Queenstown has a well-earned reputation for expensive everything. Adventure sports, accommodation, and dining can all make a serious dent in a travel budget — and many visitors are surprised at just how quickly a meal out can turn into a $60-per-head exercise.
Which is exactly why knowing where to eat well without spending a fortune is one of the most useful pieces of local knowledge you can have.
Beech Tree, the craft beer bar on Beach Street, has been quietly serving some of the best value food in central Queenstown for years. The kind of food that’s genuinely great — not just “good for the price” — and the kind of prices that let you order another round without any guilt.
Here’s what’s on the menu.
Beech Tree’s rib-eye steak is one of the best steak deals in Queenstown — full stop. Properly cooked, well-seasoned, and served at a price point that makes it accessible on any night of the week, not just special occasions. Pair it with a dark stout or an amber ale from the tap list and you’ve got a combination that any steakhouse in town would be proud of.
If you’re searching for a “steak deal in Queenstown” that doesn’t require a reservation three weeks in advance and a jacket you didn’t bring on holiday — this is it.
If you’re eating in a group, the meat platter at Beech Tree is the move. Loaded up and designed for sharing, it’s the kind of table centrepiece that makes a round of craft beers even better. Great for groups who’ve just come off the mountain and need something substantial before deciding what the rest of the night looks like.
Platters are the unofficial dish of Queenstown pub culture, and Beech Tree does theirs properly.
Ten different flavour options for chicken wings. Whether you’re a heat-seeker loading up on the spiciest option or you want something sweeter and stickier to go with your pale ale, there’s a wing flavour for every style. This is one of those menus where you genuinely need a few visits to work through everything.
Wings are consistently one of the most popular orders at Beech Tree — easy to share, easy to reorder, and designed to pair with a cold beer in your other hand.
Proper pub-style burgers with the fillings you want and none of the pretension. Big enough to actually fill you up, priced so you can get a round of drinks alongside without the bill becoming a talking point. The short rib burger in particular has developed a following among regulars.
One of the best food deals in Queenstown: every Tuesday, Beech Tree’s Taco Tuesday special brings Mexican flavour and great value together. Grab a table Tuesday evening, order tacos, and pick something from the 26 craft taps to go alongside them. It’s become a weekly ritual for a lot of Queenstown locals.
The kitchen doesn’t leave plant-based eaters behind. Vegetarian and vegan options are available across the menu, so groups with mixed dietary requirements can all eat well at the same table.
Queenstown’s cheap eat scene is competitive, and there are genuinely good options around town. Taco Medic on Searle Lane serves $5-7 tacos Tuesday afternoons. 1867 on Ballarat Street does a $20 steak deal on Wednesdays. Fat Badgers runs half-price appetisers on selected nights.
But for the combination of a full sit-down meal + 26 craft beers on tap + a real bar atmosphere in central Queenstown, Beech Tree is in a category of its own. It’s not just about the food being affordable — it’s the experience that surrounds it: the warmth of the bar, the fireplace, the music, and the tap list that gives every meal a proper partner.
You’re not grabbing takeaway. You’re having a proper night out, at prices that don’t sting.
Beech Tree Craft Beer | 13 Beach Street, Queenstown
Right in the heart of town. Walk in off the street, take a seat, and ask the team what’s on tap and what’s just come off the kitchen pass. That’s all there is to it.
Open daily — check the website for current hours
Great food doesn’t have to mean expensive food. Beech Tree’s menu — steaks, meat platters, wings in ten flavours, proper burgers, Taco Tuesday specials, and vegan options — proves that a bar can do its food seriously without charging restaurant prices for it.
If you’re after cheap eats in Queenstown that don’t feel cheap to eat, Beach Street is where you want to be.
Beech Tree | 13 Beach Street, Queenstown | beechtree.co.nz