The Breakers story

As a fair-haired teenager living in Opunake on the West Coast back in the 1970s, Mark Burt could be found surfing the many beach breaks along Taranaki’s famous Surf Highway 45 — when he wasn’t helping pour pints at the family pub, that is.

After marrying wife Penny (“the prettiest girl in high school”) , the couple moved to Hawera where they ran a very popular fish ‘n’ chip shop and later a successful catering business. But when it came to opening their first restaurant, the couple packed up their four kids and moved to Hawke’s Bay where Mark had been born in Waipawa, just up the road from the small rural town of Otane where his father had been the local town butcher before becoming a publican.

Drawing upon his love of Kiwi beach life and surfing as his inspiration, the first surf-themed Breakers restaurant was launched in 1997 inside the walls of Napier’s iconic Masonic Hotel on Marine Parade with the tagline, “Keep’n it Kiwi’.

With an emphasis on relaxed, value-for-money dining and an unpretentious menu that everyday Kiwi families could enjoy, combined with fast and friendly service, Breakers instantly proved a huge hit with locals and visitors alike. 

As word of mouth grew from a ripple into a tsunami, Breakers restaurants soon began rolling out across the North Island of New Zealand like a perfect curling right-hand beach break.

And while some Breakers have come and gone to be replaced by others and the logo has undergone a few changes over the years, Breakers’ legacy and commitment to providing hearty Kiwi tucker in a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere continues to this day.

Breakers Restaurants … Keep’n It Kiwi for more than 20 years!

What Breakers is all about

Imagine you’ve just come home from endless hours spent swimming, surfing and playing beach cricket with whanau and friends at one of the many sandy stretches along the coast of this great nation of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Now, remember that feeling of complete and utter satisfaction you get afterwards when, exhausted, you tuck into a hearty, home-cooked meal? Well, that’s exactly the feeling we want our customers to experience every time they dine at a Breakers Restaurant.

Like wrapping yourself in a blanket in front of a beach bonfire as the sun dips into the Tasman Sea, we want our customers to be warmed by our hospitality, from the moment they are greeted with a friendly smile to the time they leave.

We don’t believe dining out with friends or family should be a stuffy affair, but instead like a day at the beach. So whether it’s a romantic wine & steak night with your better half, seafood and cocktails with the colleagues, burgers and beers with the boys or a fun-filled family dinner – we’re ready to make you feel welcome.

Because, at Breakers, we realise our customers are the reason why our business exists, and we pride ourselves on delivering the best customer service at all times.