Gipps St Deli in Karori is a leading Wellington deli, café and caterer, with every dish freshly prepared on site. From one kitchen on Gipps Street comes a full-service café pouring Supreme coffee for breakfast, brunch and lunch, a takeout range of ready-to-serve meals, and a busy event catering operation serving private parties and corporate functions across Wellington.
The catering menu spans cocktail and finger food, canapés, platters, club sandwiches, quiches, cakes and slices, and freshly made salads, with special orders including glazed hams. Dishes are prepared on the premises using the finest, freshest ingredients and presented beautifully for events of all sizes.
Day to day, the café side is a local favourite for some of the best coffee in Karori, with an extensive selection of drinks and a cabinet offering vegan (V) and gluten-free (GF) options. The takeout menu adds delicious, nutritious, time-saving help: fresh and frozen ready-to-serve meals including soups, quiches, pasta dishes, casseroles and curries.
You'll find them at 4 Gipps Street, Karori — a street almost certainly named after Sir George Gipps, Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand from 1839 to 1841, according to the Karori Historical Society.
Gipps St Deli does three jobs at once, and does them all from one kitchen. It is a full-service deli café in Karori where locals come for Supreme coffee, breakfast, brunch and lunch; it is a takeout kitchen stocked with fresh and frozen ready-to-serve meals; and it is a leading Wellington event caterer. The common thread is stated plainly by the team itself: every GSD dish is freshly prepared on site.
There is a fitting sense of history to the location, too. According to the Karori Historical Society, Gipps Street is almost certainly named after Sir George Gipps (1791–1847), Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand from June 1839 to January 1841, when New Zealand became a Crown Colony. Nearly two centuries later, the deli at number 4 has written its own chapter in the street's story.
Mornings in Karori start here for many locals. The coffee comes from Supreme, and the team is confident enough to call it some of the best coffee in Karori, backed by an extensive selection of drinks. The café menu and cabinet dishes cover breakfast, brunch and lunch, all prepared on the premises using the finest, freshest ingredients, and clearly marked with vegan (V) and gluten-free (GF) options so nobody at the table misses out.
Cabinet food is the heart of any good deli, and this one treats it as seriously as its catering — the same kitchen that builds canapé platters for events fills the cabinet each day.
Catering is where Gipps St Deli's range really shows. The team handles special private parties, brunch and lunch catering, finger food and canapés, and corporate event catering across Wellington. The catering menu reads like a party planner's checklist: cocktail food and finger food, canapés, platters, club sandwiches, quiches, cakes and slices, and freshly made salads. There are special orders too, including glazed hams, and when the festive season approaches, Christmas catering gets its own showcase on the site — alongside photos of the kind of bites (salmon blinis among them) you can expect.
Everything is prepared on the premises and presented beautifully, which matters when the food is doing the talking at your event. Enquiries go through Sam Peters at the deli, by phone, email or the website's contact form.
The third string to the bow is the takeout menu — delicious, nutritious, time-saving food for home. It is an excellent range of fresh and frozen, ready-to-serve meals: soups, quiches, pasta dishes, casseroles and curries. For busy households in Karori, it is the answer to the weeknight question, and a good reason to keep a little Gipps St in the freezer.
Gipps St Deli runs on two clocks. The deli side opens earliest and closes latest — Monday to Friday 7:00am to 5:00pm, Saturday 7:00am to 2:30pm — while the café side serves from 7:30am to 3:00pm on weekdays and 7:30am to 2:30pm on Saturdays. Sundays are closed. You'll find it all at 4 Gipps Street, Karori, Wellington 6012.
Come for a coffee and a cabinet lunch, leave with a curry for tonight or a plan for your next party — that is a fairly typical day at Gipps St Deli.