Ristorante Pizzeria Paradiso — Restaurant in Fiordland Community

Do NOT eat here, it is not worth the money!!

1star is far superior & generous than this restaurant deserves.

The restaurant was busy, so upon arrival we were told there was a wait and to order a starter & drink, we tried to order a starter (pizza bread) but was told “it wasn’t possible as it used the pizza oven”. A couple next to us told us they had ordered this starter 45mins before we arrived and the salt was still burning their mouths, so we had a lucky escape. We continued with the pizza orders despite this, in good faith, that perhaps it was a one off. Over an hour later, the couple next to us asked where their pizza was, only to be told by the owner that “it was coming & the waitress who took their order was young, and had been told off many times”- their pizza arrived, they ate one slice, left and complained at the till at the poor taste & quality. Ours arrived around 10mins later and tasted awful. One vegetarian, one meat, the ingredients tasted cheap, bland and had absolutely zero flavour. We politely mentioned to the waiter, and called the female owner over to table. This woman had such a severe attitude problem that we were shocked and taken back by her language and reaction. We were shouted at, at our table, and demanded to pay in full for both pizzas incl the 15% surcharge. We refused and said we were happy to pay for half and the aggression continued, whilst involving other neighbouring diners and causing a big scene stating “we must be the only ones out of 5million people who do not love their pizzas”. We were then ushered to talk to the “owner”, who makes the pizzas and given a speech on how the pizzas aren’t to everyone’s taste, and how they had been there for 14years, which wasn’t the issue and we were not disputing.

Dispute our best efforts to be calm, civilised, and resolve the matter peacefully, we were consistently shouted at by the RUDE female owner, and told to GET STUFFED. We tried to reason but told unless we paid in full, the police would be called. As the scene & verbal abuse continued, our experience of Te Anau was being completely ruined, we therefore did not want to pay for a whole pizza, when only 2 slices were eaten and we were not treated fairly. We were forced into paying half, purely just to exit the restaurant, and felt extremely shaken and upset by the treatment.

Once back in the car, we then read the reviews of the restaurant and see the pattern of bad service, quality and blame on the customers for their shoddy and unacceptable service. The responses from the restaurant also completely absolve themselves from any issue, or their appalling attitude towards diners.

ZERO STARS. DISGUSTING ATTITUDE OF THE FEMALE OWNER. VILE SERVICE. POOR QUALITY. CHEAP. AWFUL.

Post Review Reply Quite frankly your narcissistic comments below speak for themselves. Keep blaming others for your lack of hospitality and poor customer service, for which every 1star review below references. But yes, it must be us, we were only interested in scamming you. No scene was made by us, and the pizza you forced us to pay for was the only one taken, and subsequently put into the bin outside the restaurant, so enjoy lying and regurgitating the 14year story.

Best of luck to future guests who dare to politely and discretely mention they were not happy with the food, for which THEY were paying an inflated price for.

Thank you for ruining our experience of Te Anau, and talking of being well matched.. you take the crown for the rudest people we have met in New Zealand, everyone else and every other place has been wonderfully hospitable.. but the problem is us, not...

