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Story: Restaurants and food outlets

Astoria milk bar, Auckland, 1948

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Astoria milk bar, Auckland, 1948

The American soldiers stationed in New Zealand between 1942 and 1944 introduced new dining and restaurant fashions, such as a taste for eating at casual establishments like hamburger bars, milk bars and cafés. As their name suggests, milk bars specialised in dairy foods like milkshakes, ice creams and sundaes, as well as cakes and confectionery.

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Auckland Libraries

Reference: Footprints 03785

Courtesy of the Otahuhu Historical Society

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How to cite this page

Perrin Rowland, Restaurants and food outlets – Restaurants during the Second World War, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/39596/astoria-milk-bar-auckland-1948 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Perrin Rowland, published 30 November 2012.