Queenstown Public House Gingerbread House in Little Italy (2026)

Every December since 2015, Queenstown Public House turns its 1905 craftsman cottage in Little Italy into a life-size gingerbread house: candy-studded walls, frosted windows, lights everywhere. You can eat inside it. That’s the whole pitch, and it’s a good one.

Why go

It’s the best photo in Little Italy in December, and the food is better than it needs to be. The menu is New Zealand-inspired, which means lamb, meat pies and burgers; the holiday cocktail list leans gingerbread. Elves turn up on the shelves, and on some evenings the outside gets a dusting of fake snow.

Brunch on a weekday is the low-stress version. Dinner is when the lights do their job. Either way, get your photo outside first, before it gets dark or crowded.

Nearby

Make a night of it with a stop from our holiday bars list, or pencil it onto a Christmas date night. It’s also an easy add to your Christmas card photo run, and the patio counts for the dog-friendly crowd.