Where to Eat, Shop, Stay, and Play on Wellington’s Famous Cuba Street

Wellington’s Cuba Street is ground zero for those foraging for food, tunes, books, and fashion.

In a creative city, Cuba Street is Wellington’s creative spine. At some point, everyone finds themselves here, wired on flat whites and late-night energy, flicking through vintage vinyls and sustainable fashion, buying that possum wool pullover and staying up way too late, thank you Mr DJ.

End to end, Wellington’s most famous street is nearly two kilometres long, cutting a swathe through the inner-city suburb of Te Aro, with a pedestrian zone between Ghuznee and Manners streets. In a food-obsessed city, this street has more eateries than any other neighbourhood, some of the best coffee Wellington serves up, and buzzes from early morning to way past your bedtime.

Don’t be fooled – Cuba Street wasn’t named after the world’s most famous communist country, but a settler ship that docked here from London back in 1840. Why let truth get in the way of a good origin story? The street likes to get its Guevara on, with a morning heart-starter at long-standing fave Fidel’s; park into the banquettes for red stars, the breakfast burrito and a single-origin Cuban flat white.

But if midnight’s your morning, Cuba Street cafe pioneer Midnight Espresso has kept the espresso machine pumping until a feisty 3am for more than three decades. Its loyal clientele comes for the retro tunes, the gluten-free nosh and the vegan/veg bent to its menu.

Locals love: Slip off Cuba Street down Left Bank and follow your nose to Wellington Sourdough bakery. Grab a takeaway of Welly’s Emporio Coffee, tuck a potato-and-rosemary loaf under your arm and stroll like you were born to this town.

The Cuba Street mall’s art mascot is the Bucket Fountain, a kinetic sculpture that’s been pouring water since 1969. Stand too close on windy days (most days in this town) and you’re a contender for a wet t-shirt competition. Friday nights regularly see the fountain get the dishwashing liquid treatment for a bubble-fest.

On the walls, the cigar-smoking Castro at Fiedel’s café is a long-stayer in the Wellington street art scene, as is the Ziggy Stardust mural by Xoe Hall, commissioned by a clever hairdresser. The nearby Wellington mural by Andrew Steel and Toby Morris has all the city’s good things in one painting – coffee, wind, live music, and Lord of the Rings’ Gollum. 

Locals love: Fancy a lick of body paint and to dance like no-one’s watching?  DJs, marching bands, circus acts and you all smoosh together at CubaDupa, a free, annual two-day street festival that’s Wellington’s farewell to summer.

Argentinian, American, mod-Asian, or a Kiwi classic, in New Zealand’s culinary capital, the world comes to Cuba Street via its restaurants, all tapping into great local produce.

Pasta-loving coeliacs, behold your Wellington heartland. 1154 Pastaria caters for not only vegans and vegetarians, but also nut, dairy and the gluten-intolerant with its fresh pasta. Coeliac or not, the torta cioccolato, a flourless chocolate cake, sings to all the choir, and the window seats are a people-watcher’s dream.

Channelling Istanbul, Kisa gives bold Turkish flavours; kick off with the date labneh, move onto the cured market fish and wind up with its lamb shoulder dusted with doner spice. The crowdpleasers at Hei include the bao stuffed with 12-hour, slow-cooked pork belly and the duck salad; come back at dinnertime for crispy-skinned Sichuan chicken and Peking duck.

If vintage is your vibe and conscious shopping your mantra, flick the racks of secondhand designer clothes, shoes and accessories at Recycle Boutique and bellwether haunt Hunters And Collectors; keep an eye out for the vintage sunglasses and Kiwi designer pieces.

New Zealand’s longest running independent record store, Slow Boat Records, stocks limited-edition vinyl releases and hard-to-find classics. It has the occasional live performance instore, while neighbour Flying Nun Records is an indie music label with vinyl LPs, CDs and music books.

Ferret within The Ferret Bookshop for curious texts on military history or travel, theatre or fishing, while Minerva’s focus is tight on textiles and handcraft books – with some sweet puzzles and cards on the side. For pre-loved philosophy and classics, Maori books and poetry nights, the literati love Pegasus Books.

Locals love: Wellington Apothecary is a sweet-scented oasis of calm; lash out on a holistic facial or an earth massage with scents of frankincense and New Zealand’s own kanuka (white tea-tree).

A stroll down Cuba Street caters for all types of hungry, including New Zealand’s first wood-fired Argentinian barbeque, El Matador. You can play nicely with a table of tapas including patas fritas and empanada, but it’s the asado that sings, firing up sensational local meats on mānuka-wood tinged fires, with chimichurri. Always chimichurri.     

Passata runs in the veins of the Scopa team, who’ve been tossing pizza since the seventies.  Choose from a tight list of thin-crust classics, then hit the sorbetto with a slug of prosecco for a happy ending. For the perfect pre-dinner glass, Venice-inspired Ombra’s wine list is an equal toss between local and Italian. Do the snacky baccalà mantecato (creamed salted cod), or the duck risotto for a more solid showing.

Locals love: Havana Bar & Restaurant keeps the Cuban theme going in Wigan Street. Set in two historic cottages, who doesn’t love a two-hour happy hour? DJs keep the crowd warm in the super-snug bar every weekend.

For location, it’s hard to beat Mercure Wellington Abel Tasman, set in between free-range Cuba Street and Wellington’s sensible business district. It’s also a short walk to the waterfront and Te Papa, the unmissable Museum of New Zealand, and is close to the Interislander Ferry Terminal, for sailings to the South Island.

Fuel up with all the morning faves at the breakfast buffet before heading out; then, come sundown, park your car at the hotel, it’s time to hit Cuba Street bars. For the wind-down and recharge, this Wellington hotel has spacious and comfortable guest rooms in the character-packed heart of the city.

They take their beer seriously in this town – expect a swift education in IPAs, fruit sours, APAs and alc-free options. That’s not to say they don’t mind a cocktail or two, but the vibe is less throw-on-all-the-sequins, more neighbourhood haunts serving very, very good drinks and food.

If you could go a Guinness from the tap, one of the few places in town is Regent. Yes, it also does cocktails. And yes, it also serves rare scotches; push that no-name door on the street and head upstairs. Going down, find the stag head on street level and take the stairs to Dee’s Place, one of the city’s best bars. Brimming with American whiskeys, the always-on is the Cantuckee Coffee, a whiskey and cold-brew coffee cocktail.

Craving ear candy? Iconic live music venue San Fran has set the sound scene since the 1960s. With a busy gig diary, expect indigenous hip-hop, old-school punk and everything in between. The afterparty continues at the late-opener The Ram, which pulls the crowds for its Negronis on tap and its Wellington-heavy beer selection. It might be late, but that’s no excuse for a sloppy burger: hit the snackable salt ‘n’ vinegar fried oyster mushrooms.

Locals love: Cold enough for ya? Nope? Order Regent’s freezer martini, served at an icy -15 degrees, for an instant chill.