Gina's Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Albert-Eden

Having patronised Gina's many times over the years, including three times at the new Mt Eden Road premises, our most-recent experience was our last. It was awful!

No problems with the food, that was good as usual. However, their attitude and standard has really gone downhill. A group of 12 of us met for an evening of good food, wine and conversation. Not long after we arrived, loud music resounded from the room at the back, which turned out to be a live band. It turned out to be a 21st birthday party. It was near impossible to converse with anyone but the person sitting adjacent. Our waitress was disinterested in our concerns. If Gina's want to allow parties like this, then other patrons need to be advised at the time of booking so that they have a choice of whether to endure this or not (we would have chosen not to). Gina's is now a combination of nightclub and restaurant. Bad luck for those that want a quiet night out.

The other major issue was that they now have a policy of 'one bill per table'. This is problematic as it means that those who choose not to drink, or only want a main, are subsidising those with greater appetites. The person who seemed to be the manager (I am not sure if he was or not) claimed that we were told this when we booked. This was manifestly untrue! Every other restaurant we visit as a group allows us to pay individually. It is not a difficult thing to do and it keeps customers happy.

Then, in the interests of resolving this, we reluctantly agreed to split the bill evenly. No, we could not do that either! They could only split the bill 2, 4 or 8 ways'. They tried to blame the technology. Bizarre really! Only after a brief stand-off, did one waitress point out that we could do this at another till.

This is a shame as Gina's used to have such a good reputation. I'll give four stars for the food but take off three for the...

Twas but a week ago, when my family and I chose to partake in the culinary delights we had heard were available at Ginas Italian Kitchen. Psalms of praise had we heard of Gina’s Italian Kitchen, but alas, our excitement dissipated rapidly into frustration. Peckishness became hunger, and hunger became insatiable ravenousness. Now, I do not use these terms without due care, as had our meals been satisfying to the extent where our hearts and minds were saturated by the exquisite nature of gourmet Italian fare, then the wait of over an hour would have been nothing more than titillating foreplay, however this was not the case. A wide variety of items was ordered by myself and those with me; from pizzas to pastas, to salads and everything in between. Surely one of those items must have been acceptable, I hear you asking yourself... Well unfortunately for our party, and Gina’s Italian Kitchen, the simple answer is, no. No to the overpriced salad which came without feta as advertised. No to the pumpkin ravioli that tasted of no more than dishwater and crushed dreams. No to the chicken ravioli that required so much salt to be palatable that instead of Al Dente we ended up with Al Dead Sea. No to the multiple pizzas that would have been more at home on the $5 menu at your local Pizza Hut. No to the chicken parmigiana. So drowned (in what I can only assume was canned tomatoes) was it, that the answer to why did the chicken cross the road must be ‘to outrun the crimson tidal wave of mediocrity.’ No to the uninspired spaghetti pastas that were as dull as their prices were extortionate. There is no need for Gina’s reputation to have the standing that it does. There is no need for Gina’s to rob their patrons of their hard-earned money. There is no...

My family and i came to this restaurant last night to celebrate a birthday, this was all planned and booked and a large deposit was put down as it was a big table and i have a big family. The front of house was EXTREMELY rude and not friendly at all, snarky and had a really mean face. I was shocked as i have worked in hospitality before and i know the purpose of a front of house staff is to be inviting and make people feel comfortable in the restaurant. The blonde front of house did EXACTLY the opposite of this. We were made to feel unwanted by her and some other waiters/staff and like an annoyance to their night of service. we all got the set menu and were told certain things weren’t available so we were expecting replacements but with no warning they brought out things completely different to what we had ordered. it seemed they were super unhappy there and not working as a team at all, i noticed one of my waitresses was very frustrated that there was confusion coming from the kitchen and she seemed very lost and confused herself. They were snobby and snapped at the children to sit down and not spill their food. it was incredibly rude and uncalled for. I DO NOT recommend eating at this restaurant, you will be met with unfriendly staff and unorganised service. there are far more better italian places in auckland with better service and better food, i would recommend caio belli...