BeautifuI dinner, friendly and attentive staff. Will definately recommend to friends and family.

My hubby and I love this place, we think it is the best Italian in Wellington!!

The food and service is always excellent. The special’s board always has exciting and great meals! Recommend to all

We went to Nicolini’s last week. It was awesome! The food was good, the service was outstanding. We had a really lovely time. Definitely go again.

We (a table of 4) went to Nicolini’s on Saturday night – it was a cold & wet night out but a warm and welcoming evening indoors. Dis-agree with the comments on poor service as we had great service from all the staff. The food was fantastic – I had the Lamb Fagotini and loved it, Lynda had the salmon risotto and raved about it. The restaurant is compact and a bit noisey but this just added to the great italian experience. We will be back.

I used to love going to Nicolini’s when the old man and his wife were running the show! Although the food is still fantastic, the staff are subjected to rather abusive behavour by the owner and chef!! This in turn makes the dining atmosphere a turn off.

Contrary to reviews, we really enjoyed the service. Cosy and atmospheric on a cold Wellington night. Really delicious specials of the day (we’ve ordered the Lamb Fagottini) and the salad was a stand out side order. Would recommend being seated out the front opposed to the back room. Well priced too

The highlight of the restaurant was the food – I had gnocchi which came in a portion that was much smaller than the other types of pasta, but was good. The garlic bread was excellent – filled with butter and garlic which is very indulgent! My friend had the penne (can’t remember the exact dish), but she liked it a lot. Another had the calamari which lacked taste and seasoning.

The worse part of the experience was the service. The waitress got our orders mixed up and after carrying my dish to two other tables and back to the kitchen, it was cold when it arrived on my table.

The place is not very big, and the waitresses keep on bumping into my chair, without any apologies.

Regardless, I would come back again ordering a bigger portion pasta dish with the yummy garlic bread and cross my fingers for better service.

We came into Nicolini’s to escape the cold of night. It looked full at first, but when asking if a table was available we were shown into the back room. There was a heat pump going, and several tables of diners, so was a good atmosphere.

We were attended to quickly by a friendly waitress who gave an excellent recital of the day’s specials, which genuinely made us want to have each and every dish. Our food arrived promptly and was delicious. Each waitress that served us was friendly and smiling.

We’ll definitely be back. I was surprised to read the reviews on MenuMania following our visit, but the negative feedback seems to be centred around the manager (whom we didn’t encounter). The food is fantastic, and the service we received couldn’t be faulted.

DO NOT RECOMMEND, the customer service is disgusting and we’ve never been treated so badly in a restaurant before and we’ve eaten all around the world. Manager rude/abusive and arrogant. meals OK but should realise without customers you have NO business and word of mouth is the best advertising you can get. should have read other reviews before entering this circus. Manager needs a major attitude transplant or get out if he can’t handle the hospitality industry.

What a waste of time!
The food was only OK but with manager/owner yelling at his staff (customers must have had the night off), rude and impatient staff – although it’s got to be hard smiling just after being abused (the tone tells it all!), it just didn’t go down as well
At least the old git at Piccolo waits till you question the bill before he goes crazy spouting out Italian at 100miles per hr!
Won’t be going back – I pay for the food and the experience.

Had a wonderful meal with great service. Waited at the bar for a table because they were busy and got an apology for the wait which was only a few minutes and I didn’t even have time to finish my first drink.

We had wonderful tomato basil and garlic on our bread. With the calamari entree we had decided to share it because we wanted to leave room for the desert. It was so delicious we asked for a second entree. The waitress was great and it arrived in super quick time.

Our mains were great and the dessert divine. Service was fantastic in the new part out the back and the price was very reasonable. One of the family owners circulated and spoke with the diners to ensure every thing was fine. Good touch in our opinion.

Bang for your buck won’t be beaten.

Not too bad, although Zico is better in terms of food and service

Sometimes you wait for ages to get served here

With previous mixed reviews I wasn’t sure what to expect. Its a small restaurant and on a busy night we were ushered through to the ‘back’ section – a recent addition that appeared to have been built on in largely plywood type materials. Despite being the only group in there, the waitress offered to shut the door to close the area off for us – given it was empty, music free and had no real atmosphere, that was the last thing we needed.
Menus and drinks list came on very worn pieces of paper, and covered a basic list, but no more.
Food was adequate and arrived promptly, and was delivered by another waitress who managed to serves us while remaining ‘detached’ throughout.
Not expensive, and ok for a quick meal but not much more.

Service is usually pretty average but the food more than makes up for it. the crumbed mushrooms are fantastic!

