Cowboy's Queenstown — Restaurant in South Island

Party of 6 - We decided to take our friends to Cowboys pub as we go here every year when in Queenstown & usually always have a great time. We ordered drinks and the bar tender asked to see my ID - yep no problem, but it was a QLD driver's license (which mind you I used to get into this pub literally the night before and had no problems at all) she refused to accept it & was pretty rude to us. My boyfriend began to stick up for me & told her she was rude etc, anyway we decided to leave voluntarily, then all of a sudden a male KIWI bar tender came over to us & was getting us to leave (even though we were already happily leaving) he then took a picture of my bf & explained that he would prevent him from getting into any other pubs in Queenstown?! Very dramatic. . He then followed us out the front & said to my Irish boyfriend "You're a long way from home mate" amoung other things, which did not go down very well, as you can imagine. We actually live in Christchurch! but regardless this was unacceptable customer service, bang out of order & just down right rude. Their pay checks/tips come in every week because Queenstown is built purely on tourism, so he defintely needs to pull his head in & not be so idiotic. He was on quite the little power trip. We are in Queenstown with a group of 20+ people who we have all told not to go to this pub because of this treatment & we will sadly never be back to this pub even though I'm sure the bar staff change yearly. Even the bar staff at other pubs in town said that the cowboys bar staff are idiots & not to worry, so that's saying something. I would very much welcome someone from management to contact me in regards to this if possible as it was totally...

Discriminatory Experience

I recently had an unsettling experience at Cowboy, which left me deeply disappointed by their lack of professionalism and understanding. The incident occurred when a female friend of mine, who was visiting from Europe, was denied entry to the bar because the bouncer did not recognize her European passport.

Despite her polite explanation and attempt to show the validity of her passport, the bouncer insisted on not letting her in, citing unfamiliarity with the document. The situation quickly became uncomfortable, and it was evident that the bouncer had no willingness to verify the passport or handle the situation professionally.

What stood out the most was the clear lack of customer service and basic respect for international visitors. In a city as diverse and cosmopolitan as ours, such an encounter felt both frustrating and discriminatory. European passports are recognized worldwide and are widely accepted at establishments, so it was perplexing and disheartening to encounter this kind of ignorance and insensitivity.

This experience has unfortunately tarnished my view of Cowboy. While I understand that bouncers must ensure safety and verify age, there should always be room for reason, professionalism, and respect for patrons. Ignoring these principles not only harms your business reputation but also creates a toxic atmosphere that deters potential customers.

I hope Cowboy takes this feedback seriously and ensures that their staff is trained to handle diverse situations with more understanding in the future. Until then, I’ll be taking my...

The members of staff were so rude and acted like they didn’t even want you there. I had a drink and was stood by the bar, then I looked around and my drink was gone! I told a member of staff my drink had gone and she said ‘well i didn’t take it’ (brunette hair) and i said ’that’s fine, i know you didn’t take it, but maybe a member of staff cleared my drink without knowing i was still drinking it’ (it had a third still left), this woman then literally looked at me and shrugged her shoulders and walked away, I thought this was so rude considering i bought this drink about 10 mins ago. This then happened a second time!! my drink got cleared and the same girl acted like that was normal. Also i really wanted to go on the bull ride and the person in charge told me i needed a $2 coin and to go to the bar to get one. I went to the bar and they told me they didn’t have any. I waited for over an hour all the while other people were able to get coins and go on the same ride then other people were able to get some coins so then i asked if i could and a different, very kind member of staff helped me and changed my coins. Anyway i think this bar needs to talk to its employees about making people feel welcome. i am here on holiday and this was the first bar i came to in queen town and honestly you were were so rude and unkind to us! I was with other friends who live in Queenstown and they told me this bar has a reputation for really unfriendly members of staff and to only go if you’re going with good people as the staff will not make u feel...