Vivace Restaurant & Bar

One of my fave restaurants in Auckland, Vivace is consistently good, I'm so glad it's still around.
Great staff and atmosphere. Great menu and the service is quick.
Whether you choose tapas, a nice main or a hearty pasta dish, it's all good. Great wine list too.

Vivace Restaurant & Bar to me is still as good after all these years. Vivace serves up pretty good food for a reasonable price.

On a recent visit, they did stuff up one of our tapas meals. The lamb koftas were cold when it go to our table which is not a good thing at all. It was obvious in their haste they had not reheated the koftas well. But, the Manager very quickly got that sorted and was apologetic about it.

The place is busy, even on weeknights. As a result, meals can take a while to be served. I would suggest getting some tapas to tide you over first. Tapas dishes come out very quickly and keeps you going for a bit.

Vivace is perfect for big groups.

Atmosphere is loud and vibrant. It's comfortable but the wooden chairs can be a pain after a period of sitting there.

Staff are usually quite busy so it might sometimes be difficult to get their attention. But service is generally good and friendly.

I think Vivace is a great place for a pre-show dinner. The food is always delicious and I like the variety of meals and prices - I can take a group of friends there and everyone can find something they like within a good price range. I agree that the service isn't always up to scratch and the staff could sometimes seem a little more interested, but I have never had a really bad experience. If you have limited time and want some good food and a nice glass of wine, rather than just a fast food type meal, Vivace Restaurant is the perfect spot. That said, you can also linger if you want to.

beautiful intimate setting and vibe.been to Vivace Restaurant 4 or 5 times.highly recommend for date night or catch up with small group of friends.food at Vivace Restaurant is always delish and service FRIENDLY!

I was extremely disappointed with Vivace.

My friends and I found our waitress unnecessarily rude and condescending. It's fair enough if you haven't had a good day but part of hospitality is to make your guests feel welcome not unwanted! When we asked for recommendations she was initially indifferent but later came back to our table and was very pushy.

The venue itself has the potential to be lovely but on a muggy night it was stifling. There was no air con and a lack of ventilation so we asked to be seated on the balcony - which didn't make much difference because the service was so slow considering we were there early (about 5:30ish) and the place was almost empty!

Hoping that the food save an otherwise appalling night out we were less than impressed with the poor food. The dishes were marginal compared to the quality available at nearby restaurants - far below expectation considering the prices.

Average Dessert menu. Nothing out of the ordinary just the usual chocolate cake or ice cream etc.

Given the choice I would never go back to such a bad restaurant. The city is full of wonderful restaurants with similar surroundings/food. Why should anyone have to put up with a bad meal and service ruining a potential lovely night out?

For a restaurant that boasts so much about themselves Vivace is in serious need of a reality check.

Recently went to Vivace for a leaving dinner and we had a private room. The waiters seemed attentive and the food was lovely. I was impressed with a decent serving size.

The one bad thing was as we arrived early we had a number of drinks in the bar area. It was so hot in there that some of us felt like passing out. There must have been something wrong with the air conditioning as it was very uncomfortable and not the best start to the evening.

I have to say I was very disappointed with Vivace.

The service was slow, the waiter was rude, and the food was average at best. I expected a lot more after enjoying La Zeppa, the sister restaurant, only a few nights earlier.

We had some tapas and they weren't too bad, but not enough, so pizza was ordered. A simple mozzarella, tomato and basil pizza fell well short of expectations. It was bland, almost to the point of being inedible.

When friends came to meet us it took half an hour and two reminders to get them mojitos.

Also disappointed with the wine we had, we tried two different Pinot Noirs, and both were very poor.

I can definitely say that the next $100 meal I have will not be at Vivace.

A beautiful warm and inviting interior at Vivace Restaurant. The service was great, the food delicious, an entree of stuffed mushroom and main rack of lamb that was amazing.


My only dissapointment, as strange as it sounds was the overly slippery floor. On my first visit, I was meeting a friend for dinner and had to walk at snale pace to not fall over while walking to the bathroom. My most recent visit, was even more embarassing, as I slipped on reaching the entrance and fell flat on my face in front of two waitresses who neglected to ask if I was ok, and also the incident occured in front of the client I was meeting!


Since my visit, I have heard of two other friends who have also actually fallen over in the restaurant and reported this to the manager, but it seems nothing has been done about it.