Jack Tar

Jack Tar becoming an iconic feature of the water front of Auckland… The fries are not to be missed. Plenty of pavement space for sitting and eating and people watching … The chocolate brownie warmed and gooey and so another one ordered.

Quick lunch visit in the rain today.
Service was fast and friendly.
Food was, unfortunately, average.
Chowder with ‘fish’, ‘prawns’, ‘mussels’, and ‘scallops’ — was mostly just mussels. decent enough flavor but more pub food standard than restaurant quality.
Greek salad with chicken — the chicken was overdone and hadn’t been trimmed very well. Nothing to write home about.
Small things, easily fixed.

Located at the Viaduct precinct, Jack Tar is just across the walkway from the Harbour.
The menu has a nice range of meats, seafood and veg options.
The food was pleasant. I had a snack of fish and prawns in garlic butter, but had trouble tasting the garlic. My friend chose the snack salt and pepper squid, and alas, the same thing, lack of saltiness or pepper.

Terrible service, rude staff, 3^rd time trying this place today, and the last time, never again!

A very good spot for a cold cider on a hot day. The bar style food we had was simple but good so certainly no complaints there. Amazing for people watching also with everyone wandering around Wynyard Quarter.

Found the mains nice but nothing outstanding. I had the lamb with duck fat roasted potatoes, the bulk of the dish was potatoes and while they where nice they were nothing that couldn’t be cooked t home. I might be showing my age but the noise level was annoying.
Large bar area. Great service, appreciated asking my group of ten the chance to get our manis order in before the really large group next to us.

Nice salads, pretty excellent beef burgers. Beautiful location at the waterfront with plenty of outdoor seating.
I liked the squid salad, excellent dressing though the fried squid could have benefited from a bit more spice. Unfortunately no pepper mill and salt at the tables.

Having tried the dinner as well as breakfast I am am impressed with the quality of food they serve.
As a gastro pub the menu is fairly basic but excellently executed. Huge fries which are delicious and big portion sizes.

I have been to Jack Tar more than a couple of times and have yet to have a good experience there. Today we spent a good 20 minutes trying to wave down a waiter to take our order and then another 40 minutes waiting for food. We were conscious that the restaurant was busy because it was Friday lunchtime and had asked the waitress what the wait time for food was because we had meetings coming up. She had firmly replied 15−20minutes. We ended up having to wolf down our meals in 15 minutes before running back to work.
Food-​wise the serving sizes are large but the quality is definitely below average. The seafood risotto was almost soup-​like, not quite worth the $ 29. Fish and chips fish batter was much too thick and the tartare sauce needed a big flavour kick which was disappointing as it would be the perfect dish to go with Jack Tar’s 5-​star location right on the harbour.

The place and location are for sure awesome. When sunshine is there the wharf and its terrace are just the perfect place to have a nice glass of wine and some tapas or starters. Don’t expect fine food, but the burgers are really huge and tasty and the rest of the menu is actually pretty tasty, the pizza are nice and pasta are well portioned. It’s a bit of upscale pub food without going to low. Bottom line a good experience, nice place to be and an overall good menu to go with sunshine and the drinks.

Good shrimp linguini past along with Chicken sandwich for my wife but as usual for NZ, service was forgetful and slow. Go self service vs table service.

Great Spot in Auckland City. Great Atmosphere with a very Rustic Décor with good food to cater to the needs of a private dinner or work function.

Jack Tar offers a great selection of food, from salads to massive burgers.
The caesar salad was alright but others I was with said the burgers were really good.
The serving sizes are really generous and make the price easier to swallow.
The service is a bit slow but maybe they were just overwhelmed on a sunny Saturday.
When the sun is out I recommend nabbing a table out front with the view out to Devonport and Rangitoto, but you better be quick as these tables go fast!

Visited on a Thursday evening, and it was indeed the busiest place on the north wharf (one of the reasons we picked it).
We ordered the Thai salad, spicy pepperoni pizza, seafood risotto, and ended it with their white chocolate ice cream.
…the white chocolate ice cream was the best part of the meal. LoL?
To be honest, the risotto had good flavor, but the clams and muscles in it were over done (chewy). The Thai salad and the pizza were just okay.
After seeing what other’s ordered, I felt like maybe we should definitely have ordered the fries. Oh well…

After reading previous reviews I was a little nervous about eating here. We were in a group of 10. A few of us arrived just before the others. The waitress did seemed a little impatient when she asked us twice if she could get us drinks while we waited. I rather have been asked twice than not at all.
I chose the Wild Mushroom pizza, others had varies dishes. Most people were glad they had not eaten earlier due to the size of the portions. Everybody seemed to enjoy their meals and nobody complained. A fellow diner who had been here before said she noticed an improvement overall.
The final waiter was attentive and checked several times if there was anything else we needed. He even made a little sculptures out of the take away leftovers.
I would come here again :-)

