Review Viva Italian Restaurant - Auckland

Food was awesome. Very good value for the price. Service was good, not rushed. Would recommend. Great start before the Ballet at Aotea Center.

It was an absolute delightful experience. Fresh, elegant flavours/presentation. And excellent service from a charming, young woman.

Great pre show dinner great food great staff great service. Fabulous evening all round. .

Excellent food & service. Agree about the door, and they don't promote themselves enough.

Great food and atmosphere. Perfect place to dine before an event in Aotea Square.

Food and service has never disappointed, love the interior!

Good food friendly staff and good atmosphere

Relaxing; has good food with great service

Everything amazing!

The food and service were great, however when we questioned why we only received 3 pieces of ciabatta when the menu stated four they took it back and served it to someone else!!! Then gave us another entree with four pieces but significantly smaller 😂 After we split our bill three ways we went off to our comedy show and while we were rating realised we had been charged $30 for a main we didn't have. Staff were lovely and helpful and refunded the over charge even though they had closed and were washing up.

Never have I had such appalling service or food. Really disappointed

Very good food and quick and friendly service. I would definitely go back again.

Good food good company great evening more could one ask for .

Absolutely terrible. This restaurant needs to do significantly more to meet the basic requirements of hospitality. The restaurant is in a great location - but they have much to sort out from service to the standard of food before I will be returning.

Came across this place accidentally with a bunch of mates. It can be very empty at times, but the staff are excellent and the food is really good. Because of the emptiness and the proximity to metro, the Italian vibes are lost, but food quality and service make up for it.

lunch special is goodie if still available. but dinner, always not packed.<br/>price-reasonable<br/>food-so so<br/>overall-a place for italian on fri/sat dinner wit a table available always

Went here for dinner with a friend. First off, it’s very hot in this restaurant. No fans, ventilation or air con. Food was decent - ordered the risotto and fettuccine. We ordered drinks before the food but the drinks came AFTER the food was served. Extremely short staffed (I only saw 2), they were polite and apologetic about the delay.

We came here about 6pm on a Saturday thinking it would be busy. Thankfully not too bad! It's a nice small restaraunt with fast service and great food! I ordered the 4 cheese pizza and my bf ordered the pork pasta. Both delicious, especially the pasta! We didn't know what serving size would be so we ordered a bowl of shoestring fries too - the bowl is huge!!!! Recommend only doing that if you're not getting dessert or going to the movies afterwards! We couldn't eat it all. Well definitely be back 👌🏽

Went here with a friend around dinner time. Wasn’t as packed as we thought it would be. The restaurant was very dimmed and warm. It is good for a date location in my opinion. The food was spectacular I ordered their fettuccine carbonara while my friend ordered their Pappardelle (in photo), super delicious and melted in your mouth! The pricing was a bit high but it was understandable due to the quality of the food, the taste of it definitely made up for it.<br/>The service was nice here, they were always smiling which is a bonus.

Had a nice meal here. Unfortunately there was some confusion from the chef about what GF means...I ordered the pork belly which I checked was gluten free...but it came out with barley in the sauce...I had to ask the waiter to go an check again, and of course it did have gluten. The waiter was lovely, offered to prepare something else...but by the time that would have been ready I would have been eating alone. So I switched meals with someone else (whose was gluten free). While the meal was very very good, dessert especially...the protein size was generous, but there wasn't much else in the plate, thankfully we ordered a side of fries or we would have left hungry! In general, loved the flavours, but small portions and was disappointed about the lack of GF knowledge, hence my lower rating.

