All 19 cuisines on Waiheke Island sit in one list here, so you can pick by what you feel like eating rather than by which bay you end up in. The cuisine index runs from 25 cafes and 22 takeaways down to single Thai, French, Italian, barbecue and Mediterranean places, with winery restaurants covering 11 of them and fish and chips covering four.
25 places on the island serve cafes. See every cafes place with filters
Cafes · Oneroa · $
★ 4.8 from 944 Google reviews
The coffee hits you before you've picked a seat, and there's a seat for every mood: a small terrace out front on Ocean View Road, a bar top facing the street, and a few tables inside where the road noise drops away.
Cafes · Palm Beach · $$
★ 4.5 from 593 Google reviews
Arcadia is at the western end of Palm Beach, on Palm Road, a thirty-second walk from the sand.
Cafes · Oneroa
★ 4.5 from 407 Google reviews
It's the cabinet that gets you first: 24 freshly churned flavours at any one time, twenty of them permanent classics and four new specials every week, all made from scratch in their own production kitchen with local milk and fruit picked in season.
Cafes · Oneroa
★ 4.8 from 200 Google reviews
Follow the smell of hot batter down Ocean View Road in Oneroa and you'll find a silver vintage caravan with a small crowd waiting at the window, which is exactly what a crepe stand should look like.
Cafes · Oneroa · $$
★ 4.0 from 591 Google reviews
The view hits you first: Oneroa Bay, the boats below and, on a clear day, Great Barrier Island on the horizon.
Cafes · Ostend · $
★ 4.6 from 212 Google reviews
The view from your table is a car park and the back of the PlaceMakers building, which tells you everything about what this place is: a cafe that puts its effort into the food rather than the scenery.
22 places on the island serve takeaways. See every takeaways place with filters
Cafes · Palm Beach · $$
★ 4.5 from 593 Google reviews
Arcadia is at the western end of Palm Beach, on Palm Road, a thirty-second walk from the sand.
Burgers · Ostend · $
★ 4.9 from 223 Google reviews
A little burger caravan sits on Putiki Road in Ostend, right beside the RAW market, with outdoor tables and a menu that runs from smash burgers to tacos, chips and thick shakes.
Cafes · Oneroa
★ 4.8 from 200 Google reviews
Follow the smell of hot batter down Ocean View Road in Oneroa and you'll find a silver vintage caravan with a small crowd waiting at the window, which is exactly what a crepe stand should look like.
Japanese and sushi · Oneroa · $
★ 5.0 from 158 Google reviews
There's a little sushi counter in the middle of Oneroa village, a short walk from the beach, where you'll find some of Waiheke's freshest fish and a very easy lunch.
Seafood · Oneroa · $
★ 4.0 from 572 Google reviews
Down the stairs between the wine centre and the Four Square in Oneroa, The Local opens onto a deck looking straight across Oneroa Bay, and that view is half the reason to make the trip.
Takeaways · Oneroa · $
★ 4.9 from 162 Google reviews
You'll find this little takeaway stand up a side street behind Oneroa's main shops, with a few outdoor tables, a relaxed soundtrack and a resident cat who likes to wander past.
18 places on the island serve pubs and bars. See every pubs and bars place with filters
Pubs and bars · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.8 from 947 Google reviews
You can lose a whole afternoon on these four acres without moving far from your table, starting with lunch under the trees and finishing with a beer flight, a whisky tasting and a turn in one of the golf simulator bays.
Cafes · Oneroa · $
★ 4.8 from 944 Google reviews
The coffee hits you before you've picked a seat, and there's a seat for every mood: a small terrace out front on Ocean View Road, a bar top facing the street, and a few tables inside where the road noise drops away.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.2 from 2,107 Google reviews
With your feet still sandy from Onetangi Beach, you cross The Strand and settle in at a table that looks straight back out over the water, because that view is the whole reason this place has been part of the island since 1987.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.3 from 1,594 Google reviews
The driveway climbs off Onetangi Road between vines and olive trees, and it finishes on a hillside veranda looking across a valley where horses graze on the far slope.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.6 from 703 Google reviews
The driveway off Onetangi Road climbs through vines into a courtyard where a Michelin-starred restaurant sits above Alibi Brewing Co., so you can move from a cellar door tasting to a long lunch without leaving the estate.
