Leigh Sawmill Cafe & Accommodation

Someone from this business manages this listing.

289 reviews

#1 of 2 Restaurants in Leigh$$ - $$$, Bar, Pizza, Pub

+64 9-422 6019+ Add website

Hours

Sun

12:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Wed

12:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Thu

12:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Fri

12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Sat

12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

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Ratings and reviews

4.0

289 reviews

#1 of 2 Restaurants in Leigh

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

Someone from this business manages this listing.

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PRICE RANGE

$15.00 – $30.00

CUISINES

Bar, Pizza, Pub, Gastropub, New Zealand

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Gluten free options

meals, features

Location and contact

142 Pakiri Road, Leigh, Auckland New Zealand

+64 9-422 6019

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Does this restaurant have private dining rooms?

Yes

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Details

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About

The Leigh Sawmill Cafe is the perfect place to spend a weekend - have a good meal or 2, relax in the garden, go to the beach, catch a band and stay the night in our comfortable accommodation just 50 metres away. The cafe offers delicious gourmet pizzas, full brunch and dinner menu’s using fresh local fish, hand picked garden produce and house made preserves giving the dishes a unique New Zealand flavour. We are fully licensed with an extensive wine list, bottled beer and alternating selection of 5 NZ craft beers The infamous sawmill stage has played host to a varied portfolio of live music and over the last 20 years - and proudly supports New Zealand music. Visit our website to check out our latest gig guide CAFE SUMMER TRADING HOURS 27 December - 15 February 7 days 10am – late CAFE OFF PEAK TRADING HOURS Thursday 12-9pm Friday - Sunday 10am – late Accommodation is available 7 days a week year round

PRICE RANGE

$15.00 – $30.00

CUISINES

Bar, Pizza, Pub, Gastropub, New Zealand

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, After-hours, Drinks

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining, Seating, Parking Available, Free off-street parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music, Playgrounds, Dog Friendly, Family style

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4.0

289 reviews

Excellent

109

Very good

Average

Poor

Terrible

Keitha S

Auckland116 contributions

Interesting place

Jan 2021 • none

We were in the area having a walk at Ti Point and decided to go just a bit further for lunch at Leigh Sawmill Cafe. We really had no idea what to expect so were pleasantly surprised by the nice ambiance with a mix of indoor and outdoor seating. You have to order your meals and pay for them at the counter before receiving them (perhaps they've had too many people leave without paying?) which isn't my favourite way of dining but hey ho. The meal range was reasonable without being outstanding and we all enjoyed what we ate. The waiting time was just on the edge of acceptable. However, our son with autism had room to range around and so we were happy and so was he.

Written 9 January 2021

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

peterwI3040OB

Auckland Central74 contributions

Tasty Holiday Lunch

Dec 2021 • none

Drove up for lunch during the busy summer/xmas season. First of all, book in advance. We sat near the entrance and I was amazed by the number of people, especially families of several adults and kids turning up without a booking. We got there when it opened at 12pm and by 12:30pm they were full and turning people away. Nice setting, the local cider is delicious. The service was good and has it was full it did take about 30 minutes for food to arrive. Pizzas, fish and chips. All excellent. Lovely sunny hoy day, off to the beach afterwards.

Written 30 December 2021

Rachel L

Auckland31 contributions

Welcome food after completing the Leigh Coastal path

Dec 2021 • none

Could not fault this eatery. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. They offered many g/f options and their g/f burger buns hit the spot with my coeliac friend. He liked the buns so much they let him know where they source them from. The day was busy but the staff handled the rush with ease. The food was really good. The chips were perfect, not oily and nicely served in a bag to keep them warm. The coffee was also excellent and there was a good range of sweet treats. A destination in itself but even better after a walk.

Written 30 December 2021

smcg34

Whistler11 contributions

Disappointing

May 2020 • none

Our first meal out in a restaurant after 6 weeks in lockdown was disappointing to say the least. Keen to support local kiwi business, we called just before 6 to see if we needed to book a table for two, we were told: "no, not for two people". Great we arrived around 6:30 pm to the host who had a look around the restaurant to then tell us there was no tables and would we sit outside? Being almost winter we were not keen to sit outside in the dark and eat our food, we could do this at the campsite we were staying at for free! Told it would be about 20 minutes for a table so we waited outside with a beer. After 30 mins I saw two couples get seated and no one came out to us to tell us how much longer it would be. My partner ended up going back into the host to ask for an update and lucky a table was leaving which we got. The food was nothing special but the dampener on the night was the service. Service is key and in these times you need to keep hold of as many customers as you can, unfortunately, will not be returning and would not recommend.

