Papa's Italian Eatery — Restaurant in Albert-Eden

My boyfriend and I came here for what we hoped would be a pleasant date. However, although the rest of the staff were very friendly, our time was somewhat ruined by the behaviour of the head chef.

Having worked as a waitress in several restaurants before, alarm bells started ringing for me as soon as we arrived. Staff were scrambling around in what looked like terror as the head chef barked orders that sounded more like insults, filling the whole restaurant with the sound of his own voice. It turned out this sort of behaviour would be a constant throughout the whole night.

We could see the head chef chugging back in the kitchen, and on the occasions he came out to interact with the guests, he was quite blatantly drunk. Perhaps the old adage "don't drink and fry" would have been beneficial, as the kitchen was constantly filled with smoke. He continued to yell at his staff, whom he obviously had no respect for. He would loudly blurt out stereotypical Italian phrases, to the point where I almost expected to hear, "it's-a me, Mario!" eminating from this overgrown rooster's mouth...it was pretty sad. One time he stepped out from behind the kitchen counter he made sexually aggressive pelvic thrusts at one of his staff, and another time as he strutted about the restaurant demonstrating how in love with his own voice he was, he grabbed the ass of one of the female wait staff members, who I SINCERELY hope was his wife/partner.

Furthermore, as a diner, I do not wish to hear what calamity and expletives are going on in the kitchen. Lord knows I have enough of that when I cook at home. I also don't want my quiet dinner conversation interrupted by the head chef's loud blustering as he marches around between guests.

On the plus side, his staff held up remarkably well under the direction of this man; our orders arrived exactly as we asked, and the food was acceptable (if a little overpriced).

At the end of the day though, there is absolutely no excuse to treat your staff like dogs, no matter how busy the restaurant is. I have worked in an environment very similar to this, and unsurprisingly, it did not go well while it was in business (emphasis on was). There is no respect between anyone, and tasks are done out of fear rather than a desire to do well. Yelling and being horrible to people only makes them more stressed and thus more prone to make mistakes. I feel bad when I am served by people who look like they don't want to be there at all (and for good reason). Fortunately, I have also had the pleasure to work in restaurants where none of this happened. No matter how busy it got (and it did get very busy), when someone made a mistake, the head chef or the front of house would calmly and quickly explain the problem and solution without making it a personal attack, and everyone moved on. Coincidentally, it was a pleasure to work and dine there, and their business is still flourishing today.

TL;DR: This place could be so much better if the chef sorts out his drinking and attitude problems and starts treating his staff like human beings. I'll be back when...

We were really looking forward to trying this place after hearing good things, but unfortunately our experience didn’t quite live up to expectations.

The pizza bases were much thicker and soggier than we’d hoped — especially disappointing since we came in craving that classic crispy Italian-style base. One of our pizzas was also overwhelmingly salty, to the point that even a salt lover would find it hard to enjoy. The pasta had a similar issue with saltiness, which really overpowered the flavour of the dish.

We also had a small mix-up with one of our orders — not the end of the world, so we didn’t make a fuss, but it did add to the sense that the service was a little off. We tried to get the attention of staff for some extra drinks, but felt like we were being overlooked, which was frustrating.

That said, the setting was lovely and the menu has some great potential. With a bit more attention to balance in the food and attentiveness in the service, I think this place could be excellent. We’d love to give it another go down the track, in hopes of a...

Went there after it popped up on Instagram so many times . Place looked promising but it was far from it . Reservations were made only to Arrive and no table was waiting for us . We stood around whilst staff scratched their head looking around for a a table . Then what’s the point of booking ? Ordered polenta chips and garlic pizza for starters that took 40 minutes to arrive and 15 minutes apart polenta chips were awful nothing like a proper polenta chip. Pizza was a huge disappointment for nearly $30 a pizza we expected proper Italian wood fire pizza only to get a super market style base. Margarita pizza arrived with no fresh mozzarella. Cannoli was good but the rest was highly disappointing. Staff were unprofessional and confused walked around wondering what belongs to what table . Owner was full of excuses not owning up to poor staff management. If you want real Italian go to an Italian place this is a kiwi version of Italian absolutely disappointing and pricey to . Will not...