Pubs and bars · Oneroa · $
★ 4.4 from 812 Google reviews
The deck looks straight over Oneroa Beach and the bay, close enough that you can watch the water change colour while you decide between a glass of Waiheke chardonnay and an Argentine malbec.
11 places on the island serve winery restaurants. See every winery restaurants place with filters
Winery restaurants · Oneroa · $$$
★ 4.5 from 1,532 Google reviews
The last stretch of Church Bay Road brings you out on a ridge above the Hauraki Gulf, with vines dropping away below and the Auckland skyline across the water, and it's the kind of view that stops you mid sentence.
Winery restaurants · Eastern Waiheke
★ 4.5 from 1,379 Google reviews
You reach the far north-eastern end of Waiheke by a long, winding gravel road, by the Explore ferry straight into Man O' War Bay, or by boat onto the beach, and that journey is part of the day out.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.3 from 1,594 Google reviews
The driveway climbs off Onetangi Road between vines and olive trees, and it finishes on a hillside veranda looking across a valley where horses graze on the far slope.
Mediterranean · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.7 from 675 Google reviews
You climb the hill from Onetangi Beach, turn into Brown Road where it forks into the vineyard, and find a Spanish restaurant with Gaudi-style mosaics on the walls, looking over 4.2 hectares of vines to the village and the sea.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.6 from 703 Google reviews
The driveway off Onetangi Road climbs through vines into a courtyard where a Michelin-starred restaurant sits above Alibi Brewing Co., so you can move from a cellar door tasting to a long lunch without leaving the estate.
Winery restaurants · Onetangi
★ 4.7 from 489 Google reviews
You climb the drive off Onetangi Road and Waiheke falls away into vines and olive trees, with the original farm goatshed now the cellar door.
6 places on the island serve bakeries. See every bakeries place with filters
Fish and chips · Surfdale · $
★ 4.2 from 140 Google reviews
On Miami Avenue in Surfdale, a couple of minutes' walk up from the beach, this bakery opens at six on weekday mornings and seven on weekends, and shuts by mid-afternoon, so it's made for breakfast, smoko and lunch rather than dinner.
Cafes · Ostend
★ 5.0 from 52 Google reviews
The croissants coming out of this Ostend oven are the sort people compare to a good French bakery, and more than one local will tell you they're the best on the island.
Bakeries · Ostend · $$
★ 4.6 from 65 Google reviews
At 30 Belgium Street in Ostend, this is the sort of bakery you build a Waiheke day around, with loaves, buns and pizza made from scratch and a cabinet full of sweet things.
Bakeries · Oneroa · $
★ 4.6 from 13 Google reviews
The building used to sell flowers and now it sells cakes, pastries and pies, which tells you most of what you need to know about this little bakery in the middle of Oneroa.
Bakeries · Onetangi
★ 5.0 from 6 Google reviews
The sign says local, organic, handmade, and that's the whole story at this small bakery on Totara Road in Onetangi, where two bakers who grew up on this kind of bread turn out German-style sourdough loaves, pretzels, cheese sticks, cakes and pastries from the kitchen.
Bakeries · Ostend
★ 4.7 from 7 Google reviews
If you're passing through Ostend, this little bakery on Tahi Road is the sort of stop that sorts out lunch in a couple of minutes.
6 places on the island serve brunch spots. See every brunch spots place with filters
Cafes · Palm Beach · $$
★ 4.5 from 593 Google reviews
Arcadia is at the western end of Palm Beach, on Palm Road, a thirty-second walk from the sand.
