Dux Central Christchurch: Burgers, Menu and Owner
Dux Central Christchurch: owner Richard Sinke, the NZ$24 smashed beef burger, the NZ$19 lunch deal and the Dux de Lux story behind the gastropub.
Photo: David Palmer, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dux Central Christchurch is a craft beer and live music gastropub at 6 Poplar Street in the central city, a short walk from the new One NZ Stadium (Te Kaha). Its owner is Richard Sinke, who built the Dux name from the Dux de Lux, opened in 1978. The burger menu is two items long: a smashed beef burger and a grilled chicken burger, both NZ$24 on the menu I checked on 11 November 2026. Come before 3pm and either one costs NZ$19. That lunch price, more than the burger itself, is my reason to go.
Dux Central Christchurch: key facts at a glance
Dux Central is a four-bar gastropub in central Christchurch, owned by Richard Sinke of the Dux group. I checked these facts on 11 November 2026 against the venue’s official site and menu:
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 6 Poplar Street, Christchurch Central City (official address) |
| Phone | 03 366 6919 (+64 3 366 6919 from abroad) |
| Events email | functions@duxcentral.co.nz |
| Hours | Tuesday–Saturday 11am till late; Sunday and Monday 12pm till late |
| Owner | Richard Sinke, founder of the Dux brand |
| Lease signed | 2014 |
| Opened | September 2015 (16 September, per Stuff) |
| Burgers | Beef Burger NZ$24, Chicken Burger NZ$24 |
| Lunch deal | Burgers and pizzas NZ$19 until 3pm daily (excluding events and public holidays) |
| Bars | Brew Bar, The Emerald Room, The Poplar Social Club, Upper Dux |
| Extras | Live music every weekend, dog-friendly spaces, event spaces for up to 140 guests with no venue hire fee |
Who owns Dux Central? Richard Sinke and the Dux story
Richard Sinke owns Dux Central. He founded the Dux hospitality brand, which has included Dux de Lux, Dux Live, Dux Dine and Dux Central (Metropol, 10 July 2024), and RNZ was still quoting him as the owner in April 2026.
His tie to the Arts Centre predates the bar. Sinke studied at the University of Canterbury from 1970 to 1973, when the university still occupied the Arts Centre site (MagazinesToday, 28 April 2016).
He co-founded an organic market garden in Woolston, eats a pescatarian diet and argues for the Mediterranean way of eating (Avenues, 19 July 2023). It fits a brand that started life as a vegetarian restaurant.
The sources disagree on exactly when his ownership began. Dux de Lux opened in 1978; Metropol says Sinke and friends bought it in 1980, and he later bought out his partners. What holds across all of them: Sinke was there from the early years and was sole owner by the early 1980s.
None of the sources I found names Dux Central’s current head chef. I credit the food to the kitchen, not to a name I can’t verify.
Dux Central menu: burgers and prices
Dux Central serves one smashed beef burger and one grilled chicken burger, each NZ$24, or NZ$19 before 3pm. The prices come from the official food menu dated “October 26”, which I checked on 11 November 2026. Menus change, so look at the official menu page before you go.
| Item | What’s in it | Price (checked 11 Nov 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Beef Burger | Smashed beef patty, Swiss cheese, McClure’s pickle, caramelised onion, cos lettuce, Dux burger sauce | NZ$24.00 |
| Chicken Burger | Grilled chicken thigh, cos lettuce, Swiss cheese, McClure’s pickle, guacamole, aioli | NZ$24.00 |
| Gluten-free bun | Swap on either burger | +NZ$3.00 |
| Fries with your burger | Add-on | +NZ$5.00 |
| Fries (side) | Aioli and paprika salt | NZ$12.50 |
| Fries extras | Gravy / cheese | +NZ$2.00 / +NZ$4.00 |
Dux Central burger prices in New Zealand dollars: Beef Burger and Chicken Burger at NZ$24 each, or NZ$19 before 3pm (a NZ$5 saving). Fries add NZ$5 and a gluten-free bun NZ$3. Bar chart of standard and lunch prices, from the official menu checked on 11 November 2026. (Chart: Burger Breton (original work), data from the Dux Central official menu, https://www.duxcentral.co.nz/menu)
The Beef Burger: a smashed patty, gastropub style
If you came for a burger, order the beef. It stacks a smashed patty with Swiss cheese, caramelised onion, McClure’s pickle, cos lettuce and the house Dux burger sauce. The menu gives no patty weight, no beef supplier and no bun baker. I won’t guess.
Swiss rather than cheddar and an imported American pickle brand: it is a pub kitchen’s take on a smash burger, not a specialist’s.
The Chicken Burger
The Chicken Burger is grilled thigh, not fried, with guacamole, aioli, Swiss cheese, McClure’s pickle and cos lettuce. Same price as the beef: NZ$24.
