John's of Dawlish

We go the extra mile!

Family run, friendly cafe.

Situated in the heart of beautiful Dawlish, overlooking the iconic lawn where the black swans in Dawlish live on the stream and have been a major tourist attraction for decades, being used as the town’s emblem.

John’s offers outside covers for 29 with a further 30 inside covers. We are a family run café, that prides ourselves on offering and sourcing high quality local ingredients and exceptionally welcoming friendly customer service to all of our customers.

In the Summer we open from 08.00, 7 days a week with our menu consisting of delicious, freshly cooked breakfasts, lunches, afternoons teas, freshly baked homemade cakes on the premises and much more at very reasonable prices. We are also fully licenced.

Here at John’s we look forward to welcoming everyone, young, old and inbetween, and our furry friends are also welcome inside. We are fully disabled accessible with a disabled toilet and baby changing facilities.

We are fully committed to supporting local farmers, producers and suppliers here in the South West and enjoy supporting all of the local events and activities.

Get in touch

What we do

Our Breakfasts

If we have a reputation for anything, its our breakfasts. Rated on Tripadvisor as number 1 in Dawlish.

Smooth locally roasted coffee

Voyager Coffee based in Buckfastleigh, Devon blends coffee from Brazil, Colombia & Peru for a superb coffee called “Road Trip”

Locally sourced ingredients

We actively use locally sourced ingredients where possible leading us to win Gold for the two years running from Taste of the West.

Events

We host regular events including quizzes and games as well as themed nights. Keep up to date with What’s On and John’s.

Friendly customer service

We will go that extra mile with a smile on our faces. We pride ourselves in being friendly and very customer focused.

Our business in numbers

hot drinks made

breakfasts made

Sandwiches made

Numbers up to date as of 28th of March 2024.

What our customers think

Best ever breakfast!! - Absolutely delicious quality breakfast 10/10 best ever, nothing too much trouble, able to switch items, great mug of tea, everything was so good

juliecY2309AN
12th March 2025
A spot of lunch - Stopped off for lunch. A little further away from the front than others but worth the additional walk. Had ham and tomato baguette with crisps and coleslaw. The ham was... read more

MrsARB29
27th February 2025
Good decent coffee - Visited this cafe today, it's a lovely hidden cafe, polite staff and service great, only had a coffee but was a good taste and plenty hot enough, a nice ambience... read more

Fearless633079
22nd February 2025
Great food and service - Amazing home cooked food, Worthing wait for, Brilliant service from John. Reasonably priced too, Visited twice during our stay in Dawlish. Will come back again next year ????????

Aaran G
24th October 2024
Good for a quick brew - We went in for a quick drink and found it to be quite a nice place to stop at for a bit, the staff were welcoming and it wasn’t too... read more busy.

Phill B
22nd October 2024
Great food served with a cracking sense of humour ! - Six of us for breakfast today . Served by John himself and nothing was too much trouble. Breakfast menu altered to suit each of us ( pick n mix /... read more

amjpj007
13th October 2024
Lovely Breakfast - Visited a couple of times while on holiday set us up on the last day for our long drive home. They were extremely busy but you don`t mind waiting for... read more

Alex S
22nd September 2024
Beautiful food - Been to Dawlish many years, this year on arriving went to John's when I looked up where to eat breakfast in Dawlish what a find the breakfast was value for... read more

Denise T
21st September 2024
Wonderful Home cooked English Cuisine in Dawlish - Excellent cooked breakfast served with lashings of hot coffee and hot chocolate. Every cooked breakfast item was perfect. Wholesome food, generous portions. Very friendly helpful staff. Definitely worth visiting. Iseal... read more

Samragi
21st July 2024
Highly recommended. - Delicious food, great atmosphere, courteous and friendly staff.
I loved the local produce board to see where the ingredients are sourced. Manager apologised that food might be a while, it... read more

Ruth A
15th July 2024

"Fantastic Place. Whenever I’m in Dawlish I always take my children in here. We always receive a warm welcome the food is excellent the staff are very friendly and helpful and it’s great value for money. We are visiting Dawlish for a short half term break and we went in to The Strand yesterday. My daughter had a jacket potato my son had a tuna baguette and I had a cream tea all of which were delicious. I would definitely recommend The Strand to anyone looking for a warm welcome friendly attentive staff and good food you can’t go wrong."

"Worth a Visit. On a family holiday and stopped here for lunch. Was absolutely delicious. Excellent service and value"

"Great Breakfast, proper sausage. Fantastic breakfast, quality food , next time we are there again we will be back , nice to see a map on the wall where their food comes from"

"Popped in for breakfast, we had the mini English which was delicious. If you're after a breakfast swimming in grease this is not the place for you, you won't find a drop of oil gracing your plate . Staff are friendly and attentive and the place is spotless."

"Friendly Cafe. Always have plenty of staff and cakes are delicious! Outside seating and dog friendly. Always worth a visit to watch the world go by with a cuppa and a cake!"

"Great Food and Service. Came for some lunch on our anniversary and wow, great food, great coffee, great staff, service with a smile 10/10, Our new naughty Tuesday food venue, can't wait to come again"