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An Auckland cafe threatened with closure over an unpaid rates bill of nearly $1 million has promised to cease trading without a licence after receiving a ticking off from Auckland Council.
Rupa’s Cafe, located on Wellington St in Freemans Bay, announced in June it was closing after more than70 years, with its last day of trading to be July 4.
A poster in the cafe’s window - signed off by owner Dilip Kumar Rupa and staff - had invited customers to come enjoy their “favourite samosa, chai or curry with us one more time” during its final two weeks.
“Let’s share one last smile, a warm hug, and say not goodbye – but see you again.”
A poster confirming the closure of Rupa's Cafe seen on June 19.
On Friday last week, a Herald worker spotted an “Open” sign outside the cafe and freshly baked food in the cabinet, with at least six customers in the shop.
Fresh food was displayed in a cabinet when a Herald worker visited Rupa's Cafe on Friday.
An open sign was displayed outside the cafe's door on Friday last week.
A council food inspector was dispatched to the business on Tuesday but it appeared to be shut.
“Since the food registration for Rupa’s Cafe at 103 Wellington St, Freemans Bay was cancelled in June 2025, the council has received no subsequent application for a new food registration for a cafe or other food business at that address,” the council’s team leader for Environmental Health Response, Alan Ahmu, said.
“We were unaware of the alleged reopening of a cafe at the address.”
Following Tuesday’s visit, the council said an inspector would make another visit in the next two days.
Rupa's Cafe owner, Dilip Rupa. Photo / Dean Purcell
In a statement yesterday afternoon, Ahmu said a food safety officer had now made contact with the cafe.
The operator “now has an awareness of the registration requirement, has ceased trading and advises they will not trade again unless they are registered”, Ahmu told the Herald.
Selling food without a licence can still carry penalties, the council confirmed.
The maximum penalty upon conviction for an individual is a fine not exceeding $50,000, and for a body corporate is a fine not exceeding $200,000.
The cafe appears to be closed today, with calls to business going unanswered this morning.
Cafe and owner have colourful backstory
Rupa, a controversial figure in Auckland’s hospitality scene, has had run-ins with Auckland Council and WorkSafe over unpaid property taxes and compliance violations.
Rupa was the first person to be prosecuted by WorkSafe for failing to display Covid-19 QR codes during the pandemic.
“My main objection to the QR code is no one knows what the coding is … there’s no security and there’s no knowledge of where this QR coding is going," Rupa told the Herald at the time.
He was ultimately fined $1500 after a 2022 trial was held in his absence, with Judge Stephen Bonnar, KC, ruling Rupa “held strong views” about the legality of the provisions and made an intentional choice not to comply.
Rupa's Cafe started out as a general store, 72 years ago. Photo / Michael Craig
The Rupa family also defied paying the rates on their Freemans Bay cafe and two Grey Lynn private homes over several years in a bitter stand-off with the council.
With the combined unpaid rates bill on their properties growing to $350,000 by 2021, the council began court proceedings to try to recoup the missed payments.
In September last year, the Herald revealed the outstanding rates and associated penalties had ballooned to a record $876,623.65 - $662,179.06 for the cafe and $214,444.59 for the family home – leading the council to pursue a forced sale of the Rupa family’s properties.
The neighbourhood cafe was known for its coffee and chai, serving up a mix of Indian dishes – including what Cuisine‘s Ginny Grant called “some of the best samosas in Auckland”.
