Bake 'N' Take is a bakery cafe on High Street in Dannevirke, in the Tararua district, holding a 4.7 rating from 95 Google reviews. Reviewers stopping between Napier and Wellington mention friendly staff and fresh baked goods, with homemade pies the standout.
A good bakery cafe lives or dies by its cabinet, and nowhere is that truer than with pies. A well-made one has crisp, buttery pastry rather than a sodden base, and filling right to the edge. Along this stretch of State Highway 2, bakeries double as lunch stops for travellers, so the best selections go early and a mid-morning visit beats a mid-afternoon one. Regulars judge a bakery on its savoury pies first and its sweets second.
Sitting on Dannevirke's main street, Bake 'N' Take gives road-trippers a solid reason to pull over.