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.

What we do

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Our Breakfasts

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

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Smooth locally roasted coffee

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

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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.

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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.
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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

1
hot drinks made
1
breakfasts made
1
Sandwiches made

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

What our customers think

  • star rating  Great breakfast service - Excellent welcome from the staff, dealt with quickly and efficiently, very customer friendly service. Breakfast sandwich with freshly cooked ingredients. Always a good place to visit when in Dawlish.

    avatar thumb keith b
    15th August 2025
  • star rating  Very warm welcome from all the staff as we arrived. Served by John himself who couldn’t have been more friendly. Food was amazing, all locally sourced ingredients. Would highly recommend.... read more

    avatar thumb Explore15480222609
    24th July 2025
  • star rating  All day breakfast - Wow and wow. Busy little place which says a lot. All day breakfast. That’s a winner for starters. I had vegetarian and others had full English. Toast perfect, mushrooms to... read more

    avatar thumb MaBeeneys
    15th July 2025
  • star rating  Dawlish's diamond. - Best Breakfast in town. The staff are always courteous and nothing is too much trouble. The atmosphere is cheerful regardless of how busy the place is. The staff deserve a... read more

    avatar thumb Colin A
    21st June 2025
  • star rating  Go if you can, you'll not be disappointed. - Still owned and run by John himself. We went twice for lunch and the portions were massive, the food was hot and tasty. They close at 2pm and it does... read more

    avatar thumb Roam777342
    17th May 2025
  • star rating  Excellent Breakfast - John's is the place to go in Dawlish if you're looking for great food. Their breakfast menu is excellent, and as well as a fine fried breakfast they also serve... read more

    avatar thumb quatermass2020
    1st May 2025
  • star rating  Give it a go won't be disappointed - Nice people
    Very welcoming
    Food good
    Good choice of food
    Accomodating good atmosphere
    Clean
    Brilliant worth a visit
    ...

    avatar thumb Cindy D
    10th April 2025
  • star rating  Great food very welcoming staff - Visit here nearly everyday day while working in Dawlish for 6 months as my first visit/experience was fantastic very welcoming helpful staff all food is good qualityfrom local sourced suppliers... read more

    avatar thumb Speedy1767
    6th April 2025
  • star rating  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

    avatar thumb juliecY2309AN
    12th March 2025
  • star rating  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

    avatar thumb MrsARB29
    27th February 2025