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Cobb & Co. (restaurant)
New Zealand Family Restaurant Chain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cobb & Co. is a New Zealand family restaurant chain.[1][2]
It is New Zealand's oldest surviving family restaurant chain,[3] having opened its first branch in 1973.[4] Its name derives from the Cobb & Co stagecoach business originally founded in Australia in the 19th century by Freeman Cobb, although the chain has no direct historical connection with that company.[5][6]
The chain's trademark feature is a stagecoach theme with red saloon-style doors. It offers a casual dining menu with steak, hamburgers, seafood, and similar items.[1] It is known for its non-alcoholic mocktail drinks.[7][8]
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History
The chain was created by the hotel division of New Zealand Breweries (now Lion). Their first Cobb & Co opened in 1973 in their Auckland South Pacific Hotel.[9][2]
At its peak in the 1980s there were 37 Cobb & Co restaurants around New Zealand, but as of 2025[update] the chain had shrunk to eight branches: six in regional towns and centres in the North Island (Levin, New Plymouth, Porirua, Rotorua, Taupō, and Whakatāne), and two cities in the South Island (Christchurch and Dunedin).[10][11][12][4]
In the 1980s it ran a series of comedic television commercials featuring British actor David Jason.[13][14]
In 2012 the chain was purchased by Sue and Ben Gower, who had originally been franchisees of the Tauranga branch.[4] In 2016, plans to re-expand the then-dwindling chain were announced.[4][1]
Controversy arose in 2017 when a newly relaunched branch located in the historic Dunedin Railway Station[15] applied for a licence to include slot machines on its premises, with the Problem Gambling Foundation criticising the presence of gambling machines in a family restaurant.[16]
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See also
References
External links
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