Pokeno CBD is a restaurant on Selby Street in Pōkeno, Franklin, rated 4.3 from 91 reviews, with regulars pointing to the pies, beef and cheese and lamb shank, the open steak sandwich, a kiwi burger and curly fries, and praising the service and food quality, with one local visiting as a quieter alternative to Pokeno's crowded ice cream shop. A classic Kiwi café-restaurant like this earns its keep on a handful of dishes done properly rather than a huge menu: a good pie needs a flaky, well-cooked pastry holding a filling that's generous rather than mostly gravy, while an open steak sandwich lives or dies on how the steak is cooked, since there's nowhere for a tough cut to hide. In a town with a lot of passing traffic, a restaurant like this often becomes the reliable local option, away from the queues at the more famous stops. On Selby Street in Pōkeno, Pokeno CBD is that dependable spot.