Brown Dog is an independent café on Belle Vue Road, near the Southbourne crossroads and a few minutes' walk from the clifftop and the beach beneath it. Open since August 2019, it has become a fixture locally, known as a coffee-led, community-minded place rather than anything resembling a chain.
What to order
The menu is built on coffee: organic beans ground on the premises, served with cooked breakfasts, lunches and a changing line-up of homemade cakes. Vegan and vegetarian dishes have a natural place on the menu as well, which makes it easy for mixed groups. It suits a proper breakfast before a clifftop walk, or a coffee stop halfway through a look round Southbourne's shops and cafés.
Dogs and the neighbourhood
Living up to its name, Brown Dog is properly dog-friendly and has gathered a following among locals who walk their dogs on the clifftop and beach nearby. The café also describes itself as environmentally conscientious and supportive of other independent businesses in the area, and that shows in an unhurried, neighbourhood atmosphere rather than a polished corporate one.
Good to know
Every day Brown Dog opens early and shuts in the middle of the afternoon: Monday to Friday 7:30am-3pm, Saturday 8am-3pm and Sunday 9am-1pm, so think breakfast or lunch rather than an evening out. Like any independent café, it may change its hours around holidays, so check before making a special journey.
Other options in the area are listed in our food & drink guide, and our things to do guide can help you plan a fuller day out.