Cafes · Oneroa · $$
★ 4.0 from 591 Google reviews
The view hits you first: Oneroa Bay, the boats below and, on a clear day, Great Barrier Island on the horizon.
Cafes · Ostend · $
★ 4.6 from 212 Google reviews
The view from your table is a car park and the back of the PlaceMakers building, which tells you everything about what this place is: a cafe that puts its effort into the food rather than the scenery.
Indian · Oneroa
★ 4.4 from 169 Google reviews
When you're in Oneroa and the movie at the local cinema is about to start, or you've just stepped off the ferry and want dinner sorted, you'll find this one in the Artworks Complex on Korora Road, a short walk from the theatre and the library.
Cafes · Ostend
★ 5.0 from 52 Google reviews
The croissants coming out of this Ostend oven are the sort people compare to a good French bakery, and more than one local will tell you they're the best on the island.
Burgers · Oneroa · $
★ 3.8 from 84 Google reviews
The view is the main draw, and it's a good one: from the outdoor tables on Ocean View Road you look out over the bay at Oneroa, with the village walkway behind you and the water out in front.
4 places on the island serve fish and chips. See every fish and chips place with filters
Fish and chips · Ostend · $
★ 5.0 from 104 Google reviews
A walkway slips through beside the Woolworths in Ostend and comes out on Putiki Road, where a small kiosk has built a serious reputation for fish and chips, the best on the island and, for plenty of eaters, the best they've had anywhere from England to Melbourne.
Fish and chips · Surfdale · $
★ 4.2 from 140 Google reviews
On Miami Avenue in Surfdale, a couple of minutes' walk up from the beach, this bakery opens at six on weekday mornings and seven on weekends, and shuts by mid-afternoon, so it's made for breakfast, smoko and lunch rather than dinner.
Fish and chips · Onetangi · $
★ 4.3 from 80 Google reviews
Onetangi Beach has its own store a few steps back from the sand at the end of Fourth Avenue, and it's where a Waiheke day tends to start: coffee and something from the cabinet before your swim, fish and chips once you're out of the water.
Fish and chips · Onetangi
★ 4.2 from 44 Google reviews
What this Onetangi Road counter does best is fish and chips wrapped in paper, and you can eat them a short walk from the beach.
3 places on the island serve burgers. See every burgers place with filters
Burgers · Oneroa · $
★ 4.8 from 808 Google reviews
You'll find this little burger shop down an alley off Ocean View Road in Oneroa, a short walk from the beach and an easy stop on a Waiheke day trip.
Burgers · Ostend · $
★ 4.9 from 223 Google reviews
A little burger caravan sits on Putiki Road in Ostend, right beside the RAW market, with outdoor tables and a menu that runs from smash burgers to tacos, chips and thick shakes.
Burgers · Oneroa · $
★ 3.8 from 84 Google reviews
The view is the main draw, and it's a good one: from the outdoor tables on Ocean View Road you look out over the bay at Oneroa, with the village walkway behind you and the water out in front.
3 places on the island serve japanese and sushi. See every japanese and sushi place with filters
Japanese and sushi · Oneroa · $
★ 5.0 from 158 Google reviews
There's a little sushi counter in the middle of Oneroa village, a short walk from the beach, where you'll find some of Waiheke's freshest fish and a very easy lunch.
Japanese and sushi · Ostend · $
★ 4.8 from 42 Google reviews
You pick your base, your protein and your sauce, and the Nami bowl comes back loaded with prawn, salmon, chicken or tofu alongside whatever vegetables and pickles are in the cabinet that day, which makes for a filling lunch that keeps you going all afternoon.
Japanese and sushi · Onetangi · $
★ 4.6 from 38 Google reviews
A panko-fried tube of rice, filled and rolled tight so you can eat it one-handed on the way to the sand: that's the hand roll, and it's what has you pulling over on Onetangi Road.
2 places on the island serve seafood.
