Dakota fights to keep its Courtenay Place licence amid safety concerns
Monday, 30 March 2026
Dakota is a busy bar on Wellington’s Courtenay Place, known for its mechanical bull and weekly quiz nights.
However, the bar’s ability to serve drinks on the capital’s party strip is under threat, with owner Jose Ubiaga defending his bar’s ability to safely serve alcohol before the Wellington City Council’s District Licensing Committee.
The hearing on Monday saw Ubiaga apply for the renewal of Dakota’s on-licence, and defend his bar against Police, Health New Zealand, and District Licensing Committee members Kate Thomson, Juliet Philpott, and Bill Acton.
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In addition to multiple reported cases of violence and over-intoxication, Dakota failed two police controlled purchase operations (CPO) in 2025 where an under-aged person bought alcohol.
The most recent case saw a 16-year-old girl buy two beers on October 2 at 7pm while accompanied by an undercover police officer.
Ubiaga said the operation took place during Dakota’s Musical Bingo Night. He was disappointed the staff member in question did not ask for the young woman’s ID - instead, she had assumed someone else had done it.
Because of that, the duty manager on shift had lost his licence for 56 days, and the bar received a four-day suspension from the Alcohol and Regulatory Licensing Authority (ARLA).
After the first CPO failure, he increased staff training and, after the second, he lifted it again to every six to eight weeks, he said.
His staff member had been distraught when she realised she had caused the bar to fail its second CPO, he said.
“I’m very confident we won’t fail another CPO.”
During the hearing Police submitted a number of reported incidents that had taken place at Dakota Bar over the past three years.
Those included a young woman needing to be placed in the recovery position in the bar’s safety area; a man walking outside the premises with a bottle of alcohol; two women being attacked in the women’s toilets; and a woman being sexually assaulted by a man on the dance floor.
Ubiaga said he took full responsibility for the breaches, and additional training and safety measures had been put in place following each of them.
Ubiaga argued the bar had done the best it could in the circumstances, saying it was difficult to predict when violence and drug-induced behaviour could occur when there weren’t early indicators.
“This is over a three-year period, and we’ve had hundreds of thousands of people coming through our doors.”
Customers found to be drunk, high, or violent were banned via the Patronscan ID Scanner system - if they wanted to return, they needed to speak with Ubiaga directly.
In the incident where two women were attacked in the toilets, his staff had acted immediately, and the offender had been charged and convicted of assault.
“We don’t allow fights and assaults,” he said.
The bar owner continued to stress he believed he was being given an unfair go from the agencies including Wellington City Council and the Alcohol Regulatory & Licensing Authority (ARLA).
If he lost his on-licence, Dakota would close, causing him financial hardship, he said.
The hearing will continue on Tuesday, with the committee’s decision to be released over the following months.