe, deli and vintage homewares store at 363 Rendezvous Road in Vasse, on the Busselton side of the Margaret River region. The kitchen turns out house-made pizza, pasta, porchetta, truffle arancini, cannoli and tiramisu, with a deli counter of fresh bread, cheeses and cured meats alongside a pantry of vintage finds and vinyl. The team has confirmed it outright on social media: this venue is dog friendly.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome across the outdoor seating: the covered and open-air garden areas, deck and verandah. This is one of the better-equipped stops in the region for dogs, with a dedicated doggy menu stocking treats from local maker Perfectly Pawsome, and the team is quick with fresh water bowls. Keep your dog on a lead, and bring your own waste bags as you would anywhere in the shire. If your dog prefers not to lie on pavers, a mat is worth packing.

Pepsi: the undercover tables mean a south-wester rolling in does not end the sitting, so you can order the tiramisu even when the sky turns.

Worth knowing

It trades daily from 11am to 3pm, seven days, which makes it a lunch-and-late-morning venue rather than a dinner stop. There is a kids' menu and an outdoor play area, so the garden gets lively with families; good for a social dog, and worth a corner table for a shy one.

Getting there and parking

Free off-street parking sits on site at the Rendezvous Road address, with easy access off the main Vasse road network between Busselton and the Capes.

Close by with the dogs

For a run first, the fenced Vasse Dog Park is the obvious call, and the dog exercise beaches along Geographe Bay at Abbey and Broadwater are a short drive north. For another feed, The Vasse Tavern and Burger Bones in Busselton both take dogs outdoors. More options sit on the Western Australia dog friendly restaurants guide and the Vasse destination page.

Book ahead for weekend lunch, take a garden table, and pair the deli counter with a doggy-menu treat before rolling on toward Cape Naturaliste.