‘THE LOCAL TO THE LOCALS SINCE 1885’

Welcome to the Birdcage tavern

HISTORIC AUCKLAND TAVERN, SPORTS BAR & FUNCTIONS VENUE

The Birdcage was originally known as the Rob Roy Hotel, a wooden building erected in 1865, making it one of Auckland’s most historic taverns. The current building was constructed on the same site in 1885, when Victoria Park was a busy industrial area that included ship builders, sawmills, a brass and iron foundry and glassworks.

The hotel was designed by Edward Mahoney & Sons, who designed many of Aucklands early hotels, as well as St Patricks Cathedral.

Back in the day patrons could reach the hotel by road or water, as it originally sat on the Freemans Bay shoreline. The reclamation of the old bay was completed in 1901, and Victoria Park was created on most of the resulting flat area. The building is now owned by NZTA, who in 2010, famously moved all 740 tonnes, 40 metres in a painstaking process to make way for the Victoria Park tunnel project.

The tavern today is a designated heritage building and is regarded as being one of Aucklands top Gastro pubs. Beautifully restored to its former glory as a neighbourhood tavern under the stewardship of publican Phil Houston, it is a popular functions venue with a large north facing beer garden, serving excellent pub meals complemented by a great selection of NZ craft beers and wines, conveniently located within walking distance from Aucklands Sky Tower, Wynyard Quarter and Ponsonby Rd.

"YOUR TEAM IS A CREDIT TO YOU!"

"Thank you once again for all of your help in organising our 50th. All of our guests enjoyed themselves. You are a great MC. The food was tasty and the staff were attentive and polite. It's a refreshing change to be honest. There is so much bad service around these days. Having been in customer service roles (with airlines and prestige brands) my whole life I really notice these things! Your team is a credit to you and your professionalism. I want to have another party now!".

Helen

"NOTHING WAS TOO MUCH TROUBLE!"

"Isabella's 21st was amazing and a lot of that came down to your venue, staff, and the amazing food that was served. Everything was fabulous, nothing was too much trouble and your staff were so accommodating. Our family and friends are raving about it all and I think that you may get another booking or two due to it being such a fantastic night. Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. The prawns rate 11 out of 10!! 😀".

Katrina, Andrea, and Isabella

"THE FOOD WAS SUPURB"

"The Birdcage staff were excellent, especially Joey and Marina and the other staff. The food was superb. All our guests were impressed with the venue. l'd not hesitate to recommend the Birdcage for a function. Once again many thanks for making Maddy’s 21st a night to remember."

Sally and Hugh

"BEST TWENTY FIRST BIRTHDAY YET"

“I cannot thank you and your staff enough for the amazing night on Saturday. Many of my family have had previous 21st and they all agreed this one was the best yet! I got a lot of compliments on the venue and the food (ESPECIALLY the food!). Everything flowed well, with speeches, cake and the 21 shots. The only downside was how fast the night went! "

Maria

"EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT"

“I just wanted to say a huge thanks to you and everyone who helped make our event a lot of fun for everyone on Saturday night. Everything was perfect! And the night couldn’t have gone any better. The service, food and facilities were perfect for such an occasion. Once again, a huge thank you to you and everyone for making it such a great night!"

Andrea and Kiera

"WE COULDN'T HAVE ASKED FOR A MORE PERFECT PLACE!"

“Thanks so much for hosting us, we had a great time. The food was delicious, service was great and the staff were all really lovely. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect place to host our event. Thanks for all your help with organising it all, you've been great to work with. !

April

"WE HAD A GREAT NIGHT!"

"Just a quick note from me to express how happy we were with how Libby’s 21st evening went. We had a great night. We really appreciated your experience and guidance in the lead up to the night. This helped us immensely and relieved some of the stress associated with organising the night. You and your team's communication and willingness to help us has been faultless. Please pass on our thanks to your team. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending you to others."

Grant

"ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE ALL ROUND!"

"Thanks for being a great host and making it a pleasant and enjoyable experience all round.  Our friends and family had a great time and we appreciate you accommodating us for this special event.  Yes, a lot of sore heads and tired girls today.  Your team on the night were excellent and very friendly to deal with."

Jacinta

"YOUR STAFF AND FOOD WERE EXCELLENT!"

"We were very happy with Matt’s party on Friday. It’s a great venue and many people commented that having the big outdoor courtyard was a big plus and the giant jenga is also a fun addition. Both your staff and the food were excellent. 

Anna

"ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!"

"The service, food and facilities were all absolutely incredible! Everyone has said they had a great night and loved the food. In particular, it was so nice to have the sit down dinner outside!

Bella

"BEST GLUTEN FREE PIZZAS MY COELIAC FRIENDS HAVE EVER HAD!"

"We had a great time, thank you so much. I heard the food was amazing, although for some reason I only managed to have one piece of Calamari! My own fault entirely, I was just too busy talking when the platters came around!! My Coeliac friends specifically asked me to tell you that the pizza was one of the best GF pizza’s they’ve had – they said it was superb. I’ve had nothing but rave reviews of the food and the venue – and we all had a wonderful night. 

So thank you to you and to all your team for making it such a success and for making the organisation of it such a breeze.

I will definitely be recommending you to anyone looking for a venue, and I know my friends would too. And we’ll be back before too long because I understand the prawns in particular were superb, and I missed out!!"

