We profiled 13 new openings earlier this year, but the good hospo news keeps on coming – here are eight more to add to your radar this summer.
Grey Lynn Firehouse
Named for its former life as a fire station, Grey Lynn Firehouse is a new neighbourhood pub from Luke
Jones and Dave Lincoln, founders of Norma Taps in City Works Depot, Honest Drinks and Roundhouse Drinks Dept. Sitting on its own ‘island’ between Williamson Ave and Rose Rd, the brick facade, pitched red roof and bell tower of this 1889 building have long been a Grey Lynn landmark. Its original features were perfect for a pub makeover, and Jones and Lincoln enlisted Studio Tatami to hand-sand the wooden floors, restore the timber details, and highlight the building’s two fireplaces. Downstairs is the bar, where 10 taps pour everything from lagers to Guinness to cocktails, while upstairs is a dining room and rooftop deck for sunny summer sessions. Chef Kererū Wilson, formerly of Depot and Cazador, serves pub classics like chicken parma, fish and chips and a Sunday roast but also restaurant-y dishes like Hocketta, which sees a Harmony pork hock deboned, rolled and braised and served with a pea salad, apple sauce and mustard. It’s early days, but it’s exciting to see new life breathed into this neighbourhood icon.
134 Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn. Greylynnfirehouse.co.nz
Hyderabad Hotel
Hyderabad Hotel has popped up for summer in the Satya Chai Lounge space on Karangahape Rd, bringing Sammy Akuthota’s unmistakable warmth and playful style back to the strip. You may remember Hyderabad Hotel from its beloved but shortlived stint on Pollen St in Ponsonby. The Chai Lounge has been transformed with signature Hyderabad Hotel touches, including orange fabric draping the ceiling, bricks painted in pink and orange and lots of jaunty marigold garlands. The menu features Indian canteen snacks from papdi chaat, onion bhaji, South Indian chicken pakoda and curry fries. Beautiful thali plates are built around chicken biryani or aromatic vegetable pulao with your choice of extras. Drinks are always a highlight of Sammy’s pop-ups, with natural wine, plenty of Garage Project beers and classic Indian soft drinks.
271 Karangahape Rd, central city.
The sobrasada pizza on the menu at Mama restaurant in Newmarket. Photo / Babiche Martens
Mama opened in October, bringing a fun Italian-inspired restaurant to Newmarket from two restaurateurs who know hospitality well. The Mama team has considered every detail, from the clover-shaped corners of the Italian stone tables to the vibe of the playlist and the message board of personalised notes. The fit-out by Wonder Group is a standout, with comfy banquettes, warm peachy tones, tiled surfaces, custom fabric lampshades and colourful ‘mother’-style paintings by Haylee Brown adorning the walls.
Mama has both indoor and outdoor dining plus a private room for groups, with a disco ball presiding over the interior, and festoon lights brightening the courtyard.
To drink, there’s an all-Italian wine list curated by By The Bottle and a cocktail list that switches up the classics. Try the Paloma with white tequila, umeshu and umeboshi plums, pink grapefruit, soda and lime, or the white negroni with gin, Rinquinquin à la Pêche and Gentian de Lure. With restaurant prices rising, Mama’s menu lands at an appealing $20-$40 for pastas, pizzas and share plates. Dine on bucatini carbonara with guanciale; pesto rigatoni; pork cotoletta, tua tua pizza and parmesan fries.
Osborne Lane, 3B York St, Newmarket. Mamaresto.co
Water Boy in St Heliers.
Water Boy
Auckland has long needed more pubs, and 2025 has answered the call with a number of new openings, including Water Boy in St Heliers. Just across from the beach, Water Boy has been designed as a relaxed but handsome pub by Patrick Kean and Victoria Blake of Remuera’s The Corner. Just a few steps from the sand, it aims to deliver a breezy, Australian surf club-style energy to the eastern suburbs, the kind of place made for casual lunches and afternoon spritzes after a swim. The drinks offering ranges from Champagne to pitchers of Lion Red, with cocktails like the Water Boy spritz and a playful popcorn old fashioned. In the kitchen, Jono Lewington (ex-Barulho) turns seasonal New Zealand produce into wild venison and kawakawa sausage pizza; bright kingfish tiradito, and West Coast whitebait fritters with preserved lemon. The fitout is great too, designed by CTRL Space with warm wood tones, banquettes and a quirky terrazzo tile floor.