Saw their advertisement inside the Skycity metro and decided to try it out for dinner after a movie. Was about 7pm so they weren't very busy. Probably around one or two tables at the time. It was very nice inside, felt very warm and cosy inside. <br/><br/>We ordered this mozzarella dish as an entrée, can't remember what it's called. But it was not what we expected. Literally a blob of mozzarella in the middle with a few pieces of rock solid bread on the side (can't remember the name for it right now lol). We weren't sure how to eat this. Like there was more cheese than bread and there was this vinaigrette on the plate with some cherry tomatoes. Honestly first time ordering something so new to us and we had noooooo idea how to eat it lol. And to be honest I don't think it was worth it. <br/><br/>I ordered a risotto for the main -wasn't bad but it was amazing like what I expected it to be coming from an Italian restaurant. <br/><br/>We decided to give dessert a go, so we ordered the standard tiramisu. It was once again, not amazing but not bad. <br/><br/>Service here is good. Our waiter was very friendly and chirpy. But I personally wouldn't come back again 😕

ITALIAN RESTAURANT??? I don't think so ..<br/>We been in there many times before and the food was better, (specially the matagiati, because this time was very spicy like Indian food) we been last weekend with my husband and the atmosphere and the perfume of the food was completely not Italian

I love Italian food, so was excited that our  chose  viva for a special lunch with friends  but <br/><br/>their menu is like everyone else <br/>nothing special and no fish in the menu only  fried calamari.<br/>The wine list doesn't have enough quality wines. like the prosecco <br/>It is the same that you can find in liquor stores for 10$.

It's okay. The duck lacked flavour. I found myself drowning it with cheese and salt and pepper the whole time. Would probably recommend the pork belly instead. Possibly the beef too. Don't get the duck D8

My family and I went to ViVa Italian Restaurant tonight to celebrate my sister's graduation. We didn't book a table, and we're fortunate to be able to get enough seats.<br/><br/>It was such a great find; we really enjoyed our experience. The food was fresh, tasty, and authentic. We ordered lamb shanks, pizza, risotto, and pasta dishes and they were fantastic; I could taste the quality of the ingredients. <br/><br/>I would recommend ViVa Italian Restaurant to family, friends, and followers.

Their advertising isn't correct. Walking in/out Event cinemas you see a huge banner with ViVa's deal on it: $18.95 for a small pizza / pasta and a drink. Perfect dinner suggestion for a bunch of movie geeks who just had a big lunch and popcorn to eat.<br/><br/>However as soon as you enter ViVa there's no mention of that deal. When you ask the grumpy staff they'll tell you that's their lunch deal. No mention on the huge banner about that. Not even in the fine print.<br/><br/>Menu looks small and boring, especially for a vegetarian. Therefore we left and went to the Italian place around the corner on Albert. We had a great time there. And their pizzas are real good. Will do that again. No ViVa for us.

Great food. I ordered the steak and my partner ordered a pizza. Both came on time and were delicious. Wine list is all good. They also have good coffees. <br/><br/>Staff are very helpful and friendly. Would defiantly go back again.

Have heard about this place for long time, but the first time to visit today. Ordered one Tagliatta as the main dish and one Tiramisu as the dessert for my dinner. Both two dishes were good taste, fresh food materials and quality was just matched with their price. Personally, the Tagliatta was a little bit salty, just because I used to light taste. The portion size of Tiramisu was super big, enough for two to three people to share. Service was good, I could not make any sense with Italianism dish names on their new season menu if with out the friendly explanation by staff there. Grazie! Good place! Good Friday! :)

Don't go here. The menu is very limited, it tastes bad and no way is it worth the money. My partner and I will definitely not ever go back here. Yuck!!!

i went here with my aunt and a friend just recently. we ordered fish and chips,Caesar salad,and calamari and chips..food is really yum but what what we did not expect is that calamari is too much salty.Overall, highly recommended!☺

I have wanted to review this restaurant for awhile now, finally got a chance today, and it surely did not disappoint.<br/><br/>The restaurant interior has a sophisticated, yet easy vibe. The photos on the wall really takes you to Italy.<br/><br/>The staff serving us was super friendly and approachable.<br/><br/>However, the highlight was definitely the food. The price is on the higher side, but it was worth every single cent. The menu selection was not extensive either, but everything was cooked to perfection. Husband's ravioli filled with ricotta and cooked in herb, orange and fennel butter was lovely. The flavors were beautifully balanced. <br/>My sister's risotto had a generous serving size with lots of seafood, and it was packed with flavour.<br/>My pizza was huge at 13 inch. The caramelised onions were just divine, with a wonderful combination of texture from creamy feta cheese and crunchy walnuts. The crust was nice and crispy, definitely one of the most authentic ones I've had in Auckland.<br/><br/>All in all we could not be happier with our dining experience, and would definitely love to return again for special occasions.