The NZ$19 lunch deal
Until 3pm every day, burgers and pizzas cost NZ$19, except during events and on public holidays. That is NZ$5 off either burger, almost exactly the price of adding fries. A weekday lunch is the time to go.
Vegetarian and gluten-free options
There is a gluten-free bun (+NZ$3) but no vegetarian or vegan burger on the current menu. For a name that began as a vegetarian restaurant in 1978, I find that gap hard to ignore.
Is Dux Central a burger specialist?
No. Dux Central is a gastropub with a burger on the menu, not a burger joint. ChristchurchNZ’s official guide to the best burgers in Christchurch (24 March 2025) picks Black Burger, Bacon Bros, Slick Burger, The Burger Joint, Burgers & Beers Inc. and Smokey T’s, and leaves Dux Central out (ChristchurchNZ).
My take: go to Dux Central for the beer, the bands and forty-odd years of Christchurch history, and order the burger as part of the night. If the burger is the whole point, start with those specialists, and check our Christchurch burger page for every guide we have dated and verified in the city.
Inside Dux Central: the four bars
Dux Central has four separate bars under one roof (MagazinesToday; Cityscape):
- Brew Bar: the craft beer bar, the heart of what the official site calls “Christchurch’s iconic craft beer and live music venue”.
- The Emerald Room: a gin and wine bar.
- The Poplar Social Club: a 1920s-style speakeasy cocktail lounge.
- Upper Dux: the upstairs event space, with a balcony.
Bands play every weekend. Dogs are allowed in the dog-friendly spaces, and groups of up to 140 can book an event space with no venue hire fee.
Dux de Lux Christchurch history: from the Arts Centre to Dux Central
Dux Central is the successor to the Dux de Lux, the Arts Centre institution that opened in 1978 and never reopened after the February 2011 earthquake. The thread between the two is one owner, Richard Sinke.
1978: a vegetarian restaurant at the Arts Centre
The original Dux de Lux opened in 1978 at the Arts Centre as a vegetarian restaurant and bar. By the late 1980s it was brewing its own beer, one of New Zealand’s first craft breweries (MagazinesToday; Avenues). It was a live music venue for decades too, as Stuff’s love letter to the Dux de Lux recalls.
The original Dux de Lux on Hereford Street at the Christchurch Arts Centre in October 2010, a few months before the February 2011 earthquake closed it for good. (Photo: George Kuek, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dux\_de\_Lux,\_2010.jpg)
2011: the earthquake and the Dux group’s new venues
The February 2011 earthquake badly damaged the Dux de Lux, and it never reopened. The group kept going elsewhere. Dux Live opened in 2011 on a four-year lease, later moved to 363 Lincoln Road, and closed in 2016; Dux Dine opened on Riccarton Road in 2012 (Metropol; The Big City).
2015: Dux Central on the former Twisted Hop site
Sinke signed the lease in 2014, and Dux Central opened in September 2015 (Stuff). The Lichfield Street building had been home to The Twisted Hop brewpub until the earthquakes wrecked it. The fit-out was budgeted at NZ$1.5 million. It ended up costing more than NZ$2 million (MagazinesToday).
Dux Central in April 2016, seven months after opening: the DUX CENTRAL sign and the covered Upper Dux balcony, with central-city rebuild works still fencing off the block. (Photo: Schwede66, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dux\_Central\_194.JPG)
2024: no return to the Arts Centre
In March 2024, the Arts Centre ended talks on bringing the Dux de Lux back, saying the proposal “didn’t stack up financially” (The Press, 22 March 2024). For now, Dux Central is where the Dux name lives on in the central city.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1970–1973 | Richard Sinke studies at the University of Canterbury, then based at the Arts Centre site |
| 1978 | Dux de Lux opens at the Arts Centre as a vegetarian restaurant and bar |
| Early 1980s | Sinke becomes sole owner |
| Late 1980s | Dux de Lux runs one of New Zealand’s first craft breweries |
| Feb 2011 | Earthquake severely damages Dux de Lux; it never reopens |
| 2011 | Dux Live opens (closes 2016) |
| 2012 | Dux Dine opens on Riccarton Road |
| 2014 | Sinke signs the Dux Central lease |
| Sept 2015 | Dux Central opens |
| Mar 2024 | Arts Centre ends talks on a Dux de Lux return |
| Apr 2026 | One NZ Stadium hosts its first sports event; Dux Central is fully booked |
Dux de Lux to Dux Central timeline, 1978–2026: Dux de Lux opens at the Arts Centre (1978), the earthquake closes it (Feb 2011), Dux Live (2011–2016), Dux Dine on Riccarton Road (2012), lease signed (2014), Dux Central opens (16 Sept 2015), Arts Centre ends return talks (Mar 2024), One NZ Stadium’s first sports event (Apr 2026). Sources: Metropol, MagazinesToday, Stuff, The Press, RNZ. (Table: Burger Breton (original work), compiled from Metropol, MagazinesToday, Stuff, The Press and RNZ)
Bars near One NZ Stadium Christchurch: Dux Central’s long wait
Few central-city bars stand to gain more from One NZ Stadium than Dux Central, and its owner waited 12 years for it. “I took the lease in 2014 thinking that the stadium was going to open in 2019 … 12 years. So yeah, thrilled,” Sinke told RNZ. The bar was fully booked for the stadium’s first sports event in April 2026 (RNZ, 21 April 2026).