413 Tamaki Drive, St Heliers. Waterboystheliers.co.nz
1946 Butchery has opened in Wairau Valley.
Wairau Valley is now home to 1946 Butchery, the sibling to Takapuna’s 1946 Roastery and Bricks cafe. Where the roastery leans into Korean comfort food and inventive drinks, this new outpost is all about premium charcoal barbecue, celebrating traditional techniques and quality cuts while also feeling distinctly modern. The team has imported a binchotan charcoal machine from Korea, chasing that unmistakable flavour and tenderness you only get from real fire. The menu is a 10-page deep dive into “Seoul-to-table” eating with starters like chilled tomato salad and beef tartare; a pork line-up of belly, jowl and soy-marinated collar; and a beef section with A5 wagyu, Majandong short ribs and wasabi-marinated cuts. While the fun here is cooking your own food over fire, there are prepared dishes too, including kimchi rice bowls, doenjang stew, hot noodles, spring onion pancakes and spicy chicken feet. The space looks fantastic with its red brick, neon glow, burgundy pitched ceiling and gleaming steel vents.
231 Archers Rd, Wairau Valley. 1946Butchery.co.nz
Mother
There’s been a lot of buzz around Mother since it opened in September on Grey Lynn’s Richmond Rd. From the team behind Lilian, Hotel Ponsonby and Honeybones, Mother is a bakery, deli and coffee spot (Supreme) by day, and now a wine bar by night. Its pastries – created by Butter Butter’s Petra Galler – have quickly become social-media darlings. On any given day, the cabinets are filled with icing-glazed buns, tiramisu cake, pistachio creme cruffins, focaccia sandwiches and golden cookies.
Now open evenings from Wednesday to Sunday, Mother is the ideal pre-Lilian hangout (which doesn’t take bookings and still has queues out the door). The cocktail list is strong, with a dirty martini served over ice with tonic and smoked olives; a pineapple-jalapeno margarita and a bourbon and olive oil sour. There’s Sawmill and Peroni on tap and a great wine list spanning New Zealand, Australia and Europe. The regularly changing bar menu includes small plates like pork rillettes with pickles and baguette, shishito peppers with anchovy aioli, and chocolate mousse for dessert.
403 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn
Kureta is the new restaurant at JW Marriott Auckland.
Kureta
Joining Trivet at the JW Marriott hotel on Albert St is Kureta, a Japanese-inspired dining experience that opened in November, with seating for 30 guests. Chef de cuisine Akihiro Nakamura has more than two decades of Japanese culinary experience, and in this intimate space, diners can enjoy interactive teppanyaki-style dining. The menu features Aotearoa’s premium seafood, wagyu from New Zealand, Australia and Japan, and locally sourced ingredients, prepared with traditional Japanese techniques. Each dish celebrates the elements of fire, earth and water and is designed to highlight both craftsmanship and quality produce. The restaurant’s design is said to mirror this culinary philosophy too, with burnt timber, hammered bronze and stone creating a tactile, elemental environment. A unique addition to Auckland’s restaurant scene, Kureta would be fun for a special group dinner.
22/26 Albert St, central city. Kureta.co.nz
Bistro Allpress has opened on Waiheke.
Bistro Allpress
Waiheke Island has a new dining destination set among the olive trees. Bistro Allpress is the latest chapter from Allpress Olive Groves, the award-winning producers behind some of New Zealand’s finest extra virgin olive oils (and coffee). After restoring the iconic Rangihoua Estate and opening a light-filled tasting room, the team has created a bistro that showcases the flavour and character of their Waiheke-grown oils in a relaxed, elegant setting. The seasonal menu is built around local produce and dishes designed to highlight oils milled and blended on site. Expect sourdough from the in-house bakery with new season oil, rotisserie chicken with roast vegetables, fresh fish and olive-wood fired pizza. Dessert continues the theme with a silky olive oil chocolate mousse. The drinks list spans tap wine, craft beer and a few olive oil-infused cocktails. Set within native bush with indoor-outdoor seating and views across the groves, the bistro also has a courtyard bar ideal for summer afternoons. Visitors can wander the groves, stop by the tasting room, see the working mill and even stay on the estate, which has four luxury homes, each with its own character.
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