Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is a seasonal waterfront café and dockside restaurant in Sarnia-Lambton serving breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner with patio and lakeside seating. The kitchen offers chef-driven daily and weekly features, seasonal specials and rotating menu highlights ranging from tacos and seafood to pasta and comfort plates. The venue emphasizes a relaxed, first-come first-served patio experience and welcomes well behaved pets, with occasional limited-seat special events and themed dinners.
🕰️ Organization Hours:
Last updated on Feb 1st, 2026
Recent Activity
Buttermilk chicken tenders — French onion feature
Chef Andrew’s limited time French onion buttermilk chicken tenders are now featured at Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside, served with melted Swiss, caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a rich French onion broth. The post leans into patio season energy and notes the feature will not last forever, making it a perfect warm weather dinner pick at Dockside.
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Summer seasonal menu item — Southern-Style Cobb Salad
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside rolled out a summer seasonal Southern-Style Cobb Salad featuring Cajun chicken, corn salsa, guacamole, spring greens, bacon, candied jalapeños, and cool ranch drizzle. The menu item is promoted as perfect for hot patio days, paired with cold drinks and waterfront seating at the café.
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Patio season June social post
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is welcoming patio season in June with a short social post celebrating great food, good company, and sunny outdoor moments. The message highlights seasonal patio dining and invites locals to enjoy the cafe's relaxed outdoor atmosphere this month.
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Chicken Bacon Carbonara
Alternate Grounds Café and Dockside is featuring a garlicky Chicken Bacon Carbonara tonight, served with crostinis and paired with Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc. The rich fettuccine dish combines chicken, crispy bacon, Parmesan, egg, and cracked black pepper for a silky, sauce forward meal enjoyed dockside.
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Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is serving a garlicky Chicken Bacon Carbonara tonight paired with a crisp Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc, a pairing offered to balance the cream and bacon flavors. The post emphasizes the Dockside view and an inviting kitchen atmosphere for a relaxed dinner experience on 2026-06-02.
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Gochujang Beef Tacos
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring Gochujang Beef Tacos for lunch on Taco Tuesday, June 2, 2026, topped with house made kimchi, guacamole, and spicy mayo. The tacos are paired with a Sons of Kent El Camino Salted Lime Cerveza, making this a bright, patio friendly midday option.
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Sons of Kent El Camino Salted Lime Cerveza
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring Gochujang Beef Tacos paired with a Sons of Kent El Camino Salted Lime Cerveza on 2026-06-02. The tacos combine gochujang marinated beef, guacamole, spicy mayo, and house made kimchi, while the cerveza is described as crisp and refreshing, perfect for patio season.
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One month into seasonal opening, welcome June
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside celebrated its first month of seasonal opening and welcomed June with a sunny message on 2026-06-01. The post is a warm local greeting that signals the cafe is embracing summer vibes and inviting patrons to enjoy the season.
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Pet-friendly policy announcement
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside announced a pet friendly policy on 2026-05-31, inviting customers to bring well behaved pets and noting that the Dockside staff enjoy meeting furry visitors. The message emphasizes a welcoming tone for friendly little pets while implying guests should observe on site guidance.
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Margherita Pizza
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a classic Margherita Pizza tonight, built on a handcrafted 36 hour fermented dough with marinara, fresh mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. Enjoy it in the cozy dining room with warm water views as part of their Saturday night menu spotlight.
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Peach Cider
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a Hot Honey Chicken Caesar Sandwich today, with an optional candied jalapeo upgrade, paired with a chilled Peach Cider from Cowbell Brewing Co. It is a patio friendly combo built around sweet and spicy contrasts, available today while it lasts at the waterfront location.
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Hot Honey Chicken Caesar Sandwich
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring the Hot Honey Chicken Caesar Sandwich today, a crispy chicken sandwich tossed in hot honey with romaine, Parmesan, and creamy Caesar dressing, plus an optional candied jalapeño upgrade. The cafe pairs the sandwich with a Peach Cider from Cowbell Brewing Co. for a sunny patio lunch experience; order while it lasts.
