piccolo ristorante italiano

we were a group of six adults who had exceptional service andgreatfood following on from two of us adults being there the previous week! started with wonderful hot bread followed by three of us having the specialed salmon dish, two different dishes with gnocchi and one pizza. it was so nice to be able to take our own wines for the price of corkage. spent about $40 per head. we will be back again!

i love this restaurant! it hasgreatcharacter and ambience, and the service is fantastic. no pretences, just fantastic food at a really good price.
we have had both takeaways (ready quickly and delicious) and dine-in experiences.
i especially appreciated the info in the answer phone message advising us of availability over the next few days - agreatidea for efficient booking!

my new favourite!

6 of us had a very pleasant meal with good service andgreatfood a fortnight ago when the snow was brewing. relaxed venue and an excellent night!

i've just got home from dining at ristorante italiano and i'm so glad i went. fantastic food, charming service, excellent hospitality. having lived and worked in europe i can testify that this restaurant has a authenticity that is often not found in new zealand. the thing we loved most was its lack of pretentiousness... it was plain and simplygreatfood,greatservice. the host even shouted the ladies at our table some of his delicious limoncello! my mouth feels so good i won't want to brush my teeth for a week :)

hi there.

i come into the restaurant quite a bit and it's fantastic! the pizzas aregreatwith a thin base and lots of choices. the service is also top notch. when i go with my family and friends we are always greeted by two young lovely waitresses. love the tiramisu as well!! good food,greatservice and relaxed atmosphere!!!

i went there last night and thought it was great! food was good, service good and a nice atmosphere. good pasta dishes, simple but good wine selection andgreatdessert -- and even the green salad was good -- fresh and simply dressed. we'd ordered take away pizzas before but this time ate in. very please.
felt we had 'value for money'! we'll be back.

surely the punters will decide by voting democratically with their feet, taste buds and wallets. some won’t bother to even try based on what has been said and fair enough but others will go because they want to at least say they have been there, done that - survived and enjoyed the experience or otherwise.

the proof will be in the pudding....or should i say the tiramisu that this place lives to fight (no pun intended) another day. according to some, it won’t and only time will tell.

i have been there a few times prior to this incident and once afterwards. no complaints either way as i have always enjoyed the food, the byo wine, the setting and the company.

we often eat out and like to try new restaurants wherever possible but there isn’t too many choices in christchurch so we do have our favourites - and this is one but it’s still a choice.

everyone has a bad day at the office now and then.....and i will return but keep my mind and options open.

finally, one thing is for sure - they make agreatflat white - i wish a few others out there could do the same for me each day - but my lips are sealed but you know who you are

i’ve been here twice and had takeaways as well. the food has always beengreatbut i have never experienced such poor behaviour, here or anywhere for that matter.
here are the facts:
1. wine appreciation group that meet each month. all seven are over 40 years of age and drive; they have a self-imposed 2 drink limit. they recently moved venues due to the earthquakes.
2. entrée order for one of the woman at the table came out incorrectly, twice. first time it was wrong and the second time it included specifically excluded mushrooms. she sent it back both times.
3. chef returned the second attempt at the entrée himself, he abused the woman. ask any of the customers there that night.
4. he then swore at the rest of the group and assaulted other diners at the table including one of the other women.
it is a shame that this event has been sensationalised and there is support for the chef’s violent outburst. he abused and assaulted customers. for whatever reason, the chef lost his temper that night plain and simple. he should be embarrassed by his uncouth, unprofessional behaviour.

firstly never been, but would love to see this place, and to have worked in a restaurant, i could only imagine a bunch of muppet's coming in thinking they are above everyone else, and demanding their orders,
good on the chef and when we are down there, i am going to go and try it,
thanks to the table of clowns who have given suchgreatpublicity for the place!