Jude

"AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE!"

"Mitchell and I also wanted to say a massive thank you to you and your team for making our night so special. From the amazing customer service to the delicious food and all the drinks, you were all fantastic and everyone loved the night - so much that mum and dad said they are going to book you for their 40th Wedding Anniversary later in the year."

Hannah

"I WOULD TOTALLY RECOMMEND BIRDCAGE FOR ANY PARTY"

"Thank you for all the work you and your team put in on Saturday night to make the night a huge success for Shaan (and his friends!).  You were all very helpful and attentive and ensured the night ran smoothly.  Thank you also for all the work you put in beforehand, including providing assistance and advice for planning the night.  I appreciated that you replied to my numerous emails quickly, and nothing was too much trouble.  You made the event so easy, and all we had to do was turn up on the night with a cake, USB stick with photos, and a speech!   The Birdcage is such a great venue , everyone had an awesome night and I would totally recommend The Birdcage for anyone having a party."

Karen

"YOUR STAFF WERE AMAZING"

"Your staff were AMAZING! Please thank them again on my behalf for such a great lunch.  The setup of the space looked so good as well and the family commented on a great-looking venue.  I will be highly recommending your venue to friends and family"

Dorothy

"10 OUT OF 10"

"Venue, hospitality, food, service, facilities were all great! 10/10 would definitely come back again and do future events there.  Thank you for being so accommodating and helping us set things up - really appreciate it!"

Jane

"FOOD WAS ON POINT"

"We would just like to say thanks for a great party last night. Our guests were so well looked after by you and your staff, and you made the night easy to host. Food was on point, our guests commented that it was really great and I'm guessing it was all eaten !! We had a great party atmosphere going and having you guys sort the major details made sure we could enjoy our night as well.  Once again a big thanks to you and your staff, I'm sure we will be in again very soon for a meal and some beers"

Steve

"THE VENUE WAS PERFECT"

"I just wanted to extend my thank you to you and the brilliant staff you had on for the night.  The food was excellent! The bar was well equipped for a function as such! The venue was perfect of course! The staff esp. Samara were very courteous, polite and definitely professional. I can not thank you enough Phil, the birdcage definitely has the right person at the helm."

Shane and Monica

"I'VE HAD SO MANY COMMENTS ABOUT THE VENUE AND FOOD"

"What a fantastic night, I am so grateful to you and your team. The food was great, the service was phenomenal, everyone had a fantastic night. I have had so many comments about the venue and the food. I also wanted to say a personal thank you to you for how kind and accommodating you were to my daughter and the other little boy who was there. It enabled my parents (the babysitters) and my good friends who didn’t have a babysitter, to at least come and enjoy the party for a while. It was above and beyond my expectations, thank you so much. I will 100% be recommending you guys to everyone I know."

Tash

"THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE WE HAVE EVER HAD"

"First I would like to thank you for your help on Friday. That was the best customer service experience we have ever had, starting from the handshake. Even if we didn't like the space (which we absolutely loved) we would have booked it just because of you. Your approach was absolutely amazing. Now, I would like to book your event space again for Friday, the 9th September. Once again, we are very grateful to you personally."

Kate

"PEOPLE WON'T STOP RAVING ABOUT THE FOOD"

"Hey Phil! Was lovely to finally meet you, everything was amazing and smooth running. People won't stop raving about the food and how friendly the staff were and how much they love the venue. Definitely spreading the word to all that will listen to book in with the team. Thanks for making my night and hopefully I have an excuse in the future to book in again. Definitely have a new customer here. Cheers to you and the team."

Lizo

"ATTENTION TO DETAIL WAS OUTSTANDING"

"We booked the Birdcage Tavern for a 21st with 85 guests. We had the whole place and everything was PERFECT! Phil and his staff are a magic team, so professional. The food, decorations, service, venue including clean toilets and attention to detail was outstanding. They cut the cake and handed it around, the remainder of the cake was at the door waiting for me in its box at the end of the night. They set up a present table. Literally everything was done. We got $1500 of platters which were delicious. The platters came around for hours with hot food - nothing wasted, even kept the GF, vegetarians and vegans happy. The staff were all friendly and nothing was a problem. Phil is super easy to deal with via email, text or phone. We had to move our date twice due to COVID, no problems at all. We opted for the $5 off each drink option which worked well. Security was great, no gate crashers. ID was checked. We used Spotify playlists on the system which was set up and ready to go. Free parking in the car park was cool. We got in a Photo Booth which worked well. Awesome venue - book it today!"

Tracey

"IT WILL BE A NIGHT WE NEVER FORGET"

"Thank you so much for an amazing night on Saturday. Everything was just perfect and please pass onto your staff a big thank you also as they were all amazing. The food was absolutely delicious and service top notch 🙂  You have an amazing venue that was just perfect and I will most certainly be recommending you to our family and friends for further functions. Once again thank you so much, it will be a night we will never forget."

Shane & Tracey

"EVERYTHING FROM START TO FINISH WAS FANTASTIC!"

"Everything from start to finish was fantastic - your communication, the venue itself, your staff, and the food were all exceptional. I also really loved how you have a format and introduce speeches and get everyone out at the end. I have absolutely no constructive feedback on how you could improve as it was all PERFECT! Jamie had a brilliant night and a lot of that was due to you and your slick process. We will be back for another event for sure."

Emma

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