pipi's cafe

excellent food, casual atmosphere where family/friends sharing food around big tables is the theme. you help yourself to beer from a fridge on an honesty basis. it is like you are sharing food in theirfamilyhome. the pizzas are amazing! and they have a good wine list. highly recommend.

wow.  what a great find.  we were walking around havelock north looking for somewhere for a drink and meal and stumbled upon this wee gem.  friday night 5.30pm and it was all but packed.  we ordered two half and half pizzas that were stunning.  even better was the feijoa bake for dessert.  i am not a big dessert fan and if it hadn't been for an exceptionally full belly, i would have ordered a second.  tis not a big place and it is very cosy when full.  a great place to bring thefamilyany night of the week.  could have been a 4.5 star had it not been for a very sharp chip the size of a $1 coin on my dessert bowl and the 'dumping' on the table of the dessert without so much as a smile or utterance of any sort.  

will definitely visit again when next in the bay.

we visited pipi recently on afamilyholiday and tried the pizza as a takeaway. we had expected a wait for our food, given the other reviews, but we were served really quickly. the garlic pizza bread was delicious and we really enjoyed the salsicci and margherita pizzas. the only comment i'd make was that the i didn't enjoy the herb stalks on the salsicci, a minor point. the bases were perfect. thanks for a greatfamilydinner!

this wee place is awesome! we call in every-time we come up from wellington. the kids love it, they enjoy drawing on the big pads provided, a real relaxedfamilyouting compared going to other restaurants and feeling like the kids should be on their best behaviour. we all love your food and joyful staff.

i love pipi’s in havelock north and will quite often go there with friends and have a laugh. the restaurant is quite basic with bench chairs with cushions, old household furniture such as side boards and kitchen tables and an assortment of not too expensive art on the walls. every table has candles and you are jammed in to a small but wonderfully busy, exciting, pumping, electric environment. the pizzas are amazing and the desserts are yummy. we ordered 3 pizzas and a plate of penne pasta, 3 desserts, two bottles of montepulciano and 2 bottles of beer and it only came to $60 a head. oh by the way the beer you help yourself too out of the fridge. well worth it if you ask me was the large aloha pizza that i ordered. it was the size of a car tyre. i can assure you it did not taste like one, smothered in an amazing tomato based sauce with mozzarella, pineapple and bacon, it was delicious. check out the image
if you want a great night out, awesome pizza and want to go where the locals go then pipi’s should not be missed. if you are a bit fussy and like a clean sterile, quite environment with not much atmosphere then pipi’s is not the place for you. be prepared for average service which can require some self-help activity, great food and big crowds, but the locals will tell you that’s what it’s all about. pipi's reminds me of the many greatfamilyrun restaurants in europe that i stumbled upon.

we have had a number of enjoyable visits to pipi's. with 10 otherfamilymembers we have been again to-night.(april 6th)ourfamilyof 4 from kakanui, north otago told us it was the best food we have had, in 5 days of celebrating a 70th birthday.

myfamilyand i came to hawkes bay for family, friends, beautiful weather and lovely wine. but never did we excpect the food to be so good! pipi was the first resturant we went to...and the only one we went to, we ate there every night for our long weekend away.
myfamilyand i absolutly loved the food, service and atmosphere, especially the help yourself beer fridge! all the pizzas are to die for and the flounder was one of the biggest, most delicious i have ever seen.
would highly reccommend it to anyone who likes to have fun!