Something about North Wharf doesn’t do it for me. Maybe it’s the wind or maybe it’s because it was developed in a flash before the RWC, during which the area was absolutely cranking and now, comparatively, it seems to devoid of atmosphere.
That being said, Jack Tar seems to have stood the test of time (just to be clear, we’re talking about two years here, not 20) and when we went on a Friday it was packed full of corporates letting loose after work. Ordinarily, this isn’t my cup of tea but we were off to an exhibition in Silo Park and in desperate need of a drink and a quick bit to eat.
Having not eaten here before we kept things simple, ordering a bottle of Pinot Gris (the name of which escapes me) and a couple of pizzas to share. The pizzas were below average for me. The bases reminded me of frozen pizzas, you know the kind you get at the school tuck shop — not doughy and soft but not thin and crispy either. The tomato sauce lacked any depth of flavour and our Margarita was devoid of fresh mozzarella. I will admit, the prosciutto, basil and mushroom pizza faired a bit better — the salty prosciutto definitely helped out in the flavour dept. We also ordered a side of chips, which I am happy to report were crispy and perfectly salted.
Why then 3 stars you ask? Well, because, having a few drinks harbourside at Jack Tar on a calm, summers evening is rather enjoyable — my only recommendation would be to eat before you arrive!

Have eaten here a couple of times in the past few months. It always seems busier than any other place in the Wynyard Quarter.
Great place for a few nibbles & drinks on a sunny afternoon. Vibe is pretty vibrant and relaxed for dinner as well. Enjoyed the items on the bar snacks menu more than the pizzas we had for dinner tho.
Service is a bit hit and miss depending on how busy they are, but I was never left waiting for too long and it was never hard to get someone’s attention.
Think I prefer it as a drinking place more than an eating place but wouldn’t hesitate to stop in again when I’m next in the area.

I’m a big fan of Jack Tar, we started coming here more than a year ago when my baby was about 3 – 4 months, we hadn’t been to any of the new restaurants along the Wynyard Quarter strip. This is the one we chose and for 2 reasons it looked pretty funky and they had booths. I was never really comfortable breastfeeding in public and never breastfed on a normal restaurant table — they were just way too open for me. But what is great about Jack Tar is that the booths are really nice and private, so mothers do come to this place if you don’t really like breastfeeding in public. Often the booths are full, but you can request one and they let you know when one comes available.
The only time we didn’t get the best service, we let the head waitress know who quickly fixed the problem and we even had free drinks on the house.
We have been back to Jack Tar over 10 times and even after the first visit they remembered us, we always receive fabulous service and they food is reasonably priced and very good portions, often we would share 2 meals between 3. The BBQ chicken nibbles, spicy pepperoni pizza and chicken burger are all really good. I really also love the interior, its like a done up warehouse so it has a cool and relaxed feel to it, the music is also pretty cool.
This place is one of my favorites.

I love Wynyard Quarter, so it was only natural I made my way to the funky Jack Tar. I have spent both days and evenings here and I am always impressed. In the evening they have great leaners outside that have a fire place inside of them, very cool, and a great way to keep warm on those chillier nights.
The most recent time I have been here it was just before they were open, around 11.15am. I didn’t feel the service was that accommodating. Having worked in hospo before I understand you need to set up before you can start your day, however it would have been nice if we could have sat down and waited until opening time at 11:30am.
In saying that, after being seated and ordering a delicious pizza and some pork belly bites, the food made up for our first impressions. The food is always delicious, and the drinks are always in top form. I would recommend coming to this bar if you’re in the Viaduct area.

Of the strip of new waterfront restaurants that opened in Wynyard Quarter a couple of years back, Jack Tar always seems to be the most popular. It’s a gastropub in an old red-​painted shed that takes pride of place smack in the middle of the North Wharf promenade. Jack Tar enjoys some of the best harbour views in Auckland, and there’s never a shortage of people dining al fresco on sunny afternoons. Head inside, and they’ve done a lovely job of retaining the old shed while adding modern touches.
The food is standard gastropub fare — fish and chips, gourmet burgers and the like — and for the location it’s very accessibly priced. The service isn’t always great — the waits are often long, and they annoyingly insist on taking your credit card upon entry to stop you from running off without paying. But I can forgive that — in some ways you might just say they’re a victim of their own success. As a whole though, if you want unpretentious food and a good beer with a nice view and space for plenty of mates, you can’t go wrong at Jack Tar.