Review Papa Tazio - Rotorua

They were very busy when we arrived and gave us an option to sit outside while we waited for a table inside. They turned on one of those gas outdoor heaters for us. We had a hot chocolate, the pulled pork pizza and the Sicilian beach pizza. The hot chocolate wasn't anything special, however the pizzas were a whole different story. The pizzas were both amazing!! The flavours worked well together, and the pizza crust was so good. We ended up staying outside despite several people having left the restaurant while we were eating. The server didn't offer us a table inside until we were finished. Though that wasn't a biggie because the pizza was so good.

Nice service, great food we enjoyed our time. It would be nicer if the man in the bar was smiling as I was paying. But young waiter was very nice and helpful, so I give 5 stars!

Highly recommend. I'm a picky eater and I love the food here. Also has great service and polite waitresses who take feedback on the quality of your meal. Amazing!

What a wonderful experience. The staff were excellent from the moment of entry to the end service. Polite, professional and answered my questions. They supplies us with two pasta dishes full of flavor, cooked perfectly and totally enjoyable. Their MOCA was well made and though simple in presentation it was excellent in flavour. The food came in more than adequate time, and the desert was simple but great. A very pleasant experience and yes I would without hesitation recommend this friendly warm restaurant to you. I thought the pricing was reasonable as well. For family, a friends night out or maybe a moment with the other, come and check it out.

My daughter loves Italian and we went to Papa Tazio for her birthday dinner. The food was yummy and service was par excellence. The surprise 'complementary' birthday dessert was a very thoughtful gesture. Would highly recommend this place to all.

This is my #1 place to eat on Eat Streat. The menu is great. My wife loves the Eye Fillet Steak and the Fettuccine Tuscany. I go for the Huntington Pizza most visits. Until Leonardo's changed ownership this was the best place on the Street to get a pizza. The crust is very thin and crisp. Without hesitation I will always tell people to go here if they ask.

Excellent food and table services. Could not recommended this place any higher. Only problem was this group of tourists on the table next to us were far too loud and immature. A classy and well established restaurant such as this shouldn't admit people of this nature. However, again, the great wait staff made this an unforgettable experience.

Lovely and chill place to have lunch, came a couple of times when visiting Rotorua. One waitress was lovely and proficient, but another was maybe very new to waitressing and/or struggling with a language barrier, didn't seem to understand some of what we said and didn't offer water/drinks. Pumpkin pasta was lovely, and the baked cheesecake was delicious. Would come back just for those two things!

Had lunch here, the pizzas were very tasty. Staff was friendly and service was good. Been here previously for dinner and enjoyed that night as well. I recommend the place for both lunch or dinner.

Papa Tazio, name change, is one of the best Italian restaurants I have ever visited. The classic Italian dishes are sprinkled with fresh local ingredients and cooked to perfection. The pizzas are wonderful. Great toppings and amazing crust. The salads, home-made meatballs, bruschetta, and other appetizers are great start to your meal. Local specials, like lamb McLaren, are perfectly cooked, well garnished, and incredibly tasty. Delightful desserts, and a very pleasant dining atmosphere, make Papa Tazio's a must-visit dining experience. There is normally plenty of on-street parking near the restaurant, however, it is easier to find a space, and get your meal a bit faster, after lunch and before dinner.

This place is now called Papa Tazoi. Ordered the fettuccine europa and it was absolute trash. The worst pasta dish I have ever had and it was $22.90, pasta at the supermarket tastes better. The dish was spicy, watery and not at all like a fettuccine, I did not finish my meal. The service was bad, the old man who took our money at the end didn't even say hi and was rude. I will definitely not be coming back. Unfortunately I cannot give a 0 star review.

very friendly and attentive waiter, nice ambience with good choice of piped music, Bacharach,Latin etc. food pretty good for a place that does quite a high number of covers. name has changed to Papa Tazio.<br/>

Disappointed with pizza, ordered Margarita pizza which had tomato slices on it and chesse wasn't stringy mozzarella. Again, very disappointed with berry crepe which had been heated in microwave was hard, rubbery and had no flavour in it. We were told by the duty manager we should have mentioned to his staff but there was no staff around to take comments. Also, he didn't acknowledge the complaint or show any effort to rectify it and charge full price. <br/><br/>

The food is ok but overpriced, one of the staff served us badly, and was ill-mannered... We came to this restaurant because we wanna try Italian food, but I think I can also cook it...

