Gypsy Tea Room’s place in Grey Lynn

What Brett Simeti built at Gypsy Tea Room was never really just a bar.

For more than two decades, the Richmond Road venue has been a constant within Grey Lynn’s hospitality landscape. A place woven into the rhythm of the neighbourhood and the lives of the people who passed through it. Long before Grey Lynn became one of Auckland’s most identifiable inner-city suburbs, Gypsy Tea Room was already building a reputation as somewhere unpretentious, welcoming and deeply community-led.

Now, after more than 20 years in Grey Lynn, the venue is preparing to close its current chapter, with landlord Barfoot & Thompson confirming plans to redevelop the site. The institution is expected to pour its final drinks by the end of August.

But for Brett, who purchased the venue after first falling in love with it as a customer himself, the story has never solely been about hospitality. “It’s always been a place for the people,” he says. “Any gender, age, profession, race – it doesn’t matter. Everyone can feel at home.”

That philosophy is part of what made Gypsy Tea Room resonate so strongly with locals over the years. It wasn’t chasing trends or trying to be Auckland’s next flashy hospitality concept. It stayed grounded in something simpler. People. “Look after people. Host them, not just serve them,” he says. “I think that’s what sets you apart.”

When Brett first took over the venue, Grey Lynn itself was in a different phase of its evolution. “You had bohemian types, the media, working-class, students, home to the first wave of Pacific immigration… the whole spectrum.” 

Video stores and dairies lined parts of the strip. Students, artists, young professionals, working families and Pasifika communities all mixed together in a way Brett says shaped both the suburb and the venue’s identity. While Grey Lynn has evolved over the years, he believes it has retained something many inner-city suburbs struggle to hold onto.

“Its spirit. Its people. It still has heritage, it still has connection. You probably know your neighbour here as opposed to other areas. I truly believe this is probably the last real melting pot place around the inner city” he reflects.

That diversity mattered to him personally too. Brett’s family history in Grey Lynn stretches back generations through his Samoan grandparents, who settled here in the 1950s. Childhood memories of Sunday lunches, family gatherings and community connection all shaping his affinity for the neighbourhood long before he stepped behind the bar. Over time, the venue has quietly become part of Grey Lynn’s identity. Not through spectacle or reinvention, but through consistency, familiarity and care. For many locals, it became an anchor point, somewhere familiar in an area that continued to evolve around it. 

“A lot of people have memories here because life happened here. First dates turned into marriages, regulars grew older together, staff became friends rather than service providers. It’s beyond bricks and mortar. I think it represents people’s being. It’s not pretentious. Celebrities can relax and not be hassled. It’s just an extension of people’s living rooms.”

Following the announcement of the closure, Brett says the response has given him a deeper appreciation for the role the venue came to play within Grey Lynn. “Only recently have I realised the magnitude of what it meant to people” he admits. “I’ve always loved the fact that other people loved it, but I never basked in it.”

For now though, regulars are still gathering around familiar tables, and Grey Lynn is taking a moment to reflect on what one venue contributed to the character of the area for more than two decades. But this may not be the final chapter for the venue. Brett is already exploring future locations and what a “Gypsy Tea Room 2.0” could look like. 

When asked what he hopes Grey Lynn never loses, Brett answers instantly:

“Its soul.”

Asked what he would like to say to those who supported Gypsy Tea Room over the years, Brett reflects on the role people played in shaping the venue.

“Where do I start? Words can’t describe it…Thank you for the generosity and spirit, the patronage and support of the people that have lived here. I’ve done it because I love it. I’ve liked touching people’s lives… and to see that reflected back – it’s cool.”

Whether Gypsy Tea Room reemerges elsewhere or not, its place within Grey Lynn’s hospitality story is already firmly cemented.