My friend has recommended this restaurant for a long while, we finally came here for a lunch. I ordered a seafood marinara, which had heaps seafood in it, snapper, prawns, scallops, and mussels. The portion was quite big, the presentation was lovely, but I thought the sauce was a bit light.

I am actually very surprised to see good reviews on food at Viva. We just ordered two takeaway pizzas - a Marguerita and a prosciutto, the latter one was avarage,but the Marguerita was just horrible. It was the first time I had a Marguerita with no tomatoes at all, the base was as thin as paper and completely burnt on the edges, I couldnt eat it. Viva definetely does not make Italian style pizzas and to be honest, I would be happier if I had gone to Pizza Hut or Dominos. Dont reccommend it and won't be going back.

Went there a bit out of chance.. great service, great food the tortenelli spinach and snaper was amazingly fresh and good value for money. Pizza was awesome with fresh ingredients even though they didnt have any champagne on the menu only proseco which was a shame.. I ll be back though!

Great place to enjoy a pre show bite, parking very easy with Civic just below and elevators from there to almost front door made the trek in the rain a welcome surprise. The service is fast and snappy just as one would expect in a genuine Italian Trattoria, try the Calamari and also Ravioli which are very much as we loved in the much missed Delicious on Richmond Rd. For a quiet intimate dinner visit after 7.30pm when the show traffic have left.<br/><br/>Great beverage list with many hard to find varietals at modest prices, the staff are attentive and give their very best all the time.<br/><br/>Hard to find fault although we would prefer if it was open for post show dessert and coffee also.

There is no way to rate this place positively, if the sign on the outside tells you that it closes at 10:00 pm and yet they somehow don't take walk in diners that arrive before 9:00 pm.<br/>On the whole, I consider the experience feeble in the extreme. Not adhering to your advertised hours makes it impossible for people to plan where they might take advantage of this kind of information. It matters very little if your food is superb if you can't get to try it. <br/>In particular, I would want to be able to register my negative opinion with an attentive manager who is capable only of shrugging in an Italian way and say 'What can I do?' Giving me the name of someone on an EFTPOS receipt is, perhaps, hard to identify as being in anyway committed to a pleasant dining experience. <br/>

We stumbled upon Viva because it's in a very convenient location (especially if you're going to watch a movie!). Walking in we were greeted as soon as someone was free and got seated, the service was friendly enough! Its a neat Italian restaurant (lightening is a bit dim) , looking at the menu, it's definitely not your typical Italian restaurant menu and we found that we had to google a few things (which is totally fine! all part of the experience!). The food was good, I forgot the name of what i ordered (but it was the fat pasta with the lamb) and it was very nice! super tasty, the one thing i wish though was for the pasta to not be as "soggy/soft", i felt like it may have been a bit over cooked. But other than that it was great! my friend also ordered the chefs risotto and i was told it was really yum! <br/><br/>Overall an ok experience, i wouldn't be jumping to go back, but its a place ill definitely be returning to at some point

As long as you walk in this restaurant, you will see Italian picture on the wall and it reminds you that "hey, it's an Italian restaurant!" The food is good, especially calamari with sweet sauce as starters. the risotto is chef's creation and the day I went he made with asparagus. I believe it will be more attractive with seafood, lol. Medium rare eye fillet is nice and chocolate moose cake is just perfect. <br/>It's easy to park over there, you can choose to park in civic cinema parking and the rate is only $3 per hour.

I have been to Italy recently and I tried must Italian food and I tell you what this place remind me of Italy. Amazing customer service with a cute Italian accent, good quality food ,real Italian taste and a price was not bad eather. <br/>Amazing big selection of white and red wine.<br/>Wine lovers would appreciate it this place.<br/>For such a new place it was on point. <br/>It is a good set up as well.A place look amazing. <br/>I would definitely come back.

This is a newly-opened Italian Restaurant in Aotea Square. very nice place with very good service. We tried spaghetti and gnocchi. Not many people come to there during dinner time but it's really worth a try.