Terrible customer service. We ordered two kids meals with drinks, the guy at the cashier who seemed like the owner decided to charge us xtra money because they served us "large" drinks where only "small" ones were meant to come with the meals. We questioned the bill, the guy seemed couldn't care less and still decided to charge extra for their own mistake. Never before in my life had anything similar ever occurred to me, Rotorua is a tourism city doesn't mean that you can charge your customer whatever you want

Friendly wait staff who were very attentive to our dining needs. Portions were generous with reasonable prices. We had the spaghetti marinara, the panzerotti, and the muso pizza. All dishes were okay, but lacked a bit of flavour and "wow" factor. All in all we enjoyed our dining experience and Nuvolari.

As my husband and I walked up to the door we were greeted by smiling faces. Our server Charles was very friendly and helpful. The food was amazing. Was easy to get the rest to take home because we couldn't finish it.

The front of house staff are the only thing keeping this place going. Clearly overworked, under trained and most likely under paid. <br/>The Indian waiter told me the mussels were a large size, the German told me they were very small. The staff couldn't tell me what the roasted vegetables were and when I asked if I could have the mussels dairy free I was told 'no changes to the menu' how hard is it to change cream for water??? <br/>We were also told 'just order what you want' a clear indication my request for a recommendation wasn't welcome. <br/>The blonde waitress looked like she'd been given the biggest section, was under obvious stress and yet miraculously kept a smile on her face. <br/>The food arrived before the cutlery and when we asked for some an empty tin can was plonked on the table with 2 plates. The scallops were grotesque. The sticky ginger sauce was burnt, chewy and tasted like vomit. The scallops were overdone. <br/>The mussels were sweet - far too much Pernod was used. The chicken was served with a sweet relish that provided nothing but a feeling of overindulgence and the cold olives were its final tragedy. <br/>We managed to have finished and stacked up our plates INCLUDING entree plates that hadn't been cleared 15 minutes before anybody came to check the table. I went to pay and the owner had about as much charm as the chewy sauce I'd gagged at earlier in the evening.<br/>He is a clear example of how some people are categorically unfit to work in a customer facing position let alone run a restaurant. <br/>Please don't consider visiting here. <br/>

Terrible service, which is an awful shame as the food had potential the pizza bases were delicious and crisp and the fettuccine Tuscany was nice too! But when we were last in Rotorua for a day we decided to return for another lunch but the owner rudely turned us away even though the restaurant looked open at it was almost 12pm. He was very impolite stating that they were not open yet and we must leave. I don't know where he learnt his service from, as I would have understood not being able to order a meal yet but surely we could take a seat and view the menu and have a drink for the 10 minutes before the kitchen open. Instead we were turned away. And we took our business elsewhere..

Well what a very disappointing meal. The owner was disgruntled and extremely unfriendly and unhelpful he obviously didn't want to be there working on a public holiday. The pizzas were underwhelming in flavour and lacked seasoning. The wait staff seemed like they were on edge. Would not recommend this place. I even installed this app to post this review. When I went to pay the owner (yes I asked if it was him) didn't even ask if my meal was nice or have a good night. More interested in the money. Yes the way, the place was not even half full. Worst dining experience in NZ so far.

Couple of things especially for the person who owns the place.... called in at 8.47pm spoke to an Indian guy who mentioned they don't have specific time to close the place but said based on the situation they might close at 10.30pm..... not taking any chance took my family with 2 kids ... hungry at 9.40pm ..... as I stepped in there was straight message that they are closed ..... not addressing the point of contact or situation ..... there was no apology or empathy..... rating for food is too far .... I will not even shit on this place again.... if u can't serve food then better you do something else... just to start have better customer service....

