Another inner-city bar to close
Monday, 24 February 2025
Another eatery in the capital will soon close its doors, with Wellington’s stagnant inner-city population being blamed for its closure.
Plonk, a wine bar and eatery situated on Customhouse Quay, has announced online it will be closing on March 2.
Owned by Wellington hospitality operator Yu Group, Plonk replaced fine-dining restaurant Atlas in 2023.
The small bistro - which featured live music - was meant to be a “more mid-range price point” wine bar, executive chef James Pask previously told The Post.
Yu Group operator Stephen Morris said Wellington having fewer people in it than three years ago had affected the restaurant.
The downsizing of the public service was most likely a factor in Plonk’s closure, he said, as well as more people working from home and the affect of higher interest rates.
“All these things do hit people's spend. Not just discretionary spend, but their spend in general.”
A number of bars in the Wellington CBD area have closed this year, including Concrete, a Wellington mainstay that shut abruptly in February.
Poquito Bar, a wine bar and live music venue similar to Plonk, changed ownership in December.
Morris said Plonk had a lower price point than Atlas and was more casual.
“Some days were good, some days just not enough traction. So it’s time to stop, do another thing, and go again.”
While the live jazz music night had always been the busiest night of the week, unfortunately customers weren’t coming on the other nights, Morris said.
Yu Group will continue leasing the site with the kitchen being used to provide pizza dough and other essentials to Banbima Pizza restaurants and other Yu Group eateries.
There were no other plans for the site at this stage.
“You let the dust settle a little bit, see how the economy goes in the next six months before you commit to anything, and see if it does pick up like they promised,” Morris said.
On Facebook, the venue thanked its customers, saying the bar would never have gotten through the last two years without them.
Plonk bookings are open until Saturday March 1.