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Roasted Chicken Yorkshire Bowl
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a Roasted Chicken Yorkshire Bowl as tonight's dinner special, loaded with roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet peas, green beans, carrots, caramelized onions, and gravy inside a giant Yorkshire pudding bowl, served with a side salad. The dish is a hearty, well balanced dinner choice presented as a single bowl with an accompanying salad.
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Sunday Roast Yorkie Bowl
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside announced the limited small batch Sunday Roast Yorkie Bowl on May 28, featuring roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, garlic sautéed veggies, and caramelized onion gravy served in a large Yorkshire pudding bowl. The cafe emphasized scarcity, so swing by soon because when it sells out it will not be back immediately.
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Thursday lunch special - Carne asada crunch-wrap
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a Carne asada crunch-wrap as a Thursday lunch special, built with marinated shaved beef, corn salsa, shredded cheese, citrus crema, feta, and jalapeños. The café promoted the wrap on social channels as a satisfying midweek comfort food pick, ideal for a flavorful, handheld lunch.
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Watertop patio promotion
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside teased a Watertop patio promotion on May 27, celebrating sunny patio vibes and casual tacos and cocktails in Sarnia, Ontario. The short social post uses local hashtags to invite neighbors to enjoy the waterfront patio as the season warms up.
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Korean Cheesesteak Sandwich
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a Korean Cheesesteak Sandwich by Chef Andrew, loaded with bulgogi, mozzarella, kimchi, green onions, cilantro, and sriracha mayo, available while it lasts at Dockside in Sarnia. Pair it with a cold drink and enjoy patio seating by the water for a satisfying lunch break.
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Taco & Tequila Tuesday lunch feature
Alternate Grounds Café and Dockside is featuring blackened chicken tacos and an ice cold strawberry margarita for Taco and Tequila Tuesday in Sarnia on 2026-05-26. The post emphasizes a sunny Dockside patio with a light breeze, inviting locals to stop by for a lunch made for waterfront vibes.
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Invitation to visit Dockside on a sunny day
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is inviting locals to stop by and enjoy a sunny day at Dockside, celebrating sunshine and relaxed waterfront vibes. The message is a casual social call to visit, ideal for anyone nearby looking for drinks and a cheerful outdoor moment.
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Falafel flatbread
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a falafel flatbread for lunch, piled with hummus, crispy falafels, melted mixed cheese, cucumber salsa, and a citrus crema. The patio is open in Sarnia, making this a great pick for a sunny waterfront lunch on 2026-05-25.
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Falafel flatbread
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is featuring a Falafel flatbread piled with hummus, crispy falafels, melted mixed cheese, cucumber salsa, and a bright citrus crema, posted on 2026-05-25. The cafe is celebrating patio season in Sarnia, inviting diners to enjoy this flavorful lunch option alongside waterfront views.
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Falafel flatbread
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is showcasing a seasonal falafel flatbread on 2026-05-25, layered with hummus, crispy falafels, melted mixed cheese, cucumber salsa, and a citrus crema. The announcement highlights that the patio is open and guests can enjoy waterfront views while dining; no price or booking details were provided in the post.
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Lobster Cure
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside is serving the Lobster Cure for Sunday brunch, a rich breakfast poutine of garlic fried lobster, bacon, cheese curds, home fries, eggs, hollandaise, and fresh pico. Chef Andrew suggests pairing it with a mimosa and enjoying it on the waterfront patio in Sarnia.
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Brunch feature
Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside posted a savory brunch feature on 2026-05-23: a Dutch Baby topped with prosciutto, sautéed tomatoes, caramelized onions, spinach, sunnyside eggs, and hollandaise. The dish balances salty prosciutto and sweet caramelized onions with creamy hollandaise for a hearty morning option at the cafe.
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Savoury Dutch baby
Chef Andrew is showcasing a limited time Savoury Dutch baby at Alternate Grounds Café & Dockside, filled with prosciutto, pan seared tomatoes, sautéed spinach, caramelized onion, and finished with a sunny side egg, hollandaise, Parmesan and herbs. The cafe frames it as a once in a long time special and tags the post with popular foodie hashtags, making it an ideal comfort pick on a rainy day.