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING RESTAURANT! I dont even know where to start for this garbage place.<br/>Not only is the food disgusting, the pizza was undercooked, toppings tasted foul and was definitely not fresh. A $5 Dominos Pizza tastes a million times better than their pizza. Felt very sick the next day as well!<br/>The bathroom was filthy dirty and smelled absolutely rancid, felt like throwing up when I walked in. Not sure how many years it has been since they last cleaned it.<br/>The waiters had no idea what they even had on their own menu, ignored me when we asked for water and simply does not care about the customers.<br/>Not until I met the owner of the restaurant, Jeff Ray, did I realise how disrespectful one can be towards a customer. The owner was the most rude person I have ever met in my life. He has no respect for paying customers and was very arrogant who did not listen to anything I was telling him. I walked up to him wanting to pay for my food when suddenly he starts accusing me of telling him what to do in his own restaurant and then disregards anything I say.Easily the worst restaurant I have ever been to.If you want to be treated like crap, then this is the place to go!

Had fettuccine farina for dinner. It was way too salty to the point that I left half of the plate untouched. Nothing much other than its heavy saltiness and paste that tasted like it's straight out of a can. Pasta was overcooked too. My partner's Coq Au Vin was substandard, again too salty to our liking. Although the chicken was cooked well, soft and tender. <br/>

Wonderful and absolutely delicious lunch deals with a very old-fashioned interior design. There was a fireplace, however, it was not on even though it was very cold which I found amusing. The restaurant was also very dim, and there was not enough light coming in which bothered me a little and the candles were not lit on our table. Great customer service though. The waitress made sure everyone was okay with their meals. I also admired the great jars the milkshakes came in, in which the drink was able to last throughout my entire meal, unlike many other restaurants and cafés!

A shockingly bad risotto - just overflowing with cheese and not parmesan cheese, but something like cheddar or colby. It was inedible. <br/><br/>We also ordered a side dish of "caramelised beetroot". It was straight out of a can and certainly not caramelised. <br/><br/>We said to the waitress that it was out of a can and not roasted. She went away and came back. Unbelievably the message she conveyed was that "the menu didn't say 'roasted'. It said 'caramelised'". There didn't seem to be any point arguing that beetroot had to be roasted (or something similar) to become caramelised. And the fact that it was out of a can didn't seem to be of interest.<br/><br/>Very poor food and service and, at $30 a main meal, poor value for money.

Family of 4 ordered 2 pizzas, an antipasti and a pasta meal. All arrived promptly (together) and were really good! Pizzas were thin, crispy and real good. Pasta was fresh, and the prawns with it were really good! Salmon and rosti went down well! Friendly service too.

Not a great place for us..........service was so slow, and to ask for water 2x then got up and got it ourselves and they forgot a drink completely...coffee was VERY bitter and when we told waitress her comment was "yes a lot of people complain about that" which was weird !! they exchanged it for a pot of tea instead. Pasta was quite dry and lacking something and pizza was pretty much lacking topping and flavor...our experience wasn't great and we wouldn't return. ps a hand towel in the toilet is not very hygienic at all and in fact I would imagine it would be against health regulations...I wiped my hands on my clothes !

Had an early evening meal last night (Weds) as my boys were in the mood for Italian. Shared the pepperoni pizza as a starter followed by mains of penne bolognese (x 2) and the spaghetti "bruni" (Olive oil, garlic and chilli flakes...this is a simple classic but I felt it was a little dry (more oil needed) and despite asking for it, I never received Parmesan cheese which for me, would've enhanced the dish..) - we also shared a garlic bread which had sea salt sprinkled on it, very moorish.<br/>The pizza had a great light base and the boys enjoyed their penne dishes. Service was good, but as the place got busier it became disjointed (understaffed perhaps). Would happily eat here again but would likely try some other establishments on "Eat Street" first...

This was the worst restaurant we are at during our two week trip to NZ. Service is very slow, the waiters ignored us after they seated us. We waited 10 minutes for menus and 20 minutes for drinks. Each persons main course arrived separately. The worst thing is the managers attitude. He was so arrogant when we complained and brushed us off. Terrible experience and below average food!

Went here for a late supper and was served by Eliot who was an amazing server! We had a pizza and fries and a few drinks. Service was great and drinks and food were made perfectly. Great meal for a late night supper.

