See historic events for any day of the year by entering the date below. Why not try your birthday?
Classic Wellington cafes map
View Classic Wellington Cafes in a larger map
Map showing the location of some of Wellington's classic milk bars, coffee houses and cafés. Click on an icon to find out more.
Today Wellington has hundreds of cafés. The only present-day ones that are featured on this map are those that have been in business for at least 15 years.
Cafés listed on the map
Click on links below to find out more about these places.
- Oriental Bay tea kiosk
- The DIC tea rooms
- Tip Top milk bar
- Suzy's coffee lounge
- The Black and White milk bar
- The French Maid coffee house
- Monde Marie coffee house
- Carmen's International coffee lounge
- Harry Seresin's coffee gallery (Parsons)
- Milk Bar at the Opera House
- La Vie Nouvelle
- Hotel Cecil
- French Maid café
- De Luxe café, Willis St
- Midnight Espresso
- Deluxe Espresso bar
- The Lido
- Parade café
- Espressoholic
- The Ballroom café
- The Matterhorn
- Not located yet (on Courtney Place somewhere): The Golden Gate milk bar
Added to map following community recommendations:
- The Beachcomber
- Woodward Buttery café
If you would like to nominate others, please leave a community contribution below or email info@nzhistory.net.nz . If you can provide location information we'll add them to the map. Note the milk bars and cafés don't have to still be standing, but those that are should have been around for 15 years or more.
How to cite this page: 'Classic Wellington cafes map', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/interactive/wellington-cafe-map, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 8-Sep-2009
Hi,
I look after the Ephemera Collection here, and have recently come across menus for the Montmartre Coffee House at 44 Molesworth Street in the late 1950s. Maybe more of a cafe/restaurant. Have a look on our TAPUHI site at http://tapuhi.natlib.govt.nz
Yours sincerely
Barbara Lyon
Ephemera Curator
Alexander Turnbull Library
Thanks, Dianna and Feijoa - I'll do some more digging on these and add them if they fit the criteria.
Another classic cafe in the 1960s was The Beachcomber in Oriental Bay, now occupied by Beach Babylon. It had wonderful semi-circular booths in brown leather and served great sugar-coated donuts.
The Woodward Buttery in Woodward Street (opp Midland Park): 1980s-1990's. Best known for serving good coffee in bone china cups.
Community contributions