Hanks is a burger bar on Ormond Road in Mangapapa, Gisborne, serving burgers, wings and a cold one from early arvo till late, Tuesday through Saturday, since 2021. The pitch is right there in the sign: real food, good vibes. Sit down with the family early in the evening or squeeze in once the night picks up — same room, different pace depending on when you show up. Takeaway is on offer too, and it's the same real food either way.
The kitchen keeps things honest. Patties are smashed to order and buns toasted fresh, the chicken gets a 24-hour brine before it hits the fryer, and the beef is a custom blend of whole cuts — no off cuts, no trim. The menu runs from classic smashed cheeseburgers through buffalo fried chicken, wings, animal-style cheesy fries, beer-battered onion rings, and vegetarian swaps like a blackbean and beetroot smashed patty.
The bar pulls its weight with rotating taps, New Zealand craft beer, cider, cocktails — the pink-gin Mrs Hanks is the house pour — wine, RTDs and proper milkshakes. Bookings are welcome, walk-ins get sorted, and weekly specials keep the board interesting.
On Ormond Road in Mangapapa, Hanks has been feeding Gisborne since 2021 with a simple pitch: real food, good vibes, early arvo till late. It's a burger bar in the truest sense — smashed beef burgers, southern fried chicken, baskets of wings, and a well-stocked line-up of beer, cocktails and milkshakes — running Tuesday to Saturday from 4pm until the last table clears out.
The kitchen keeps its promises visible. Patties are smashed to order and the buns are toasted fresh, nothing waiting around under a lamp. The chicken takes a 24-hour brine before it hits the fryer, and the beef is a custom blend of whole cuts — no off cuts, no trim. If it's on the menu, it was cooked to order.
That shows up in the beef burger line-up, which runs from the classic cheeseburger — American cheese, dill pickle, lettuce, mustard mayo, ketchup — through a deluxe version with Hanks' own mayo, a BBQ bacon build, and a chipotle burger with sweet pickle and crispy bacon. Any of them can go further, too: triple beef and quad stacks are on the table for the properly hungry.
The chicken burgers are where that 24-hour brine earns its keep. The Chicken Mc Cheese keeps things tight; the Classic chicken stacks ranch mayo, dill pickle and onion; the Spicy fried chicken brings chipotle mayo and bacon; and the Buffalo dips the whole thing in buffalo hot sauce with sweet pickle and caramelised onion.
No burger bar menu is complete without the supporting cast. Wings come Southern fried with ranch and dill pickle — seasoned or buffalo, your call. Shoestring fries get house seasoning, tater tots arrive with ranch, the onion rings are beer battered, and the animal-style cheesy fries go all in with cheese sauce, deluxe mayo, crispy bacon and caramelised onion.
Vegetarians aren't an afterthought either: any burger can be swapped to a crumbed cauliflower schnitzel or a blackbean and beetroot smashed patty, and there's a proper Caesar salad with bacon and parmesan for anyone who wants greens. Kids get their own menu — cheeseburger, hamburger, chicken nuggets or cauliflower bites, each served with fries and a juice pouch.
Half the tables at Hanks know each other, and the other half will by the second round — that's the house line, and it captures the room well. Early in the evening it's family territory, tables grabbed before the rush. As the night picks up, the pace changes: more rounds, more wings, more pink cocktails in cut glass. Bookings are welcome, but walk-ins are equally looked after — just come in and they'll sort you out.
The beer fridge reads like a New Zealand craft crawl: Gizzy Gold from Sunshine, Garage Project's Garnista, Fuggazi and the near-zero alcohol Tiny IPA, and Sawmill's Pilsner, Hazy Pale Ale and Nimble, plus Mount Brewing apple and strawberry & lime ciders. The taps rotate fast enough that the menu doesn't bother listing them — ask the bar what's pouring this week.
Cocktails lean fun and fruit-forward. The Mrs Hanks — pink gin, raspberry, lemon, topped with lemonade — is the signature, alongside a strawberry vodka sour, tequila paloma and margarita, with a weekly special on the board. There's wine by the glass, ready-to-drink cans, and thick milkshakes — strawberries and cream, vanilla malt, salted caramel, classic chocolate — for the drivers and the kids.
Hanks sits at 147 Ormond Road in Mangapapa, Gisborne, and opens from 4pm till late, Tuesday to Saturday — Sundays and Mondays it rests. Order ahead for takeaway (same real food either way), keep an eye on the board for weekly specials, and note that a gluten free bun and dairy free cheese are among the extras, with plant-based options available on request. Come hungry.