Woodside Bar, Dining and Functions turns seven this month and, as part of the birthday celebrations, we are looking back at the unique and fascinating history of this site that is a central part of Wiri Licensing Trust operations.
For 175 years, the land that sits on the corner of Great South Road and Ronwood Avenue has tracked Manukau’s change from rural paddocks to the urban heart of South Auckland.
In the 19th century the area was known as Woodside, named after the Woodside Farm, established on the land by Robert Coxhead in the 1850s. The origins of its hospitality history began in the 1970s. The Wiri Trust Hotel – one of the first commercial buildings in the emerging Manukau City Centre – opened in 1974, quickly becoming the town’s social centre.
But the hospitality industry has always been a tough business to be in, and by the end of the 1970s, even as commercial activity on surrounding sites increased, the hotel was failing. Records show that Lion Breweries took over leasing the buildings in November 1980, opening the Manukau Arms nearby.
In 1983 a revamped Manukau Arms tavern opened in the former Wiri Trust Hotel building at 3 Ronwood Avenue, bringing another first to the area, a Cobb & Co restaurant. Famous for wagon wheels on the walls, ‘traffic lights’ drinks and Cobb Crunchies for the kids, and hearty plates of comfort food, it introduced a new era of family dining to Manukau.
In the decades that followed, the tavern changed hands and reinvented itself several times. Locals recall the site’s many guises — from the Wiri Tavern to late-night music and nightclub spots such as the Parrot Bar. One memorable version was Guada Restaurant and Bar, a Mexican-themed establishment boasting a giant Corona bottle outside its walls. We’d love to know what happened to that! For generations in South Auckland, it was part of the social fabric and though the details may have blurred with time, the laughter, music, and late nights are still etched into local lore.
The Wiri Licensing Trust has been at the heart of the site’s modern chapter. Back in 2004, Manukau City Council signed over the wider property — including 3 Ronwood Avenue/639 Great South Road — under a Deed of Gift. Since then, the Trust has owned and managed the commercial units, leasing them to a mix of hospitality and retail operators, and proudly lists the site as one of its flagship Manukau investments.
Fast forward to the late 2010s and the site got a full makeover. Woodside Bar, Dining and Functions was purpose-built from the ground up, blending the site’s long hospitality tradition with a fresh, family and community-friendly vibe that tips its hat to the area’s rural ‘Woodside’ past. Today, alongside Woodside, the address is home to a cluster of retail outlets and chain tenants, reflecting Manukau’s role as a bustling commercial centre.
If you have any photos or information about the hospitality history of this site and venue, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch at info@wiritrust.org.nz or by calling 09 941 9733.
And you are warmly invited to be part of Woodside’s week-long seventh birthday celebrations, starting on Monday, 22 September. There will be daily giveaways, food specials and happy hour, plus our Karaoke Competition Grand Final, a bike display and a pool competition. On Saturday, 27 September, we will have activities for the kids all day, then our live band, Element, kicks off more entertainment at 6pm. Find out more.
Historic photos courtesy of Auckland Libraries Heritage Footprints Collection