Written 24 May 2020

mew

1 contribution

What a mistake going there ! Terrible portions and excessive pricing

Jan 2021 • none

We had been there before with a small group 2 years ago and waited for 1 1/2 hours between the first and last main dish. We decided never to come back but by mistake our Daughter in law booked the Sawmill Cafe instead of the Sawmill Brewery, that was the first mistake, The second mistake was when we decided to give them another chance. We booked the table the day before going on Saturday 2nd Jan 2021 but on arrival it was occupied, the Manager was going to sort it but 20 mins later had still not bothered to even speak to us and just left us standing around, she was more interested in serving drinks. We were a booking of 8 people and never received an apology from the Manager, a young waitress was embarrassed and apologised to us instead. The wait for food was 50+ minutes and was 2 pizzas, chips, salad, mushroom pasta, and two burgers. The first Pizza came out after 50 mins with hardly any topping, then the chips quite some time later. The salad and pasta next after another long wait. The salad was pathetically small and tired, the Pasta was luke warm, watery and all you could taste was salt, it was in edible, one burger was OK ? the Chicken burger was disgusting, a dry bun 1 spoon of Red Cabbage with a bit of sauce and a deep fried bit of chicken (smaller than KFC) and about 10 chips on the side. ($25.00) !! The prices were outrageous, city level for food a child could cook a whole lot better. In fact the only food acceptable were the chips. FINALLY the last little pizza came out 45mins after all the other food and after everyone had already eaten. Getting a drink involved a 25min wait in the queue each time. We will never recommend this place. Back we go to The Rusty, The Farmers Daughter, The Sawmill Brewery,The Matakana Pub, Stables and Smiths, The Warkworth Pub, MMK etc. many superior eateries to be had locally. The Management needs to send managers for training and customers service as there wasn’t any, there were a number of other equally disgruntled customers. We witnessed another customer having a stand off with a waiter who cleaned a spoon on his T Shirt as he brought it to their table, he had forgotten to supply the spoon with the dessert.

Written 4 January 2021

Mupsy

Auckland1 contribution

Horrendous Portion Sizes and Service

Jan 2021 • none

We are locals of Point Wells and decided to pop in for lunch. We were early so it wasn’t overly busy. The meals came out staggered so everyone ate at different times and the portion sizes for the only salad on the menu & fish bites was just ridiculous. We will be sticking to our other local eating spots. Really, you should be embarrassed to serve the food that you do!

Written 3 January 2021

A & T

1 contribution

Will not go back

Jan 2021 • family

Very Disappointed! Visiting from Dunedin and took the family for dinner. Were seated at a very sticky table. Had clearly been wiped, but perhaps with a dirty rag. Had to order at the bar so joined the queue. To get a second round of drinks before our meals arrived, had to queue again. Portion sizes of burger and fries and fish and chips were ridiculously small. A wooden platter with two small (what i would call) fish bites, half a dozen baby spinach leaves and maybe 10 chips. $26. Oh and a squirt of tomato sauce. And if you need more sauce... get back in the queue at the bar. Among other things, we also ordered a mesculin salad which appeared as a small handful of baby spinach leaves with a squirt of dressing. No finesse at all. Didn't dare order dessert for fear of having to queue up again. Decided to leave... you guessed it, back in the queue to pay. Venue is great with lots of indoor and outdoor seating for lots of diners but if you're going big, you need the staff to provide better, faster service and food that reflects the cost.

Written 10 January 2021

Sophie Vreeburg

3 contributions

Disappointed local

Dec 2020 • family

We live in Leigh and love heading over to the Sawmill for a beer and food. Whenever we have visitors we always bring them to the Sawmill because we love the atmosphere! We’ve been hesitant to write a review given this is our local spot and we know it’s a tough season for hospitality. However we’ve been continuously disappointed over the last few visits. Last nights visit was the most disappointing yet. We waited almost 40 minutes for food (we weren’t given a warning) but we understood it was a busy evening and were happy to have our drinks in the sun. However when the food did arrive, it did so one by one and in very small serving sizes. We proceeded to ordered a side of kumara chips to compensate for this. Unfortunately, they completely forgot one of our dishes. When we did manage to wave someone down to ask for it, it took approximately 3 different staff members to check exactly what dish we were missing. Apparently it was delivered to the wrong table however 15 minutes after we’d alerted them of this the waitress came back and said they were actually out of the dish and whether they could make us something else. By this time everyone else had finished their meal. The side we ordered arrived approximately 15 minutes after our last person finished their meal. We had asked for kumara chips but got normal chips instead which we alerted the waitress to. We assumed they had misheard our order but the kumara chips arrived another 10 minutes later. It seems that there is a clear lack of leadership by one set manager or just a lack of kitchen staff? We saw several different dishes get served to the wrong tables and people with only half their food waiting for the rest of their meal to arrive. At no point could we figure out who the manager in charge was. We got an apology from one waitress as she put down the late dish but nothing else. We really love coming to the Sawmill but we’ve noticed the service is consistently disappointing and unfortunately we’ll consider going elsewhere when we have visitors or when people ask us for recommendations unless something changes.

Written 27 December 2020

Kennedy H

Auckland Central3 contributions

Slow service, terrible food,

Apr 2021 • family

Slow service, terrible food, not busy but staff running round like headless chickens, well over an hour we waited to food from the kitchen and so disappointed when it arrived. We ordered the Sawmill Platter. Fish bites that were not grab fish but reheated from frozen and had a disgusting fake tartare sauce. The squid also tasted like it’d come from a frozen packet and had a very very strong wasabi sauce. The popcorn chicken we weren’t able to find any chicken. The pork belly bites and chicken wings were ok? Kids pizza was excellent but none of this should have taken over 90 minutes to arrive! Yes it’s Easter but there were plenty of empty tables so I’d hate to see it busy! Stay in Matakana for a decent feed.

