Originally published in Waikato Times, Friday 30 January 2026.
By Charlotte Graham.
Hamilton hospitality owners have mixed feelings about the theatre’s impact on customer numbers. PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.
After a busy opening week for BNZ Theatre, local restaurateurs have mixed feelings about its impact on diner numbers.
A first test for hospitality owners was over the weekend when Teeks and Sir Dave Dobbyn packed out the theatre. While some owners are feeling optimistic for the future, others believe the theatre has failed to deliver the promised crowds, albeit it is a quiet time of year.
Hamilton Hotel co-owner and general manager Jonathan Knapp had a busy start to the week, and felt the weekend had followed the trend and was “super busy”.
Hamilton Hotel’s bistro was booked out on Saturday night with Dobbyn fans. PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.
“Everyone was in good spirits and obviously for us it was going to be interesting with the first kind of the ticketed events for Live Nation.
“Teeks was really cool, we had 300 people upstairs in the gallery kind of event space for a pre-show event ... and then Saturday and Sunday it was just Dobbyn fans in big numbers having some drinks and food before.”
Saturday was their busiest night with the bistro fully booked, which seats 120-130 people, while their pub was “rammed” with people, creating a “lively atmosphere” as anticipation for the shows built.
“Saturday was interesting because, you know, obviously post-show the previous nights we had a lot of people from the event coming back to the pub for some drinks afterwards, but it was also just a really busy night in town.”
Hamilton Hotel general manager and co-owner Jonathan Knapp hopes the weekend is a sign of things to come. PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.
Knapp said many people popped in for a late night drink who hadn’t been to the show. He thought the night was a promising glimpse of the future.
The excitement isn’t over for the Hotel with their new head chef Don Zhang starting this week. Zhang comes with 25 years of experience and previously worked in Dublin restaurants. His speciality is Asian fusion, so the team is excited to see his take on their French bistro meets New York steakhouse menu.
Gothenburg Restaurant owner Susanna Rislund Fullana echoed Knapp’s sentiments, but believed it “was too early to tell anything about specific trends”. She said she remained “very hopeful and happy that the theatre is open”.
Susanna Rislund Fullana, owner of Gothenburg, says it’s too soon to judge the numbers.
PHOTO: Tom Lee / WAIKATO TIMES
Over the weekend, they had a “nice solid service early on”, which she hoped was a sign of things to come. In particular, she was optimistic that the theatre could combat “non-prime time” dining issues.
“A lot of people want to dine in the 6 to 8pm area, which is your traditional dining time, and a potentially great outcome of the shows that start at 7 to 7:30 is that you might have diners coming in at 5 o’clock, which could be lovely, or even afternoon diners.”
While hard proof of the benefits to Hamilton’s hospitality sector are yet to be seen, Fullana believed the theatre is a good addition to long-term city improvements.
“I think having a vibrant theatre in the centre of our city is a beautiful addition and ... everything isn’t going to happen overnight, but we also have to have a long-term perspective ... sometimes important investments are painful financially, but you have to think of the long-term benefits.”
Iguana Street Bar and Restaurant manager Mike Kerr had mixed feelings on the theatre’s punter pulling power. Located just across the road, he said he noticed a definite influx of visitors over the past week and especially over the weekend. However, there was yet to be any visible impact on the restaurant’s revenue.
While the theatre is an “exciting” addition to Hamilton, he noted that business would not improve without some work on their part to get customers off the street.
Currently, Iguana is working on creating a “quick and easy” menu for customers heading to shows, which needs to accompanied by better communication with customers about what their plans are, said Kerr.
John Lawrenson says the theatre has failed to deliver the promised hospo boost.
PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.
Lawrenson Group founder John Lawrenson, who owns several restaurants and bars in the area, was not optimistic.
He said the weekend shows were the “litmus test” on the theatre’s impact on hospitality, and the weekend failed to meet his expectations.
“I had low expectations and the theatre didn’t even meet the worst of them.”
While the shows brought crowds to the theatre, Lawrenson did not see an impactful increase in customers at Furnace Steakhouse, which is just up the road from the theatre.
He claimed he had a “better week” this time last year revenue-wise because the majority of customers came in for one drink, a salad and then “speed walked” to their car. While he had hoped to be wrong about the theatre, Lawrenson believed it will not deliver desired benefits to the hospitality industry.