Thatcher & Small is an all-day dining destination on Revell Street in Hokitika, open seven days a week from 7am until late and covering breakfast, lunch and dinner in a single room. Part cafe, part bar, part restaurant, it pairs dedicated daypart menus with a drinks list built on Allpress espresso, craft beer, local and international wines, and a cocktail lineup the house counts among the West Coast's best.
The name is a deliberate nod to Charles Thatcher and Joe Small, entertainers of Hokitika's past described as popular but controversial and famed for their mesmerising performances. That legacy shapes the space rather than just the sign: vintage charm sits alongside contemporary elegance, with an atmospheric bar and dining interior and an outdoor seating area that comes into its own on sunny days.
Mornings bring freshly baked scones and muffins alongside an array of cabinet food, while the kitchen's range runs from pancakes and a salt and pepper squid salad at lunch to a beef wellington come dinner. Whether you're after a barista-made coffee and a sweet treat or a full evening out, the same Revell Street door covers it. Enquiries: +64 3 280 9636 or hello@thatcherandsmall.co.nz.
Thatcher & Small keeps a simple promise on Revell Street in Hokitika: it's open every day of the week, from 7am until late, and within that window it can be whatever the moment calls for - a cafe for the morning coffee and scone run, a bar once the afternoon settles in, and a restaurant by the time dinner arrives. Few dining rooms anywhere cover that full arc in one space, and fewer do it with this much story attached to the walls.
The website's tagline lays out the pitch in four beats: superb food, Allpress espresso, craft beer, wine and cocktails. What ties it together is a room that blends vintage charm with contemporary elegance, built as an homage to the venue's namesakes and the era they performed in.
That blend matters on the West Coast, where good rooms are treasured. Hokitika draws travellers chasing the coast's wilder attractions, and a place that can serve a proper breakfast at 7am, a considered lunch, and a dinner worth lingering over - with outdoor seating when the weather cooperates - becomes the kind of address people plan a day around.
Charles Thatcher and Joe Small were entertainers of Hokitika's past - popular with crowds and, by the house's own description, controversial - known for their mesmerising performances. Thatcher & Small borrows their name and their spirit. The interior bar and dining space nods to that vintage world without getting stuck in it: contemporary lines, an atmospheric bar, and an outdoor seating area that catches the sun on the days the West Coast offers one. Gallery shots of the exterior on a bright afternoon suggest a building that photographs as well as it pours.
The kitchen resists the usual all-day blur. Instead there are dedicated breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, each built to cater to a range of tastes, so the 10am cabinet graze and the 7pm sit-down are treated as equally serious occasions.
Mornings come with their own rituals. Freshly baked scones and muffins appear every single morning alongside an array of cabinet food - a genuine drawcard for travellers moving through Hokitika early, and a reliable excuse for locals to make the 7am opening feel like a decision rather than a compromise.
The house gallery doubles as a preview of the kitchen's range. Pancakes hold down the sweet end of breakfast. At lunch, the salt and pepper squid salad is the plate built for the camera. Come dinner, the beef wellington takes centre stage - the kind of dish that turns a West Coast evening into something closer to an event.
Coffee is Allpress, made by baristas, and the cabinet's sweet treats are the natural plus-one. As the day shifts, so does the pour: craft beer on the bar, local and international wines, and a cocktail list the house confidently ranks among the best the West Coast has to offer. The progression is deliberate - espresso in the morning, wine or a pint by afternoon, cocktails as the evening stretches - and because the doors stay open late, you can follow it without changing venues. If the sun is out, take it outdoors; the seating area is the spot for it.
Thatcher & Small sits at 84 Revell St, Hokitika, on the West Coast of the South Island, and trades seven days a week from 7am until late. Enquiries go to +64 3 280 9636 or hello@thatcherandsmall.co.nz, and the venue keeps a presence on Instagram, Facebook and Tripadvisor if you want a closer look at the room and the plates. Current breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are published on its own website, so it's worth checking before you arrive for the latest lineup.
Whether you're ducking in for a barista-made coffee and something from the cabinet, settling in for a long lunch with the squid salad, or making a proper evening of beef wellington and cocktails, the same Revell Street door handles all of it. And the homage to two of Hokitika's most talked-about entertainers gives you a story to leave with - which, given the names on the door, seems only fitting.