Cuba Street is a city street in Wellington, New Zealand, known for its bohemian nature. One of the best known and most popular streets in the city, Cuba Street and the area around it have been labelled Wellington's cultural centre and the city's "creative heart". Cuba Street (and the surrounding area known as the Cuba Street Precinct) is known for its cafés, op-shops, music venues, restaurants, record shops, bookshops, heritage architecture of various styles, and a general "quirkiness" that has made the street one of the city's most popular tourist destinations. A youth-driven location, the partly pedestrianised Cuba Street is frequented by shoppers and diners year round.
Toponymy Contrary to assumptions that the street is named after Cuba, the street was named by the first Surveyor General Captain William Mein Smith after the Cuba, an early New Zealand Company settler ship which arrived in Wellington Harbour on 3 January 1840. Some coffee shops and restaurants take this misinterpretation in their stride, having names and colours that reference the island nation of Cuba.
Location Cuba Street is long and slopes very gently uphill south from Wellington's central business district near the waterfront. The street falls into distinct sections—lower, central and upper Cuba—that have different architectural styles and atmospheres. Facing the north or bottom end of Cuba Street is the Michael Fowler Centre, and the southern or upper end terminates at Webb Street, close to Aro Valley and at the base of the Mt Cook and Brooklyn hills. The middle section of Cuba Street between Dixon Street and Ghuznee Street is a pedestrian mall with chain stores such as Whitcoulls and Glassons, while the southern end (known as the 'top' of Cuba Street, or upper Cuba) is more eclectic or boutique, with smaller independent shops.
Upper Cuba Street is crossed by Vivian Street, which forms the east-bound stretch of State Highway 1, and Karo Drive, the west-bound lanes of State Highway 1 that carry traffic towards the Terrace Tunnel. History Developed on Te Āti Awa land in 1842, Cuba Street was originally full of single-storey wooden homes. To the west of Cuba Street lay Te Aro Pā and the swampy ground of Te Aro Flat, and to the east at Thorndon, Lambton Quay and the Terrace was the political and business area of the town. One of the first colonial families to buy land around upper Cuba Street was the Tonks family in the 1840s. William Tonks established a brickworks at Webb Street at the top of Cuba Street in 1847, and the family built houses nearby for themselves and brickworks workers. Streets in the area were named after the Tonks family including Tonks Ave, Arthur Street, and Frederick Street.
A tram service along the street began in 1878, and Cuba Street became a major thoroughfare from the harbour to Mount Cook. By the early 1900s the street contained banks, shops (particularly drapers and clothing shops), restaurants and several large hotels. The original Royal Oak Hotel was built in 1868 on the corner of Cuba Street and Manners Street. It burned down and was replaced, then replaced again with a "colossal" building in 1899. The third Royal Oak Hotel on this site was demolished in 1979 and replaced by the Oaks shopping complex. In 1906 the Wellington Workingmen's Club and Literary Institute moved to a new building at 101-117 Cuba Street, and in 1908 the Salvation Army opened the People's Palace at 207-219 Cuba Street. This was a large hotel offering affordable alcohol-free accommodation for working-class travellers.
James Smiths department store opened in 1907, followed by Woolworths in 1951 and Farmers in 1960 (occupying premises built as a draper's business in 1914). Banks built imposing branches on the street, and from 1935 until 1993 the Municpal Electricity Department had its headquarters and showroom in lower Cuba Street.
Cuba Street thrived until the 1940s but declined after World War 2 as inner-city residents moved to the suburbs and transients moved in. The creation of Cuba Mall in 1969 helped business pick up. Cubacade was a modernist covered shopping arcade opened in 1970 at 104 - 114 Cuba Street in the mall. Although the arcade was replaced in 1999 by the Left Bank apartment and retail complex, the name 'Cubacade' can still be seen on the front of the building.
There was no incentive to develop Upper Cuba Street at this period because there were plans for a motorway bypass across the area, which wasn't completed until 2007. The historic area of upper Cuba Street near Tonks Ave and Arthur Street was re-formed during construction of the bypass: nineteen 19th- and early 20th-century shops and cottages in the path of the bypass were restored and relocated to around the intersection of Cuba St and the new Karo Drive.
Cuba Street was revitalised in the 1990s with the advent of 'coffee culture' and changes in liquor licensing which saw many bars and cafes open up. Construction of apartments led to a population increase.
In 2012, Roger Young of Fidel's café became the unofficial "mayor" of upper Cuba Street, replacing Nelson Nunns of Ellmers lawnmower shop. As of 2023 Young was still "mayor".
