Restaurants in Wellington

Wellington's restaurant market is dense and competitive. The wider region hosts 1,695 restaurant and food businesses across 59,529 total business units — roughly 2.8% of all registered enterprises in the region. On the ground, OpenStreetMap data identifies 248 restaurants operating in the city itself, meaning there's roughly one restaurant for every 846 residents. That's a well-served market by New Zealand standards.

Cuisine diversity is notable. Across these 248 restaurants, 42 distinct cuisine types are represented. Indian cuisine leads with 27 establishments, followed closely by Chinese (24), Japanese (16), Vietnamese (16), and pizza outlets (15). Broader Asian cuisine categories — including Malaysian (12) and sushi (10) — make up a significant share of the market. Western and European dining, by contrast, appears in smaller numbers within the dataset.

The broader food scene adds further context: alongside 248 restaurants, Wellington has 237 cafés, 202 fast-food outlets, 98 bars, and 37 pubs. The city's total food and drink ecosystem is substantial for a population of 209,800.

One key finding is website adoption. Of the 248 restaurants identified, only 114 — 46% — have a website. That means more than half of Wellington's restaurants lack a basic online presence. For operators, this represents both a gap and an opportunity: the restaurants investing in digital visibility are competing for attention while many competitors remain invisible online.