Diner 66

Diner 66 is a Route 66 themed American diner on Victoria Street in central Christchurch, and the theme is why it is on AE. It is a destination in itself for anyone who likes the era: booths, automotive decor through the room and the look of an old American roadside diner, carried through to a menu where the burgers are named after the eight states the Mother Road runs through.

The kitchen runs all day. Burgers, American dogs, sandwiches including a Philly cheesesteak and a club, Tex Mex, sticky pork ribs and a shareable Route 66 Pile Up of fried chicken, onion rings, mac and cheese and jalapeno poppers. Breakfast runs from 8am to 11am on weekdays and 2pm at weekends. Gluten free buns, vegan patties and vegan cheese are available for NZ$2. The other half of the draw is the drinks list: more than thirty hand spun shakes including the Corvette and the Elvis, root beer and Dr Pepper floats, and spiked shakes for the adults.

Open 8am to 9pm, closed Mondays, licensed, with indoor booths and outdoor seating. It is a walk from the central city hotels and an easy dinner on a Canterbury race weekend, with Euromarque Motorsport Park at Ruapuna out to the west.

• Best known for: the room and how far the theme goes. Booths, automotive decor and a menu built around Route 66, rather than a few posters on a wall. (Our visit, April 2026: the decor and the booths are the best part of it, and the theme holds without tipping into kitsch.)
• The burgers are the eight Route 66 states: Illinois, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, California, Kansas and Missouri, each NZ$25.50 with fries and chipmayo. Most other mains sit between NZ$21.50 and NZ$26.50.
• Sandwiches are the quieter half of the menu: a club of smoked chicken, bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato on white and rye, a Philly cheesesteak, a patty melt and a tuna melt, all with fries. (Our visit, April 2026: the club sandwich was good.)
• Shakes are the signature: more than thirty flavours from NZ$12, premium ones at NZ$14, a Corvette, an Elvis with peanut butter and banana, a Star Spangled Banner, root beer and Dr Pepper floats, and boozy versions with bourbon, Baileys or Kahlua. Oat milk and vegan ice cream on request.
• Breakfast runs to 11am on weekdays and 2pm at weekends, with bottomless drip coffee, so an early drive or a slow weekend both work.
• For the rest of the group: a kids menu from NZ$6, gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options across the menu, and outdoor seating alongside the booths.
• Riders and drivers: street parking on and around Victoria Street, no dedicated bike bay or gear storage published. Note that a good part of the shake list is spiked, so read before you order if you are riding.
• Book a table. It fills at weekends and on event weekends in Christchurch, and walk ins have reported waits at peak times.

• Book ahead through the diner's website. Weekends and big event weekends in Christchurch fill it, and visitors report waits at peak times when the kitchen is stretched.

• Open 8am to 9pm, closed Mondays. The kitchen runs all day; only breakfast has a cut off, 11am on weekdays and 2pm at weekends.

• Mains sit around NZ$21.50 to NZ$26.50 and include fries. Gluten free buns and vegan patties are NZ$2 extra. Full menus are published as PDFs on the site.

• Licensed, and the spiked shakes and cocktails are a real part of the drinks list, so ID may be asked for.

• No regular car meet or club night is published by the venue. Their Facebook (facebook.com/diner66nz) and Instagram (@diner66christchurch) are where anything like that would appear; neither shows one at the time of writing.

• Street parking around Victoria Street, and it is an easy walk from the central city.

• Includes notes from our own visit, April 2026, over the Supercars weekend in Christchurch.

• Last updated: 14 September 2026.