There have been rumours for a while that a Wendy’s was com­ing to Wel­ling­ton, and finally I received a report from the Kapiti: a Wendy’s had just opened in Par­a­pa­raumu.

Wendy’s Old Fash­ioned Ham­burgers – not to be con­fused with the Aus­trali­an ice cream par­lour chain Wendy’s Supa Sundaes – is an Amer­ic­an bur­ger chain – the world’s third largest. It’s been well estab­lished in Auck­land since the ’90s, but has only just star­ted to branch out south. So, in the name of nomz, I had to invest­ig­ate.

The bright new Wendy’s, where people without an auto­mobile may sit and enjoy the foods upon which they have recently pur­chased.
The Par­a­pa­raumu Wendy’s is right on State High­way One, next to the Coast­lands big box shops. It’s very much designed for drive-through traffic and trav­el­lers. It’s a short but unpleas­ant walk from the train sta­tion, requir­ing a trek across mul­tiple car parks, and being deprived of tak­ing a dir­ect route. Well, it was built on the site of a former pet­rol sta­tion, so the ped­es­tri­an unfriend­li­ness is not sur­pris­ing.

Inside it’s as decent as any Auck­land Wendy’s I’ve been to. The seat­ing area is smal­ler than the Auck­land res­taur­ants, but I think this is mainly due to a gen­er­al shift away from in-house seat­ing as more people get their food to go.

It was bust­ling when I got there at around 3.30pm, with a lively after school crowd and curi­ous shop­pers. The full Wendy’s menu was avail­able, com­plete with their spe­cial­ties like baked pota­toes, chilli, and the taco salad, as well as the stand­ard bur­gers and chips.

The Meaty Mex­ic­an Salad avec le Sprite. A good feed, with enough green bits to feel healthy­ish.
I ordered the afore­men­tioned taco salad, the Meaty Mex­ic­an Salad, as well as a “small” drink that looked massive, but due to all the ice in the cup, it was secretly about the right size. It was good. It was what I needed.

Is the Par­a­pa­raumu Wendy’s worth a spe­cial trip out from Wel­ling­ton? If you’re hanker­ing for some Wendy’s, yeah, oth­er­wise save it for a time when you’re up the coast any­way. Let’s hope that Wendy’s will see fit to open a store closer to the cap­it­al. There are some times when only a Wendy’s chilli will do.