The Boat Shed Cafe sits at 847 Frankton Road, Frankton Marina, Queenstown, in a building that has been part of the Queenstown story since the 1800s, originally serving as an old NZ Railways Shipping office. The current team has run the café for 7 years, and at the time of writing it is temporarily closed for a small but impactful interior refresh, including a kitchen update, with reopening planned for Monday 21 September.
The café is known for dishes including its Chorizo Scramble and French Toast, both staying on the menu even as the kitchen introduces a new lineup. While closed, the same team can mostly be found a minute's walk away at sister venue The Boat Shed Bakery at Shed 1 & 2, Queenstown Marina, serving the same barista coffee alongside breakfast buns, gourmet made-to-order sandwiches and artisan pastries.
The Boat Shed Cafe is also connected to Dishery in Arrowtown, an all-day brunch and lunch spot sharing the same Executive Chef, and Canyon Taproom in Arthurs Point, which pours the full Canyon Brewing beer lineup alongside woodfired pizza and share plates. The café is taking event and group bookings from the end of September, and is currently running a promotion offering a year's worth of free coffee to one lucky guest who books a table between 21 September and 31 October with the code FREECOFFEECOMP.
The Boat Shed Cafe occupies a building at 847 Frankton Road, Frankton Marina, that has been part of the Queenstown story since the 1800s, originally serving as an old NZ Railways Shipping office. The current team has run the café for the past 7 years, and until now the space had had little more than a lick of paint in that time.
At the time of writing, The Boat Shed Cafe is temporarily closed while it undergoes a small but impactful interior refresh, including a kitchen update for the chefs. The renovation is also an opportunity to update the café's branding to better reflect the building's long history. The team is clear that nothing about what makes The Boat Shed feel like The Boat Shed is going anywhere — the aim is simply for it to feel like coming home the next time guests walk through the door. Reopening is planned for Monday 21 September, with the exact date confirmed via the café's Instagram, @theboatshedcafeqt.
The kitchen has been working on an innovative new menu for the reopening, but two café favourites are staying put: the Chorizo Scramble and the French Toast, both described as famous dishes that customers won't want to see disappear.
While The Boat Shed Cafe is closed, its team hasn't gone far. The Boat Shed Bakery, a minute's walk away at Shed 1 & 2, Queenstown Marina, serves the same barista coffee, along with breakfast buns, gourmet made-to-order sandwiches and artisan pastries — some say even better than the café's own. For those wanting a bigger meal, sister cafe Dishery, located in Arrowtown by the Arrow River, serves all-day brunch, lunch, Wolf coffee and local wine, beer and cocktails, sharing the same Executive Chef as The Boat Shed. And for the beer that regulars know from the café, Canyon Taproom in Arthurs Point pours the full Canyon Brewing line-up on tap alongside what's described as some of Queenstown's best woodfired pizza and share plates, conveniently located right by the Shotover Jet.
The Boat Shed Cafe is taking event and group bookings from the end of September. Anyone interested can get in touch directly via [email protected].
To celebrate the reopening, The Boat Shed Cafe is running a promotion: anyone who books a table between 21 September and 31 October 2026 and writes FREECOFFEECOMP in the booking comments goes into a draw for a year's worth of free coffee, valued at up to $2,300NZD and issued as a loyalty account credit redeemable at the café over 12 months. Terms and conditions apply, and the winner will be drawn on 1 November 2026.
The Boat Shed Cafe can be reached on +64 3 441 4146 or by email at [email protected], and is located at 847 Frankton Road, Frankton Marina, Queenstown.