Southern Cross Garden Bar & Restaurant

I love the Cross. They are like a modern community centre but with great coffee, food and beer! They have amazingly friendly staff. After I had my baby I was looking for places to go where they'd welcome us with open arms. The Cross has so many cool touches to make it baby friendly and they are proud of it too. They have very very good baby changing facilities in their bathrooms. This is absolutely crucial if you want to be baby friendly. On a Tuesday and Thursday at 10am they have a space for mums, dads and babies in one of their function rooms. They provide free 10 minute massages and a baby sitter to hold your baby while you have a massage. In the early days of motherhood, that was the best 10 minutes of my week! Ten minutes of me time was all I needed! I know they are also child friendly on a Sunday morning for brunch and have a magician, face painter and toys for older kids. You just really can't go past the Cross if you are a grown up with a wee one in tow that still appreciates a grown up space! 

Groovy garden bar with lots of live music and heaps of room, fantastic for beers by day or night

Ideal for brunch, a get-together outside or in a private room (friends favour it as an engagement party venue) or a giant jenga battle. Cruise in on a Tuesday or Thursday for a quiz, grab some tasty snacks and a pint, and you’re set!

On Mondays they do 2 for 1 stonegrills! Pretty awesome! Especially when you’ve run out of food in your fridge or you just don’t feel like cooking, you don’t have to feel guilty because you’ve found such a deal!

This place has a great vibe and is a great place for drinks with mates. I especially love the fairy lights outside. Check them out on their website from ‘Stitch and Bitch’ to live bands, they’ve always got something on!

Trying to catch up with a friend is hell when you know you have a little energetic person on your hands. When I've got Mr Three bouncing about, Southern Cross is my chosen spot to grab a coffee while he gets creative with the colouring in books, craft tables, face painting and more. My partner absolutely loves the Tuesday and Thursday morning relax days where they give free back and neck massages while one of the Southern X staff members keeps the wee ones distracted. Time for another coffee, I think! 

There is something magical about the Southern Cross. It’s warm couches and open fires make it perfect for a rainy day. They’ve done a really good job of building a great staff culture where everyone is friendly and helpful. I love sitting outside in the garden bar when the weather is not so rainy with a refreshing soda pop. Brilliant!

Quality up and coming live music most weeknights, complimentary hot water bottles and blankets during winter, an amazing outdoor garden bar, free sausage sizzles, and a great dinner menu. This place is pretty special. It's been amazing watching it evolve into the community hub it now is.

Southern Cross run two of my favourite free events in Wellington, Sunday Night Bingo and Wednesday night Jenga. Head along with a friend (preferably an engineer or other structure-friendly occupation) to the Jenga on Wednesday and compete for the FIFTY dollar voucher that goes to the winner, take that voucher in on Saturday and make the best use of it, drag yourself out of bed on Sunday evening to head to the bingo run by Mabel Smith to quietly nurse a beer and try to win some money for a hangover-curing stonegrill! That amounts to the perfect week in my world.

This joint is an institution which has recently upped the ante by equipping itself with a serious craft beer bounty. The garden bar is a highlight, both for enjoying the sunshine, or cuddling up with a polar fleece blanket and hot water supplied by the cross themselves. I would seriously recommend the Tuesday night quiz if you’re after a pub quiz with a bit of a difference.