Written 3 April 2021

Bruce M

Auckland Central18 contributions

A once Great reputation no longer applies or deserved.

Jan 2022 • family

This is my second bad review posted. We three arrived at 1:30 on a public holiday and accepted the pleasant staffs advice we could only place our order for food in 30 min and it would take a further 30 before it would be ready. We waited too patiently for not 30 min but 1 hour 20. After ordering our 1st waiter returned and offfered "oh I forgot about you " without the sound of an apology. Our simple order of very ordinary dry lasagne, greasy pizza and simple Wasabi coleslaw arrived 2 hours 10 min ( 3:40 pm) without the main dish of salt & pepper squid, which never arrived and was on our bill. Still their was no sign of an apology from the same waiter who had forgotten about us. I saw a similar review of slow and absent service and second rate food and now understand why. Pleasantly spoken staff is the best I can say,along with , appauling management and organization.

Written 30 January 2022

Jo-Anne M

Auckland3 contributions

Poor customer service & long wait

Apr 2022 • couples

Booked online for 12, one of first 3 couples to arrive. After an hour, noticed other tables being served food even though they arrived after us. When we enquired about our food, was told we 5th in line & that they only had 1 person in the kitchen. There was no apology. Second female waitress got defensive, then informed us our tickets were placed in the wrong order & continued to talk over me that they were “slammed”. Food when it did arrive 1.5 hours later was disappointing as the pork schnitzel was small & tough & the potatoes were hard. Husbands mushroom lasagna was tasty but they forgot about the bread order. Staff really need to learn to communicate in a friendly manner but also to inform us of the delay or offer a complimentary drink. Was so looking forward to a lovely lunch which was ruined. Won’t be returning or recommending this cafe to any friends!!

Written 23 April 2022

Emma D

5 contributions

2+ hour wait for bar food

Sept 2022 • family

A really disappointing experience to be completely honest. When we ordered we were advised there would be a bit of a wait for food, however we were not expecting to wait over 2 hours for burgers and chips - we arrived at 1:30pm, half the tables’ food arrived at 3:30, the rest did not come for 30 minutes after that. Given the venue wasn’t even a quarter full would not expect the wait to be that long!! Staff were friendly, but will definitely not be going and back, and would not recommend to anyone if they don’t have 3+hours to wait to eat.

Written 3 September 2022

Gavin M

Auckland201 contributions

Decidedly average

Jan 2022 • none

Quick late lunch after a snorkel. Kids pizzas looked nice, although plain. Fish goujons were small and disappointing, southern fried chicken was plain and needed some spice. The agria fries were in fact shoestrings, with no sauce. Needs to do a lot better Service was good - efficient and friendly - let down by the food.

Written 18 January 2022

Jean D

1 contribution

Poor service and poor quality of food.

Mar 2023 • none

On arrival at 12.30pm today 26th March 23, requested an inside table for 10 peope, only to be told all inside tables were booked, the only tables that were available were outside. We left at around 2.30pm and during this period, maybe 4-6 people were seated inside. The place was not at all busy. Ordered drinks, and after waiting 30 minutes, we had to go inside and collect our own drinks that were sitting on tray on bar counter. And the drinks order was incorrect, the coffee was cold. After another 20 minutes we once again had go and enquire about our starters. When they finally arrived, the Garlic Pizza bread bases were burnt and the two plates of squid under done. When the mains finally arrived, another 20 minutes later, the order was incorrect, the pizza bases were once again burnt, Burgers were over done, chicken very dry and over cooked and the snapper also over cooked. On settling the account, I was asked by the Gentleman behind the counter how the meal was and when I proceeded to mention the above to him, he just laughter, no comment, very disappointed with this type of service. As we were leaving (2.30pm) another family of 3 arrived and were turned away, told Restaurant was closed, am sure you open to 10.00pm. Will certainly not return or recommend this restaurant to family or friends, shocking service and quality of food very poor.

Written 25 March 2023

holyisle

131 contributions

Bizarre experience at lunchtime

Mar 2023 • none

Firstly, while saying it was open online, it had the " closed" sign up outside. When we investigated lunch at 12.40, there were no other customers. We were offered a limited menu because the deliveries hadn't arrived , then the truck appeared and we were offered the full menu. The olives were obviously straight from the fridge in a sludge of not yet quite liquid olive oil. The pizza was sparsely topped and the base wasn't quite cooked in parts. I had the smallest glass of wine I have ever paid $13 for. We were entertained by the bar manager having what seemed like a rather loud meltdown with perhaps a supplier in the public area. Though perhaps he was going for a Guinness record as I have never heard anyone say " at the end of the day " quite so frequently! The rest of the staff were pleasant and attentive and seriously outnumbered us, as we stayed the only customers till we left. It has a B hygiene rating

Written 15 March 2023

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