Lovely lovely! We had pizza from the lunch menu which was a reduced price. <br/><br/>Both pizzas were delicious I really enjoyed the Varzi - chicken, pesto and pine nuts. The pizza base was light so this whole meal felt a rather light meal not heavy and nasty (the way the should be). A huge selection of pasta, pizza and mains. <br/><br/>Our waitress was lovely and very helpful.

"What can I say..."<br/><br/>Couples weekend away from the hustle and bustle of Auckland, read reviews that this was the place to eat for Italian. Too bad that some of the negative reviews were what it seemed.<br/><br/>Walked in, got seated...<br/><br/>25min later not served... It was as if we were invisible to all the waiters there who even walked past us multiple times...<br/><br/>So... "What can I say?" When I wasn't even able to dine... Absolutely disappointed and I have never experienced such a lack of regard to your customers, who after all do pay the bills.

For me who was working for 7 days without any day offs last week, it was absolutely MUST to have a good dining experience today. <br/><br/>The restaurant has a nice and welcoming atmosphere and the staff was generally friendly- <br/><br/>Then a scary not-so-nice-part now.<br/>The place was way too cold! I have enjoyed the chilly Rotorua too much. <br/>It turned out that the bathrooms were a lot warmer than the eating area..<br/>Please shut the main door- the outside temperature is ridiculous 13 degrees!<br/><br/>We chose from the lunch special menu: something roma (creamy chicken pasta) and exotic sounded name, which I forgot but it was chicken cooked in red wine. <br/>Both of them were way to salty.<br/><br/>When I came to pay the bill, two waitresses were pointing at each other to decide which one to receive my credit card. And finally one was decided after a lot of pointing each other and she overcharged me by 8 dollars.<br/><br/>It was not worth saying good bye to my hard earned cash..

The Lynmore Tennis Club recently held our prizegiving upstairs at Nuvolari. Having been there myself several times i thought it would be a good idea to share my experiences with members of the club. Not one person out of around 25 people were disappointed and all had glowing reviews of the meals and service. Geoff had us all upstairs, it was cosy warm on a wet wild night and everything went to plan. We had our own waitress who was great getting our drinks and dinner and serving us with a smile. Thanks to Geoff and your awesome staff. We will be back next year.

Part of the Eat Streat, this restaurant has a nice ambience and friendly staff and not to mention the food. We ordered the classic margherita pizza and it was really nice. The basil leaves were fresh too!! Not the only italian place but recommended.

Worst dining experience I've had. Poor service and food was terrible. Better off going to Pizza Hut or getting pasta sauce from the supermarket.<br/><br/>The chairs were dirty, waitress blamed us for dirtying it. <br/><br/>Wrong order came, got charged for the incorrect meal, which was double what we paid. <br/><br/>Charged more for kids meal than what we were told, as we couldn't have ice cream. <br/><br/>Pizzas were under done. Pork was over cooked.

Well, well, well, a little trip to Rotorua, fancy that! It was a Saturday night in Rotorua and pasta was calling my name, as it so often does. So off we went to find a delicious Italian feast. There are only a couple of Italian restaurants in Rotorua but when at least one of them is this good, you can't really complain. I ordered the Fettuccine Tuscany and my friend ordered the Spaghetti Marinara. This has got to be the best chicken fettuccine I have ever had. And I've had a fear few chicken fettuccine in my time. The masala sauce they put in the dish worked brilliantly. I was a little hesitant to order this dish and I was a little worried the masala wouldn't work. I needn't have worried. It was perfect. My friend said she enjoyed her dish. We also shared the garlic bread which was very good. Some convincing on my friends part took place in order for me to agree to go halves on the white chocolate pannacotta for dessert. I'm not the biggest fan of pannacotta, it all seems a bit pointless to me. Anyway, I agreed. But when we went to order it, the waiter said they had run out. We didn't really feel like any of the other desserts so just left it at that. I was disappointed that the dessert we wanted wasn't available and the service could have been a little friendlier but the pasta was 6 out of 5 and it was a very pleasant night.