I love how the staff picks and chooses what to reply to and never apologizes???🙃Be aware if you look like a trekker/hiker. While thru hiking a 3,000km trail the Te Araroa I stopped by here to eat. I paid for my meal with my credit card, even left a cash tip and was told thank you. I then went to the grocery next door and began shopping for the next section of my hike. While in the store with a grocery basket full of items this 70-80yr crazed blonde lady came running after me yelling to the whole store “hey you! You didn’t pay for your food” she then grabs me by the arm and starts escorting me out of the store, makes me leave my basket on the ground in a isle and repeatedly… loudly states “we’ve had to many of you runners recently and we are not having it” I politely explain that on my side of the machine it showed that I paid and i was even told thank you before leaving. She didn’t believe me and pretty much dragged me by my shirt collar while yelling at me the entire time walking through the town to “pay for my food like a civilized human being we’ve had too many of you runners recently” and so on… we get to the restaurant and turns out the lady is the owner and her daughter was the one who I paid. I asked the daughter first thing if I had paid and she said “yes he paid” still the crazed blonde owner did not agree and frantically searched through receipts to find that I actually did pay. She then changed demeanors completely like dr jekyll.and mr hyde and says” sorry my mistake have a great day” I then say “you know I have over 30,000usd$ in my account, I am a licensed general contractor in the states this was extremely embarrassing and rude the way I was treated and the fact I will have to walk back over to the grocery store and get my supplies after you accused me of theft very loudly and dragged me over here in front of the entire town- at a minimum after this and then you finding that I did in fact pay and you never even checked before you just judged me because I was dirty from hiking 100s of km without a proper shower to get here that I would like a refund” she refuses and says “ well I’m not giving you a refund” the daughter comes over to fight for my side saying “mom give him a refund” a mother daughter battle is on and I wait upward of 15minutes while they argue and the old blonde lady keeps giving me mean looks and comments -finally the daughter refunds me herself. Maybe menopause? But still after all that she should have given me a 100$ gift certificate and a apology. Thank you to the daughter for being reasonable in still my most embarrassing and rude public encounter in my 36yr life! Calzone was okay- too much bread and not enough filling but I still probably would have went back for another before leaving if it wasn’t for this lady. It sucks being judged by your appearance. Included is a picture of the lady you can judge by her immature actions and not her appearance which is stil pretty good for her old age- I also feel horrible for this lady’s husband and especially her poor daughter who has to deal with her. Her comments and responses on any negative posts are very troubling to say the least i would recommend that she see a psychiatrist and or admit herself to a center- seriously the rudest person I encountered in my 7trips to New Zealand totaling over 2.5yrs in the country. I wish you the best in your mental health...

After dining at this restaurant, I genuinely feel like nothing in New Zealand’s hospitality industry could surprise me anymore—unfortunately, not in a good way.

My parents, partner, and I had dinner here last Saturday night. It wasn’t our first choice, but since we hadn’t booked ahead, we ended up here after a few unsuccessful attempts elsewhere. Initially, we were just relieved to get a table, but that feeling didn’t last long.

The hostess/manager led us to a messy table that needed to be rearranged and wiped down. Instead of cleaning it first, she placed clean cutlery and napkins on it, then went to grab a cloth—leaving us awkwardly standing around. When she finally wiped it, she only brushed off some breadcrumbs, ignoring the sticky stains. My father politely tried to get her attention to clean his side, but she ignored him and walked away. In the end, we had to use our own antibacterial wipes just to make the table usable.

It took about 30 minutes before a waiter even took our orders. The wait for food was reasonable, but the real issue came when I had to send my dish back. I had ordered prawn fettuccine, but all I could taste was a bitter, burnt flavor. I calmly and politely asked for a replacement, and the waiter handled it well, apologizing and taking it back.

However, things took a bizarre turn when the hostess/manager returned with the new plate. Instead of simply bringing it to me, she announced that she would be watching to see if I ate it. She then sat down (more like collapsed) onto the sofa next to my parents and stared at me as I took my first bite. She didn’t even wait for me to swallow before demanding my feedback. I have never felt so uncomfortable in a restaurant—being observed like an animal at the zoo.

My new dish was better (it didn’t have the burnt taste), but overall, the pasta and pizza were just average. The pasta lacked balance in flavor—just bland and uninspiring.

Most of the serving staff seemed new and not properly trained, but they were nice and genuinely trying their best. However, the restaurant was clearly understaffed for the number of tables and guests they had, which likely contributed to the service issues.

On top of that, the restaurant felt incredibly cramped—there were simply too many tables squeezed into the space. Removing just 2-3 tables would make a noticeable difference in comfort.

I was too shocked in the moment to fully stand up for myself, but I did voice my complaint at the counter while paying. The cashier, however, was completely uninterested and acted as if I was just an inconvenience.

Mediocre food, horrible service—I would never go back. If you’re considering dining here, save yourself the trouble and grab some bread and ham from Freshchoice next...