We had a great night at Gina's last Tuesday. We got there during happy hour so got half priced Chianti wine by the glass. Both the pizzas and pasta were good. I had the pappardelle with walnut and spinach which was Divine. My friend had the traditionally made carbonara. Desserts consisted of a generous tiramisu and yummy affogato. The pizza bread was also a must have. Great atmosphere....if not a little too noisy and excellent service topped off a good night.

The best thing about Gina's were the portions. Huge amounts of food and a reasonably good atmosphere made the night enjoyable. The food wasn't the best Italian I've had but it is certainly at the higher end of the Auckland offering. A bit pricey for what it was...

Not a bad experience, dinned at Gina's Italian Kitchen on saturday 24the July 2011.Started off a bit of a let down, when the bar man couldn't tell the difference between the $100 dollar note i gave him and a $50 dollar note. Ended up getting short changed $50. Bu sorted it so prob a honest mistake. Starters prob a big let down , after waiting some 45 minutes for these, our shared platter came with no garlic bread as stated . Yet the other two platters on the table did. The waiter explained oh its on its way busy in the kitchen. After another 45minutes we got the last garlic bread. Pretty shocking as surely 3 platters mean 3 breads. Next mains Got Cannelloni con Pollo .Meant to be filled with chicken. Well must have been chicken stock as couldn't find any decent cut or portion of chicken in it. Dessert got the Panna Cotta. And as im a avid eater of this dessert, well finished off well anyway.Now bill time saw a $15 dollar charge for taking a birthday cake , was never told about this but we never asked . Would have been nice to have been told though.Adding to this we booked Gina's Italian Kitchen for 11. With this including 1 child. We were told on booking that the child could order off the children's menu. We later found out that no he can not he must have the $40 mains.I explained we were told on booking that it was fine to order off the child's menu. No No No. The answer. It wasn't like the 600 odd dollar bill for the table would have been dented by his dinner being some 20 dollars cheaper.Overall experience was atmosphere was brilliant, food was barley average. and the left hand didn't no what the right was doing. I must give them a try when they aren't so busy and dine off the menu next time. Hopefully GINAS gets there stuff together before the world cup because at 8 bucks odd a beer for the nice stuff dinners will go elsewhere.

Had my first Gina's Italian Kitchen experience on Friday and will now become a regular!! Four of us shared a range of pizzas including the pepperoni, blue cheese and walnut which was delicious and the artichoke vege one is yummy too!! A couple of bottles of great wine really topped the night off.

Had my first experience on Gina's Italian Kitchen last night and can't understand why all the negative commentary. We had a whale of a time - authentic pizzas (the pepperoni and walnut one my favourite) , buzzy atmosphere and some great red wine - I was pleasantly surprised by my maiden Gina's Italian Kitchen restaurant experience.

We went to Ginas Italian Kitchen on Sat 30th April 2011 and can safely say was the worst italian food I have ever tasted! It was a booking for 17 people for my friends 25th bday. We arrived at 7, mains were not served untill after 9 - to add to our frustration they missed 5 main meal orders and by the time they finally arrived at the table everyone else had well finished their meals. Might I add that one of the late meals also arrived stone cold in the middle and was left uneaten. The meals that did arrive were cold, overcooked or just plain bland. I have never tasted fetticine carbanara from a restaurant that tastes like an alfredo packet you buy from the supermarket, the WORST pasta I have every ordered! The meals are extremely small for the large price they put on their set menus. I highly discourage people from going to Gina's - i suggest you pick somewhere else.Thanks for reading. Frustrated diner.

First time at Ginas last night and thankfully the last, unless its for free. We booked for a specific time and was told to make sure we are on time etc etc then when we arrive on time, our table was still occupied so we waited at the bar for 18mins exactly. We then sit at a table that could not seat comfortably the amount of people we had booked for so had to ask for another table. Once we were ready to order my friend had to stand and wave a waiter to our table. Once we ordered our drinks and mains we waited at least 20mins for our drinks and at least 40mins for our mains. On the menu that we were provided, the mains had a note: All mains come with Bread, salad and roast vegetables. When our mains finally came, which was reasonably tasty, there was no salad and no bread. I spoke to the waiter regarding this and all he could say was 'I can give you bread for free'. What is that?? There were 5 people on our table who ordered the over priced mains because of this note, but only 3 plates of bread was served for free. THEN my friend who was the first to order was served her food last, our table were nearly finished eating. To make up for the loooooooooooong wait for our food we got 2 free desserts which was a nice gesture but for goodness sake, we made a booking so they knew we were coming. I think the only positive from my first and last visit was the shirtless men who performed a birthday song I will never forget! Very very very entertaining! Come on Ginas, we were so looking forward to a amazing experience but left so disappointed.

What a tacky, overrated restaurant!
As soon as we arrived, we were confronted with all of the waiters taking their shirts off and singing happy birthday to a group of embarrassed looking girls on the next table.
Then the food was entirely medeocre, I had cannelonni, but the pasta was clearly not cooked properly and the filling was very dry, and was served alone with no garnish, a total lack of presentation.
When we'd finished, the Waiter asked us how our meal was, and I expressed my concerns, but the guy just looked terrified that I was complaining and then told me that I was wrong because "You Kiwis like your pasta dry". I then told him that I was not a Kiwi, I'm a Brit, and I have spent time in Italy, but have never had such dry pasta. There was no apology, he just walked off to take his shirt off for another birthday group.
We then ordered dessert and a hot chocolate, both of which were served at the same time, so the chocolate was cold by the time we got to it. On the menu, the hot chocolate was described as 'indulgent' and 'traditional Italian' but to me it tasted like it was straight out of a sachet, watery and flavourless.
When we went to pay, we were asked again how our meal was. Again I complained, but again there was no apology, just a forlorn looking waiter.
My advice for Ginas would be to dramatically increase presentation of dishes, and to remember that the customer is always right, spend less time training waiters to song topless, and train them more on handling difficult customers (admittedly, myself included)!