Former red light district
The area around Marion Street, Vivian Street and the top of Cuba Street was the heart of Wellington's red light district for much of the 20th century. Carmen Rupe, a transgender woman prominent in Wellington in the 1970s, ran Carmen's International Coffee House at 86 Vivian Street where sexual services were available. Carmen is remembered with themed traffic lights in Cuba Street, installed in 2016 to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill coming into effect. In 2018 Wellington City Council installed a rainbow-coloured pedestrian crossing at Dixon Street where it bisects Cuba Mall, and in October 2022 two memorial benches were unveiled at the corner of Cuba Street and Vivian Street. The benches commemorate Carmen Rupe and Chrissy Witoko, another transgender businesswoman in the area.
Coffee culture From 1926 until the 1970s, Faggs Coffee at 56-60 Cuba Street was one of only a few places in Wellington to buy freshly roasted coffee beans. One of modern Wellington's earliest continental-style coffee houses, the Matterhorn, opened in Cuba Street in 1963. It was run by two Swiss brothers and offered a menu that included strong coffee, stroganoff, sausages and sauerkraut, and Swiss pastries. By the mid-1990s the once-celebrated Matterhorn had a lower profile, but in 1997 it was transformed into a chic lounge bar and music venue, becoming "a Wellington institution". In 2008, Matterhorn was named Cuisine magazine's restaurant of the year. Matterhorn closed in 2017 because the neighbouring Farmers building required earthquake strengthening after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and the restaurant could not stay open during the repairs. Various celebrities had frequented the Matterhorn over the years, including Louis Armstrong and the cast of the Lord of the Rings. Elijah Wood had his 21st birthday at the bar.
Other coffee houses followed the Matterhorn, but by 1970 there was less demand for night-time venues due to the introduction of television to New Zealand from 1960 and the end of the 'six o'clock swill' in 1967, which meant that hotels and restaurants could serve food and alcohol until 10 pm in competition with coffee houses.
A revival of 'coffee culture' began in the 1980s. In 1989, Midnight Espresso opened at 178 Cuba Street. It was inspired by the coffee culture in Vancouver and aimed to be an alternative to crowded bars and clubs, an alcohol-free venue where people could hang out until late and talk. Havana Coffee Works was established at Midnight Espresso in 1989 as the owners wanted a better quality bean and flavour than was then available.
Many other coffee bars sprang up along Cuba Street in the 1990s. Krazy Lounge opened at 132 Cuba Street in 1995, in the former premises of a long-running second-hand shop called Krazy Rick's. The café supported the Krazy Knights, a gay rugby team. The Krazy Lounge closed in 2006 and other food premises have since occupied the space. Fidel's café at 234 Cuba Street opened in 1997 and was still operating in 2025, when it had to move temporarily because the building needed earthquake strengthening. Olive at 170 Cuba Street opened in 1997 and closed at the end of 2024 following a downturn in business.
Historic architecture Cuba street features a range of building styles spanning weatherboard buildings, Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco styles constructed during the 19th–20th centuries, and particularly during the street's heyday in the first half of the 20th century. Cuba Street escaped the massive rebuilding that took place in other parts of the Wellington business district from the 1960s to the 1980s, when high rise buildings were constructed on The Terrace, Lambton Quay and surrounding streets. Since 1995 Cuba Street has been a registered Historic Area under the Historic Places Act 1993, with over 40 buildings of historic significance including the Bank of New Zealand building and National Bank Building. Heritage New Zealand notes that the street "has the most complete collection of Victorian and Edwardian commercial architecture in Wellington", with buildings dating from the 1890's to the 1930's featuring architectural influences from Classical through to Art Deco. Many of the older buildings in upper Cuba Street have decorative tiled shop entrances, which is unusual as this feature was usually restricted to grander buildings. Earthquake risk Due to its high number of old buildings, many with heavy ornate façades, Cuba Street has the highest concentration of earthquake-prone buildings in Wellington. About 40 buildings on the street are listed as earthquake-prone. Despite this, there was little building damage from the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. One of the casualties was Farmers department store, which closed permanently after the earthquake. The historic façade was retained and some interior features were preserved in a new development. Owners of heritage buildings can be caught between the need to improve safety and the requirement to preserve heritage features, which may be unaffordable. Shopping As of 2026, the department stores and banks of the 20th century are gone and many Victorian and Edwardian buildings have been repurposed as shops, offices and apartments. There is a variety of shops along Cuba Street and nearby streets, ranging from designer clothing outlets and branches of national chains at the lower end of the street to independent retailers selling vintage clothing, LP records, new and used books, jewellery and many other goods and services. Cuba Street is described as the bohemian creative area of Wellington.
Longstanding businesses include Wellington Seamarket, operated by one family at 220 Cuba Street since 1947; Ellmers, a mower and chainsaw shop that has operated since 1969; Slow Boat Records, which has been in business in Cuba Street since 1985 and is Wellington's longest-operating record shop; and Hunters and Collectors, a vintage clothing shop that has operated for almost 40 years in Cuba Street. The very top of Cuba Street has some original weatherboard buildings and fewer shops.
In 2018 some retailers moved into the adjacent Ghuznee Street. Cuba Mall