Seafood · Oneroa
★ 4.5 from 1,395 Google reviews
You'll be looking out over Oneroa Bay from the verandah, and on a good day a dolphin or two goes past while you work through oysters that were in the water off the Te Matuku farm that morning.
Seafood · Oneroa · $
★ 4.0 from 572 Google reviews
Down the stairs between the wine centre and the Four Square in Oneroa, The Local opens onto a deck looking straight across Oneroa Bay, and that view is half the reason to make the trip.
2 places on the island serve pizza.
Pizza · Oneroa · $
★ 4.4 from 236 Google reviews
From the outdoor tables you look down over Oneroa beach and out across the Hauraki Gulf towards the Coromandel, which is the kind of view that has you ordering a second flat white before you've finished the first.
Pizza · Oneroa · $
★ 4.8 from 53 Google reviews
Wood smoke, bare feet and a pizza box carried across the grass to the beach: that's lunch at Little Oneroa Reserve, where a food truck parks beside the playground and cooks wood fired street food from late morning.
2 places on the island serve indian.
Indian · Oneroa
★ 4.4 from 169 Google reviews
When you're in Oneroa and the movie at the local cinema is about to start, or you've just stepped off the ferry and want dinner sorted, you'll find this one in the Artworks Complex on Korora Road, a short walk from the theatre and the library.
Indian · Ostend · $
★ 4.6 from 58 Google reviews
There's a small curry shop on Belgium Street in Ostend that Waiheke has quietly taken to its heart, and the butter chicken is the reason most people first walk through the door.
2 places on the island serve chinese.
Chinese · Ostend · $
★ 4.2 from 168 Google reviews
Fish and chips, burgers and a full Chinese menu all come out of the same small shopfront on Belgium Street in Ostend, which is exactly what you want after a swim or a long day out on the island.
Chinese · Ostend · $
★ 5.0 from 62 Google reviews
The dumplings at this little Ostend counter are made by hand and steamed to order, which is why they arrive with soft skins and fillings that still taste fresh, and why there's a steady stream of people who've been told about the place by a friend.
One place on the island serves italian: Fenice Cafe & Restaurant.
Italian · Oneroa · $$
★ 4.5 from 1,020 Google reviews
Start your day with eggs benedict and a flat white on the terrace, then come back at night for a glass of Waiheke red beside the fire, because Fenice runs from 8.30 in the morning until late, seven days a week.
One place on the island serves thai: Red Crab bar and Thai restaurant.
Thai · Oneroa · $$
★ 4.0 from 351 Google reviews
Red Crab sits on Ocean View Road above Oneroa Bay, and it's the kind of Thai restaurant you'd build a whole Waiheke day around, with a deck looking out over the water and a menu that draws on Thailand's four regions.
One place on the island serves french: Island Frenchie.
French · Oneroa · $
★ 4.9 from 186 Google reviews
Doors open at 6.30 in the morning, which tells you plenty about how Oneroa treats Island Frenchie: it's a breakfast and lunch cafe first, and an early ferry or a day at the beach both start better with coffee and something baked here.
One place on the island serves barbecue: Smokeland BBQ Waiheke.
Barbecue · Ostend · $
★ 4.8 from 27 Google reviews
The smell of smoke along Putiki Road is the first sign you've found this Ostend takeaway, and it's worth following if you're after proper low and slow barbecue on Waiheke Island without any fuss.
One place on the island serves mediterranean: Casita Miro.
Mediterranean · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.7 from 675 Google reviews
You climb the hill from Onetangi Beach, turn into Brown Road where it forks into the vineyard, and find a Spanish restaurant with Gaudi-style mosaics on the walls, looking over 4.2 hectares of vines to the village and the sea.
One place on the island serves markets: Waiheke Ostend Market.
Markets · Ostend
★ 4.3 from 302 Google reviews
Come Saturday morning, the stalls spill out of the Waiheke War Memorial Hall and across Anzac Reserve on Ostend Road, and the smell of fried bread reaches you near the gate.