We were on a trip to Rotorua and wanted to try something Italian. Nuvolari gave us a good experience on a cold and windy evening. We were 6 in number in which 3 were Chefs. We ordered Arancini (Crispy risotto balls), Salmone Rossellini, Spaghetti Marinara and Spaghetti Bruni. The rice was actually under-cooked and we informed about that as soon as my friend tasted a spoon of it. The staff were so concerned about that and they replaced with a proper one and apologized to us on behalf of the chef who prepared that. The Salmon dish had a fresh garlic aroma #Purely-Italiano# and the fish was properly cooked. I tried the Trio Chocolate at the end which contained Chocolate mousse, Chocolate ice cream and Chocolate cake. The presentation should be appreciated. <br/><br/>The staff were friendly and they were following up with the service every now and then. The restaurant's ambiance would really get a thumbs up from me.<br/><br/>I would recommend this restaurant for a relaxed time to spend with family and friends.

How I wished we had had time to read the reviews in MenuMania before choosing this restaurant. We arrived in town late and most places were full so chose this restaurant as the ambience seemed great and friends wanted to eat Italian. We could see it was very busy but being a group of 7 weren't in a huge hurry. A table of 8 arrived after us and had finished eating their meals before ours even arrived. We ordered three servings of fries but none arrived. The food ranged from sublime the stuffed pork and chicken pizza to inedible the penne with char-grilled vegetables. The penne looked and tasted like my home cooking on a bad night and wasn't restaurant quality at all. Fortunately we were sharing dishes as otherwise I would have been starving and whilst my husbands stuffed pork was delicious he went away hungry as the portion size was so small. My advice is stick to the pizza and mains which did taste nice, avoid the pasta and definitely don't go there on a completely empty stomach.

Shocking, shocking, shocking! <br/>Most likely one of the worst places I have been. Found place on the internet and was really looking forward to it, place was packed so surely that's a good sign. Staff seated us, didn't say much. We were squashed into a corner where I couldn't move, our table was broken so could not put hands or wrists on table in case the whole thing came crashing down, chairs were very uncomfortable so throughout dinner we both sat like sardines in a can watching our every move the table didn't move too much. No water at our table, I asked twice for some. <br/>Reading what others have written - they are correct - the tapas are terrible, i felt like I was at a fish and chip shop! The seafood was deep fried (advertised which was fine) but the taste was terrible! definitely out of a packet from supermarket, the prawns tasted old. Mussels were straight out of pot, distastefully thrown onto the plate with no presentation, garlic bread covered in big chunky sea salt flakes which made the bread unbearable to eat. <br/>Decided to get entree sized mains, these SURELY had to be from a frozen supermarket meal!! Had no 'real' taste, I could make my own Italian better than this. Flavourless, boring and very overpriced for what it was. Was just pasta with a tasteless sauce thrown through it. <br/><br/>Waitresses clearly didn't want to be there and didn't make conversation. The bit that topped my experience here was paying! The older gentleman at the bar making drinks served us and I have never experienced something quite like it. He didn't make eye contact, he did not smile, he just took our card and put the amount through. I was shocked. Did not ask how our meal was, and did not thank us, we said thank you and left. <br/>I don't believe Italian food is hard, nor do I think customer service. For somewhere that was so busy, I was blown away anyone would find this place appealing. I receive better service down at the fish and chip shop than this. <br/>I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone!!

This place, like many in tourist town Rotorua is hyped. It doesn't deserve any of it. The food is sooooo underwhelming. Starters clearly from a frozen bag - crumbed calamari is so far from what you might expect...eeek! I had cannelloni - it was awful- a good judge of an italian restaurant is how well they do the staples- no lasagne on this menu- the cannelloni was worse than a frozen meal cannelloni from the supermarket. The pasta was old- at least 2-3days old- there was no creamy white sauce in sight, barely any cheese, had been heated in a microwave, red sauce was bitter, filling dry and tasted old. I should know - i cooked for many years in a number of italian restaurants both in auckland and overseas. Being on holiday one looks forward to a nice meal at the end of the day. This place is hype but no substance- they need a new chef and a manager with a passion for food not simply pumping stuff out to tourists who don't return. Pizzas for the kids were passable. Staff seemed bored and uninterested. Will never return and will advise friends elsewhere.

