Snake Bite Brewery

Someone from this business manages this listing.

1,510 reviews

#4 of 11 Restaurants in Franz Josef$$ - $$$, Bar, Asian, Fusion

+64 3-752 0234+ Add website

Hours

Sun

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

Mon

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

Tue

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

Wed

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

Thu

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

Fri

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

Sat

7:30 am - 8:00 pm

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.0

1,510 reviews

#4 of 11 Restaurants in Franz Josef

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Bar, Asian, Fusion, Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

“The Pad Thai was delicious, my son’s Burger was also great but the Beef Cheek...”

“The beef burger was superb, the prawn pad that was as to be expected, but the...”

Special Occasion Dining, Groups, Bar Scene

“Somewhat of a craft beer bar, there were several beers on keg to choose from.”

“Stopped in for a beer and light fare.”

Location and contact

28 Main Road, Franz Josef, Westland Tai Poutini National Park 7856 New Zealand

+64 3-752 0234

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Does this restaurant offer highchairs for toddlers?

Yes

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Details

Manage this business?

About

Asian Street Food and Kiwi Favourites. Experience a variety of authentic dishes from Southeast Asia. Beer is what we unashamedly love. Some of NZ's best Craft Beers in stock. Start the day with a hearty breakfast. Served from 7:30am We bake our own pies, cakes and slices daily.

PRICE RANGE

$9.00 – $39.00

CUISINES

Bar, Asian, Fusion

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, After-hours

FEATURES

Takeout, Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music, Family style

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4.0

1,510 reviews

Excellent

709

Very good

519

Average

152

Poor

Terrible

Megadyptes Antipodes

Wellington29 contributions

Scrumptious Asian food! But poor service at busy time.

Jan 2021 • family

This restaurant is highly recommended, as long as you can get there at a time when staff are not rushed off their feet. We went there twice over a period of 2 days. The first time was for an early dinner, where the experience was delightful. The dumplings were delicious. The Pad Thai was also perfectly made. Gulai Kambing—Indonesian lamb curry was the highlight of our shared meal. Their beers (blended sort) left us unimpressed. The second time we returned for lunch, but after being feeling ignored on arriving at a busy time (11 am) for brunch, we finally got hold of a staff member who told us that we just had to find a place and then come and order at the counter (contrary to what we experienced the first time when our orders were taken at the table). After we finally found a suitable place to sit down and made our selections from the menu that I found, one of us went to order at the counter, and only then we were told that there would be a wait for over 1 hour for food! We would’ve avoided wasting 10 minutes looking for a place, settling in, and making our selections from the menu if we had known about the long wait in the first place. Disappointed, we didn’t have lunch there. They need to have dedicated front staff to greet and advise customers as they walk in, regardless of how busy they may be.

Written 2 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.

Steve L

Hucknall540 contributions

Food is good, Service is questionable

Feb 2020 • none

We dropped in whilst waiting for a helicopter ride. Unfortunately the waiting time for a coffee is so long we had already eaten the cake we purchased long before the drink arrived. The cakes were delightful but the wait brings the score down.

Written 7 February 2020

chrismI3414EK

Christchurch152 contributions

Hot Curry a Cold Night

Jul 2020 • none

The Snake Bite was recommended to us by a local and it didn’t disappoint. The “Thai spicy” green curry was perfect for a cold night. The restaurant was warm and the staff welcoming. Playing a video of an open fire on the tv and projector screens was a nice touch on a winter night. The name Brewery is a little misleading as they do not brew but sell other’s beers... which are good and compliment the excellent food.

Written 2 July 2020

Ian S

London613 contributions

Average type place - there are better in town

Feb 2020 • couples

Wide ranging menu for food. Anything from fish and chips to Thai green curry. Beer selection good too, but only one white wine available. Nice outside seating allowing watching of the world go by, right on the main road through Franz Josef. Service had a reluctant air to it, though staff were pleasant. Mains arrived before we had the opportunity to finish starters. We felt somewhat “bullied” into ordering mains as we were happily unrushed ourselves. This undoubtedly cost them revenue as we would have had an additional round of drinks. Reasonably priced but food was average/ordinary inquality.

Written 8 February 2020

Mei-Mei K

Estero2326 contributions

Delicious!

Dec 2019 • none

We had an exhilarating all-day extreme outing on Fox Glacier and were ready for a feast. The Snake Bite Brewery fit the bill perfectly. My daughter and I shared the pork belly and prawn siu mai, and duck soup (recommended by a local) and each of us had pad see ew: all were of generous portions and delicious. I really liked how they had a lot of egg atop the pad see ew. I'm surprised to see the second two items are no longer on their menu! Bring it back!

Written 18 January 2020

Richard Liu

Sydney14 contributions

Surprinsgly Good Asian Food !

Jan 2020 • none

We were all hungry for some decent Asian food but are you really going to get it out at Franz Josef? With a few 'asian' restaurants, we decided to pick Snake Bite Brewery because of the cheap happy hour. Although prices were a bit dear which is of course expected, the food was pleasantly delicious. I got the duck noodle soup and it was done well and the broth was superb. My friend got the pad thai and found it above average which is great if you're trying to find asian food in the middle of nowhere.

Written 28 January 2020

Pwncjn1

Cambridge257 contributions

Gluten Free - the Restaurant says no.

Jan 2020 • none

We popped hoping for an evening meal here, telling the waiter my wife was gluten free he said no problem. However when we sat down Nd asked what he could for us off the menu he said the kitchen could not help us and could not offer my wife anything. We then left the restaurant and went to The Landing which offered us many options Nd their kitchen offered my wife many variables!