One NZ Stadium (Te Kaha) under construction in central Christchurch in May 2025, a short walk from Dux Central. Its first sports event in April 2026 filled the bar. (Photo: Tom Ackroyd (Quilt Phase), CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Te\_Kaha\_May\_2025\_03.jpg)
The wait cost him. RNZ reported about a year of roadworks, lost parking and reduced access during construction, in the middle of a national recession. On match and concert days, book ahead.
Visiting Dux Central: practical information
Dux Central opens at 11am Tuesday to Saturday and at 12pm on Sunday and Monday, and stays open till late every day. Before you go:
- Address: 6 Poplar Street, Christchurch. Some listings give 144 Lichfield Street; the official site uses Poplar Street.
- Phone: 03 366 6919 (+64 3 366 6919 from abroad).
- Best value: arrive before 3pm for NZ$19 burgers and pizzas (not during events or on public holidays).
- Dogs: welcome in the dog-friendly spaces.
- Music: live every weekend.
- Groups: event spaces for up to 140 guests, no venue hire fee; contact functions@duxcentral.co.nz.
I have left out Google and Tripadvisor ratings: I could not verify a current score and review count myself.
Map of Dux Central at 6 Poplar Street, Christchurch Central, about 250 m west of One NZ Stadium on Madras Street. (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)
More burgers in Christchurch and the South Island
Beyond Christchurch, the South Island has its own burger landmarks. Head south for the queue at Fergburger in Queenstown, the wood-fired burgers of No7 Balmac in Dunedin, or New Zealand’s home-grown gourmet chain at BurgerFuel Dunedin (see the full BurgerFuel brand profile).
Going north? My chef portrait of Al Brown and Best Ugly Bagels in Auckland pairs well with our guide to the best burgers in Auckland. For every city we cover, start at the Burger Breton restaurants hub.
Dux Central FAQ
Who owns Dux Central in Christchurch? Richard Sinke, the founder of the Dux brand, which has included Dux de Lux, Dux Live, Dux Dine and Dux Central. RNZ still quoted him as the owner in April 2026.
Is Dux Central the same as the old Dux de Lux? No. It is a separate venue from the same owner. The Dux de Lux opened at the Arts Centre in 1978 and never reopened after the 2011 earthquake. Dux Central opened in September 2015 in the former Twisted Hop building.
What burgers does Dux Central serve and how much do they cost? Two: the Beef Burger (smashed beef patty, Swiss cheese, McClure’s pickle, caramelised onion, cos lettuce, Dux burger sauce) and the Chicken Burger (grilled chicken thigh, guacamole, aioli, Swiss cheese, pickle, cos lettuce). Each costs NZ$24 on the menu checked on 11 November 2026.
Does Dux Central have a lunch deal on burgers? Yes. Burgers and pizzas cost NZ$19 until 3pm daily, excluding events and public holidays.
Does Dux Central have vegetarian or gluten-free burger options? A gluten-free bun is available for +NZ$3. The current menu lists no dedicated vegetarian or vegan burger.
Where is Dux Central and is it near One NZ Stadium (Te Kaha)? The official address is 6 Poplar Street in central Christchurch. It is one of the central-city venues next to the new stadium, and it was fully booked for the stadium’s first sports event in April 2026.
What are Dux Central’s opening hours? 11am till late Tuesday to Saturday, and 12pm till late on Sunday and Monday.
What are the four bars inside Dux Central? The Brew Bar (craft beer), The Emerald Room (gin and wine), The Poplar Social Club (1920s-style speakeasy cocktail lounge) and Upper Dux (upstairs event space with a balcony).
Is Dux Central dog-friendly and does it have live music? Yes to both: it has dog-friendly spaces and live music every weekend.
Will Dux de Lux ever reopen at the Arts Centre? Not for now. In March 2024, the Arts Centre ended talks on a return, saying the proposal “didn’t stack up financially”.
Sources and method
I built this profile from Dux Central’s official website and food menu (checked 11 November 2026), RNZ (21 April 2026), Stuff/The Press (2015 and 2024), MagazinesToday (28 April 2016), Metropol (10 July 2024), Avenues (19 July 2023) and ChristchurchNZ (24 March 2025). Where sources disagree (the address, and when Sinke took over the Dux de Lux), I give the official or majority version and say so. I have not eaten at Dux Central for this profile, so it carries no rating. Prices are in New Zealand dollars and may change after the check date.