If I could give this restaurant 0 stars I would. <br/>The ambiance, look and feel of the place is nice. <br/>Customer service was forced. The two ladies who were on when my SO and I went in did not look like they wanted to be there at all. <br/>Ordered two tapas and one side. The two tapas were "Italian cured meats" and "smoked mussels". Obviously both tapas were out of packets from the supermarket. Given the price I was not expecting too much. I ordered their "popular" pasta dish which was said to include a garlic sauce, sweet chili, chicken and pine nuts. What I thought was going to me a beautiful combination of flavours turned out to be over cooked pasta, and a bottle of sweet chili sauce and no hints of garlic whatsoever. Nothing annoys me more than having a sweet main. <br/>And so I brought it up with one of the ladies who came to ask if everything was alright. She said she would see what she could do and ran off to talk to the other lady. The other lady then came to my table with the menu in hand, body language indicated she was ready to get into an argument if need be. I simply told her I was aware of what I was ordering but didn't think like it. I said it was okay before she could read out the description on the menu to me, after all I'm out on a romantic dinner why dwell on sweet pasta? What they could have done was perhaps taken the dish and added or deducted something to it, even some pepper or olive oil, anything.<br/>Also one of the drink glasses was dirty.<br/>What is a good ambiance if the food is terrible? Up the prices get better chefs, also hire a better team. <br/>Very disappointed.

Nuvolari - found the food to be average. Starter - the Tapas all over done deep fried and out of of a packet smoked mussels. We live in a country surrounded by water and you get packet smoked mussels? The tourist may not know the difference....<br/><br/>Main course fish was not fresh, the butter on the plate saved the dish.... Fillet sizes.... Someone please get the tape out and check if its legal. 4 ... maybe 5 very slim and small fillets, reminded me of the fish from the fish and chips shop unbattered.<br/><br/>Staff - owner was not very personable with young girls that need to learn their trade.... Winter and road works may have something to answer to.

My husband's meal was fantastic (eye fillet wrapped in bacon on potato and kumara mash) and cooked to perfection. My meal was extremely poor (fettuccini with capers, olives etc). My pasta was so over cooked that it was a mash on my plate. It disappoints me that you pay quality restaurant prices and the chef lets a meal like that out of the kitchen. It looked like mash too, so if he didn't have time to try it, he should have seen something was wrong. Service and ambience fantastic. Mixed thoughts. Would we go back? Maybe, but we will try other places first and if we did go back I would complain if food is poor again.

I had an evening meal here with a friend. We were both very impressed with the meal. I had the Bistecca Monza which was absolutely delicious - cooked to perfection. It was the best restaurant meal I have had for a long time!<br/><br/>Almost 4 years later and I am back in Rotorua. (August 2016)  I had lunch here on Sunday, dinner Sunday night and dinner on Monday night.  I still like this restaurant. The staff were great and the food was great.  I really loved the Bistecca Monza!

Went to Nuvolari for a pre wedding meal with 24 guests. We had pre booked for 6 weeks took over 2 hours to get our meal, many other tables around us were servered and left and re-tabled. When we asked were are meals were we were told that they would be coming soon Manager was extremely rude and uninterested in our complaints. Food was very average when it finally arrived, Impossible to recommend this place given the disgutting service and attitude of the manager. All t our table agreed that we would never dine here again much better freindler and more honest resturants nearby.

this restaurant is an absolute gem.The prices are affordable,the prawn tapas to die for .It is unpretentious and serves really good middle of the road food. The selection is based around the average Italian meal with normal choices available as well.I have eaten here often and have never had a problem. The service is good ,as is the homemade Italian ice cream.

We arrived right at the end of lunch service but were still able to order off the lunch menu which was a great price. <br/><br/>The food was lovely and good sized portions. Lovely decor and the bathrooms were nice and clean.<br/><br/>Would highly recommend to others, we now plan to stop here every time we go to Rotorua.

Took 2 friends to dinner, we started with some starters. They were presented beautifully and tasted great. After than we had a couple of pizzas, they didnt take long to come and were certainly worth the wait.<br/>The only bad things was that we had to ask for more drinks and napkins.<br/>A great meal with friendly staff.