Written 30 January 2020

AnotheranonDerby

Derby126 contributions

Good place for a meal

Jan 2020 • couples

Stopped in for dinner one evening. The food offered makes a change from the normal bar offerings. I had a Thai green curry and must say that it was well balanced and tasty. (The chicken had just been added before it was heated to be served, but I can forgive them that.) The craft beer offerings are OK, but quite limited compared to other places I have tried.

Written 26 January 2020

E Badd

Cotswolds35 contributions

Good food.

Jan 2020 • none

We aren't the darkened bar type of people, and were looking for a bit of lunch rather then asian style dinner. Snakebite has a bit of everything, at the back on the left hand side is a cafe/bakery style cabinets with some great looking pie, sandwiches and desserts. We had pie which was served warm straight away, and panini which took about 5 minutes to come directly to table. Food all tasted good and looked very appetizing.

Written 6 January 2020

world traveler r3065

1 contribution

Worst Restaurant Expeience Ever

Jan 2020 • couples

Don't dine here. Worst restaurant experience these world travelers ever experienced. Item we ordered from drink menu was not available but we weren't told until well into the meal. Starter was not as described on menu and was inedible due to mile-high shredded cabbage garnish. Extra plate we requested for sharing never showed up. Main courses both had issues--burnt black tofu in mine and tofu instead of requested prawns in my husband's. Husband's botched order was replaced with one hastily prepared. Prawns weren't fried as per menu. Looked like they were just thrown in without even being sauteed. Thought our bill would be reduced due to total disaster, but manager just glared at us when we asked. Avoid this place if you have any other option. Horrible food and horrible service.

Written 8 January 2020

SnakeBiteBrewery

Hi Nemo; Thank you for your review. We apologise if you had a bad experience dining with us.Thanks for letting us know that you had a burned tofu on your meal. It will be much appreciated if you let us know about this issue on the beginning so we can still do something to make this situation corrected.As we investigated, we found out that you informed our wait staff that you got the wrong order at the first time which you already ate half of it before informing us, our wait staff do apology and asked if you want to change your meal and you agreed. Chef prepared your meal which is the Nasi Goreng prawn. We do feel sorry that you still doesn't like the meal despite you almost finish it and leave only 1 piece and half of prawn on the meal. We wish we could serve you better so you can have an enjoyable meal with us. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Written 10 January 2020

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Loislovestravelling

Melbourne870 contributions

Excellent Asian cuisine

Mar 2020 • none

My husband had the beef cheeks rendang and I had the chicken pad Thai and both were exceptional. The rendang was nice an spicy and served with an adequate amount of rice. The pad Thai. Lidless was as good as I have had anywhere with a side of dried chilli if you like it hotter. Definitely a great eating place..... nice and cozy inside on a cool evening and friendly wait staff.

Written 13 March 2020

Lindaliz

Hartford107 contributions

Ok place for lunch if you're not in a hurry

Feb 2020 • none

Stopped here after the glacier tour. It was pretty busy and no one is in the restaurant seating guests, they are all behind the counter. We finally went up to the bar to get menus. The food came in a decent amount of time, while we waited we had a flat white which was very good. My husband had the KFC chicken sandwich, which was very good and the portion was huge. The bun was homemade. I had the salad with chicken and it was ok. When you are finished apparently you walk up to the counter to pay. The servers don't come around to ask if everything is ok or see if you are ready for your check. There really aren't that many places to choose from in town.

Written 9 March 2020

michaelcostello

Sydney54 contributions

Excellent alfresco dinner

Jan 2020 • family

We were at a nearby stay-farm who recommended the Snake Bite. We were not disappointed. The nasi goreng, green curry and dumplings were excellent, all washed downed with the brewery's local beer. Friendly staff and outdoor seating made for a memorable evening.

Written 29 January 2020

Cameron Y

Auckland334 contributions

Really disappointing. How can you mess up a pie, peas and mash?

Dec 2020 • none

I popped into the Snake Bite when I saw they had blackboard special for pie, peas and mash potato. The server was friendly. My friend ordered a Thai salad. The meals took quite a long time to arrive. It didn't look that busy but we didn't mind too much. My friend's salad was cool which was a good thing. However, my peas were cold as well, The mash was lukewarm. The potatoes tasted like it was reheated...badly I really don't know how you can mess up such a simple dish especially if it is a special. I told another server about the problem. He took it away and bought it back after a few mins. The peas were now cold to lukewarm but the pie filling was very hot and the pastry was soggy. The potato was a little warmer and the gravy was on the coolish side as well. I suspect a good old blast in the microwave? I gave up. i paid the bill and went to the 4 Square(superette) for a muesli bar and an ice cream. I swear the ice cream was warmer than the peas. BTW The water and soft drink were very good

Written 26 December 2020

SnakeBite B

Hi Cameron, Damn, We stuffed up. Yes, Peas Pie and Spud is a wonderful thing, but you are right, if the peas are not hot it's just not going to work. I spoke to the chefs and servers and re reviewed the making of the dish and their responsibility to get it right, every time. Please, if food is obviously not right, in any restaurant, ask for the duty manager as they have the ability to take control and put things right there and then. I hope you found lots of sun, ate too much ice cream and hand lots of fizzy over the Christmas Break. Kindly Adam

Written 6 January 2021

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Jason S

2 contributions

Worst place in town for breakfast

Nov 2022 • family

They took the perfectly good for we ordered front the counter and then put it in a sandwich press and burnt the crap out of it to the point where it was not even edible. Left it on the table and walked away. What a joke, croissants should not be black and the pie we got tasted like it was a week old. The service was also very rude from the start and I regret not just leaving at that point. Worst place in NZ by far.