hi
3rd time i have been there and twice this weekend / were there last night when a table of troublemakers caused a scene obviously couldn't handle the drink and when management asked then to leave they caused a scene but was handled well by management/staff so i took my parents back tonight as it's agreatplace and the food is just out of this world - good vegetarian selection which not seen on alot of menus and the desserts are to die for mmmmmmm /greatoutdoor area also.i would recommend casual dine or to impress some friends / justgreatwell done guys and thanks
************************************************************************
just got an email from a media organisation and here is my reply

hi
i did put my comments on the website as you can see above and other than that from my dining experiences over the years i have never seen a waiter or chef have a plate thrown at them or kicked at as the customers leave - ask yourself? maybe an idea to look at all 16 reviews - 10 of them over 4 star plus and the 4 bad reviews are from this group - maybe ask the others who have put a review and rated it as i did
thank you
regards

anthony

i've had the most shocking night! the chef/owner of piccolo went crazy! a woman had complained her order was not right. he came out and starting swearing at her....'you can f*** off then! f*** off!" he then starting swearing at others at her table telling them to f*** off too. then he grabbed their plates. some smashed on the ground. a wine bottle smashed and spilled on the floor. there was almost a stand-up fight. it was terrible.

food'sgreatbut dine at your own risk!

what agreatplace! went last night with 7 friends. called a week prior to book for 9 and the manager wasn't sure they could do it but took my number and got back to me a day or 2 later to say he'd done some jiggling and we were all good to go. we recieved a lovely warm welcome by a chatty but not 'in your face' waitress who wasgreatat getting us going with the food (typical women we were too busy chatting!) - 'can i get you some bread while you have a read of the menus?' of course you can! delicious garlic and herb breads soon arrived. we ordered a range of mains which everyone was impressed with, good size, nice flavours, genorous amounts of fresh parmesan. i had 'the lot' pizza and is was crispy and tasty and big enough to bring home leftovers. dessert was devine, only bugger was they only had 2 tiramisu left (we didn't go till 7.30pm so other diners beat us to it) but the lucky recipients happily shared with the rest of us who enjoyed cassata and affrogato (which they were happy to make without liquer and with hot chocolate for me). will definately be back for another casual and lovely dinner.

what a fantastic place! i saw the recent review that didn't recommend the restaurant highly, so we didn't expect a lot, but since we had already booked in, we thought we would still give it a go. i'm so glad that we did! we started off with a large garlic/herb bread to share between four of us, and it was delicious! there was a large and appetising selection of pizza and pasta to choose from. in the end, we ordered a large margarita pizza, a lasange, fettucine smoked chicken and the spagetti arrabiata. they were all presented beautifully, and tasted amazing! the pizza had agreatthin base and the tomato sauce on the arrabiata was superb, and we could tell that the ingredients were of high quality. somehow, we managed to fit in desserts! the tiramisu was to die for! but it is a case of 'first in first served' as it is in such high demand. we also got a cassata ice-cream and an affagato, both of which were very pleasent, with a good amount of dried fruits in the cassata. the meals are very well priced, $20 for each main, and reasonably priced alcohol (even though we brought our own, we couldn't help try the italian house red!) we had two lovely girls serving us, who we found to be very friendly, helpful, prompt and professional, just lovely!. they even laughed at my husbands bad jokes! they looked like they were in control of all the tables, while catering to everybodys needs. overall, i would highly recommend this restaurant, whether dining in or for take away, but make sure you book as they are they are very popular with the local community! 5 stars!!

it'sgreatto have such agreatlittle restaurant just down the road. four of us shared a pizza and each had a different pasta dish + a bottle of red(italian)we all agreed that the food was delicious, fresh and hot and that the portions were just right. for all that and thegreatservice it cost us around $30 each. we will be back!

this is an exclusively-sized restaurant withgreatambience. christchurch has few authentic-style italian restaurants (pizza chains do not count!) and this one is really fantastic. very tasty food andgreatservice. don't forget to book - it was booked out the night i was there.