Bear Boy Espresso — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

Disappointing Experience at Bear Boy Cafe

We were really looking forward to having breakfast at Bear Boy this morning. After driving 20 minutes, we arrived with our small dog (similar in size to a French Bulldog), expecting a dog-friendly environment as advertised.

After waiting for around 10 minutes, we were seated in the outdoor area. We placed our dog on a chair, as we’ve done at many other dog-friendly cafes without any issues. However, a waitress came over and informed us that, according to "council rules", dogs were not allowed on chairs.... We found this slightly suspicious, but regardless we moved our dog to a pram to keep him off the ground, which was covered in food scraps and rubbish. We didn’t want our dog lying in such an unclean space.

Unfortunately, the same waitress came over again, this time telling us that dogs couldn’t touch the table – even though our dog was in the pram and hadn’t touched the table at all, once again quoting how the "council" prohibited dogs being around dining areas, and how it wasn't under "their will" . This experience felt unnecessarily strict and unwelcoming, especially considering the condition of the outdoor area. Frustrated, we decided to leave without ordering. After leaving we even checked state and regional laws/legislations, and although very ambiguous, all quoted that it was up to dog owners to "respect restaurant rules", meaning that it really wasn't the "council" that enforced these strict rules upon our dog, but for whatever reason the restaurant.

Overall, we left disappointed. If you’re looking for a truly dog-friendly cafe with a welcoming atmosphere, this isn’t the place. I hope they can improve their approach to handling pets and maintain a cleaner outdoor space for...

Edit:

Finally made it back. Great service, food was on point and absolutely amazing. Coffee was beautiful, my only disappointment was that I couldn't get a V60 as they'd run out.

Would recommend.

Firstly they were extremely busy when we got there.

When you get here it is a lovely looking cafe with a fantastic looking fitout and great branding. Though there is no signage as to whether you need to wait to be seated or if you can just grab a seat, which is something that I think needs to be made clear for when they are that busy. You can just grab a seat and it's full table service.

Coffee order was promptly taken followed about 5 minutes later by our food order. They have a great looking menu with a selection of foods that caters to everyone.

Food arrived first after about a 15-20 minute wait, more than acceptable with how busy they were. Food was nice, well presented and tasty.

Coffee arrived 5 or so minutes into eating out breakfast, with no acknowledgement of the wait we'd had now for the drinks. There was also a minor mistake with one of the drinks, nothing worth sending it back over, though it showed a lack of attention to detail. Considering Single O coffee is in use, coffee was not up to a standard that I expected, it wasn't bad, I just know that Single O coffee can taste much better.

Service overall was okay, they have a few gems hidden throughout their staff that have their customer service on point and they definitely drag the others up.

Overall this place has a lot of potential and I will definitely be giving it another go once they've had a bit of time to work over the teething issues that come with opening...

Thank you for your reply on this review with the link. It was much appreciated and allow me to understand further. I will take that on board. I guess key word is refraining from touching dogs while eating. We just sat down and was not allowed on lap, order was not even processed. However, I appreciate your time providing feedback. It's just my feeling and my review that I do not wish to be set aside, there was nothing else that needed to be done. I was excited to visit Bear Boy Espresso, especially because it’s advertised as pet-friendly and looked nice and cozy in the pictures. I visited over a weekend, and the place was superbly busy. However, I appreciated the pre-warning that there would be a 40-minute wait for food no matter what we ordered. Good communication is good service.

Unfortunately, my experience wasn’t as pet-friendly as I had hoped. I was sitting outside on a long bench, I was just holding my fur baby on my lap to give a cuddle while waiting for food. I was told dogs can't be near the table, even though we were outside and not bothering anyone. The table was not even close to others and the position where I was going to place my fur baby was not going to be close to my table either.

The food was average. The gnocchi I ordered was alright but nothing special. The karaage waffle looked great but was a bit too oily for my taste. The coffee, however, was good.

Overall, it’s not a bad place, but as a fur baby mom, I was disappointed. If a place is described as pet-friendly, I should be allowed to cuddle my dog unless it's causing a disturbance or a hygiene issue for...