Butlers Reef
What makes your venue the Best Gastropub in New Zealand?
Butlers Reef is an iconic pub in Taranaki established over 150 years ago. A classic local pub, with the flair of great quality food with the space and dining experience for all to enjoy. Butlers Reef boasts itself as the local's local that is welcoming to all. Serving good times and simple, high quality meals, done well.
Hidden behind the front entrance of Butlers Reef is an iconic beer garden that through the summer has hosted hundreds of great New Zealand acts for all to enjoy with a capacity of over 1500. There aren't many pubs in New Zealand where you can enjoy a quality meal with your mates before heading out the back to watch iconic Kiwi acts like Dave Dobbyn, the Beths or Kora play.
In recent years Butlers Reef has hosted Katchafire, Kora, Blindspott, Drax Project, The Feelers, The Black Seeds, L.A.B., Shihad, Jimmy Barnes, Six60, Elemeno P, RACING, The Dreggs, Homebrew, MY BABY, Shapeshifter, Dave Dobbyn and The Beths (New Years Eve 23/24) - the list goes on!!
Describe the experience your customers have at your establishment – what is your food and beverage offering and why do people come back for more?
A welcoming local pub with simple, high-quality meals. As a hub of the local community, we want to ensure you feel at home from the moment you walk in. The staff have a 3 second rule - everyone in the building must be welcomed within 3 seconds of stepping into the pub. Add to that our high-quality food and epic beverage range, people keep coming back for more!
We have a lot of rotational beers and wines that we bring through to give punters the variety, while keeping a great range of DB beers constant for the solid cohort of local punters.
Butlers Reef is a family-focused gastropub - as owners with a young family, we want to ensure our kids meals keep everyone happy. Yes, we have the traditional chicken nuggets and chips, but nothing keeps the parents (and more importantly the kids) happier than a mac and cheese with hidden vegetables.
Why do people keep coming back? Great service, wonderful high-quality food and beverage at an affordable price. Combine that with a sprawling outdoor area, ‘ya classic’ bar table nooks, on-street dining and function spaces suitable for every occasion - you've got a winning formula!
Tell us how you showcase NZ produce / offerings? Does your menu change with the season and how is it locally influenced. How do you accommodate allergy and dietary requirements?
Being based in Taranaki gives us access to such an amazing range of local produce!
We have some great relationships with Meat The Maker and Oakura Butchery and Fine Foods, - both great local butchers who source their meat locally, supporting farms and families in Taranki. Often putting on meal specials based on what the butcher recommends is good/popular at the moment, to sourcing our meat raffle packs from the butchery next door.
We love supporting local and strive to wherever we can!
Having taken over 7 months ago, previous owners kept the same menu throughout the years, we've now moved to a smaller menu that will change with the seasons. A slightly smaller menu with all of the gastropubs classic allows us to change faster and reduce food waste!
All allergy and dietary requirements can be catered to as best we can. We're not a gluten-free kitchen, however, we stock gluten-free products and aim to cater to any and all requirements as we can. Just like cooking for your family - we will do anything to ensure the entire family is fed, and fed with great quality and affordable food that will leave you planning your next visit the moment you walk out the door.
What are your key points of difference and how have you managed to deliver them?
Beer Garden
Sprawling beer garden with umbrellas and outdoor furniture - making for easy weekday and weekend living! Roll up after a day at the beach and catch the fading sun with a cold beer and a great feed.
Summer Gigs
Our huge back lawn/garden bar allows us to host over 1500 people, bringing in some epic international and local artists in the summer and all year round!=
Family-focused
With a young family, it's a rarity to be able to go out for a meal and enjoy some great food, a quiet drink and conversation with friends. Our beer garden/back lawn allows families to do just that. Combine with with healthy kids meal options, free kids activity packs and loads of space for the to play and run around - you're on to a winner!
Please describe your commitment to sustainability.
Our goal over the next 12 months is to drastically reduce our footprint and wastage. In February we're kicking off a pilot program 'Organic Waste Diversion for Hospitality' with connect nz tourism and Sustainable Taranaki.
Upcoming concert seasons will focus on recycling - previously everything has been going into general waste or cardboard. So a huge opportunity to improve.
Reducing the menu and focusing on sourcing locally also means we will be reducing our waste and foot print.
Have you won any awards in the recent past? Tell us about them.
Part of the now defunct Classic Pub Network. My wife and I only took over Butlers 7 months ago and previous owners haven't been into awards, although very much deserved. Self-awarded best gastropub in Oakura!
Please describe how you create ambience.
Live music (sunday sessions in the back lawn), curated playlists and ambient visuals by AMS Nightlife, open-air dining deck great for summer, with fireplace, heaters and blankets for winter nights.
