Handlebar Eatery & Catering is a casual smokehouse, coffee spot and brewery on Glenda Drive in Frankton, a few minutes from central Queenstown. The premise is straightforward: BBQ meats smoked in-house, seriously good coffee, and premium quality at a great price. The smoker running outside has become a familiar sight for locals, and what comes out of it has earned the small eatery a remarkable run of five-star reviews.
Mornings are for baps and coffee. The bacon bap has been called the best in town by early risers, the breakfast bap and coffee combo is the headline morning deal, and the house-baked cinnamon rolls — proper ones, with cream cheese frosting — have a way of finding their way onto trays at the counter.
From the smoker comes the main event: beef brisket, pulled pork and ribs, served in sandwiches or as platters with slaw and duck fat tater tots. The brisket sandwich is the single most recommended dish in guest reviews, and the ribs platter is the classic order for a proper barbecue feed. With the brewery side of the business pouring beer, Fridays — the one day doors stay open until 6pm — lend themselves to a relaxed beer and feed.
It is an easy place to settle into: arcade games for the kids, bikes to check out, dogs welcome inside, and staff — Jay and the team — regularly praised for friendly, attentive service and a willingness to adjust orders for sensitive stomachs. The same kitchen also runs a catering arm and online ordering for pickup.
There is a particular smell that drifts down Glenda Drive in Frankton on a weekday morning: wood smoke, steady and unmistakable, coming from the smoker outside Handlebar Eatery & Catering. Tucked into Queenstown's industrial side, away from the tourist crush, this casual eatery has built a devoted local following on a simple formula — barbecue meats smoked in-house, seriously good coffee, and prices that leave room in the wallet for a second visit.
The name covers a few things at once: an eatery, a brewery, and a catering outfit. But the heart of it is the smoke. Brisket, pulled pork and ribs come out of the in-house smoker low and slow, and the team's stated aim is premium quality at a great price — something reviewers mention again and again alongside the food itself.
The brisket is the headline act. It arrives piled into soft baps as the Beef Brisket Sandwich — the single most recommended dish in guest reviews — or plated up as a proper barbecue feed with sides. The ribs platter comes with slaw, and the pulled pork sandwich holds its own against anything on the menu. No serious smoked-meat order is complete without a side of duck fat tater tots, crispy little things that have earned their own fan club in the reviews.
Mornings belong to the baps. The bacon bap has been called the best in town by more than one early riser, and the breakfast bap and coffee combo turns the whole thing into a one-stop start to the day. The coffee matters here — the site describes it as incredible, and reviewers seem to agree. Then there is the cinnamon roll: a proper one, with cream cheese frosting, the kind staff will cheerfully talk you into at the counter. Based on the reviews, they are right to.
What surprises first-time visitors is how much of a hangout this is. Kids get arcade games to keep them busy. Bikes are part of the scenery — reviewers mention wanting to come back and check them out. Dogs are welcome, with guests bringing theirs along for a beer and a feed. The atmosphere is deliberately casual, the sort of place where a five-star meal comes without ceremony.
On Fridays the hours stretch to 6pm, the only day the kitchen runs past mid-afternoon, and with the brewery side of the operation pouring, that late-afternoon slot becomes the move: smoked meats, a house beer, and no rush.
The service gets as much praise as the food. Jay and the team are repeatedly name-checked for friendly, attentive, playful hosting, and for going out of their way to adjust orders for sensitive stomachs. It is the kind of hospitality that turns a first visit into a weekly habit, and the volume of five-star reviews this little Frankton eatery has collected in a short time suggests plenty of habits have formed.
The catering arm brings the same in-house-smoked approach to events, and online ordering means you can have a brisket sandwich and a coffee waiting when you arrive. For Frankton workers on a lunch break, that combination — order ahead, walk in, walk out fed — is a large part of the appeal.
Handlebar Eatery & Catering sits at 211A Glenda Drive, Frankton, a short drive from central Queenstown. It opens Monday to Thursday from 7am to 3pm and Friday from 7am to 6pm, and closes over the weekend — a fact locals lament loudly, so plan the brisket run for a weekday. Questions and catering enquiries can go to [email protected] or 021 163 5978. Come hungry, bring the dog, and leave room for a cinnamon roll.