The food was delicious, the service was excellent and very friendly. I recommend the garlic mushrooms and profiteroles!!! We will definitely be going back soon and would not hesitate referring people there. The price also very affordable.

We were a group of 6 who went to Nicolinis on a Wednesday night and I had previously booked so they knew the size of the group and that we weren’t arriving until 7.30pm. Food was great but the service was lacking. We were looking forward to a relaxing night out as all our babies were less than 7 months old but instead the staff were quite pushy with getting us to order. They were so anxious to get rid of us, at bout 8.45pm, that we had to ask for dessert menus, then ask them to take our order then ask for the bill. We were basically ignored from from 8.30 once we had our mains as they wanted to get rid of us. We ordered entrees, mains, desserts and a couple of drinks each so we were spending a decent amount. Not sure if I would go again as although the food was good the service should have been a lot better.

Started out great with good service. Fried Aubergine and Picked the Veal which ended up very peppery and tough. Server asked me if i was happy with it. When I said no, they asked if they could get me something else. I said the Cannelloni which i was looking at before. Soon to find out that I was charged for both! I should be told if I was unsatisfied with a meal I would be charged for the second. Shame on them! They would not take off the charge. Never again! I have never received such service.

love love love Nicolini’s!
I went here on Friday night and ordered one of the specials, and it was fantastic!!
Every time I come here the service is excellent and the food is even better!!
Recommend to all!!

I`ll have to say my dining exprience at nicolinis was above expections and i was very impressed with the service and i would not hesiate to dine there again

Nicolini’s is just great. The food is amazing, and it is amazingly priced. Very warm atmosphere with polite, friendly and efficient staff. Would gladly recommend to anyone. We have been a few times and we have never once had a bad experience.

My partner and I recently dined here. Warm atmosphere, friendly, lots of laughter and chatter – the place was packed which added to the cosy ambience. Our meals were superb – undoubtedly the best salmon risotto I have ever had. Very authentic, & friendly attentive wait staff. Highly recommended, and will go again for sure – soon!

Amazing Italian food. Love the menu too- very Italian. The staff rush you a bit but are really nice and informative. You may not get the best table, or the best service, but the food really does make up for it.

For an introduction to this quaint authentic Italian cafe and bar, walk past and smell the aroma. As a first time customer recommended by a student at Victoria University, I was satisfied with my experience. The staff were attentive and friendly. The service quick and the size of the meal possibly created a slight reluctance in my mind as to whether I could finish it. The setting is candle-lit and cosy with original artwork of Italy. I have read the negative reviews and strongly disagree. Enjoy life a little. A reasonably priced cafe.

Booked for dinner after show. Booking accepted. On arrival told half the menu was off and we had 2 minutes to choose our foor or we could leave.
We stayed as we had booked. Going to pay no thanks no was the meal ok questions or anything.
And the owner was abusive. Never ever again and today we lunched with friends who had the same sort of experience happen to them recently.
Shame in my ways than one!!!

I had dinner with 3 friends last night. None of us really impressed with the food and service. I ordered medium rare steak. After waiting for a while – a waitress brought the steak on a plate which was full of fresh blood. I felt so disgusted by the blood. I cut the meat and it doesn’t seem that saw so replate the steak after talking to 3 waiters there.

After finishing off the meal, one waiter came over and collected my plate. He saw that a mushroom fall on the table and became very obsessed with it. He kept telling me ‘Don’t put mushroom on the table’ – C’mon, just a tiny half piece of mushroom fell off, no big deal with it. My friend told him twice that It’s my birthday today and he replied ‘birthday or not birthday, you still don’t put mushroom on the table’.

Such good pasta, very cute set up!!
So romantic!!
Food is the best Italian dish I have had in Wellington, service is very fast.
If you like pasta and want good food, come here.
Nicolinis is my favourite restaurant in Wellington, actually favourite restaurant ever!

After reading pretty much all negative reviews on here I went in to Nicolini’s thinking something bad would happen, after we had our dinner I was surprised we actually had a really good night and will now never judge a restaurant based on a few negative reviews!

We had a birthday party with about 14+ guests and were seated out in the back. As we were waiting for guests to arrive our host suggested that we move our party inside as there was now enough room to fit us all, we were happy to move inside because it was warmer and had more light.

We were given a set menu where we could choose two options (either an Entrée or Main, or Main and Dessert) Once everyone had arrived they went straight to taking our orders and our dishes came out promptly.

Our host was friendly, talkative and thoroughly looked like he enjoyed himself and he got along with our Birthday boys.

Everything went on smoothly, the entrees were yum and the mains were huge (I got the Lamb Shanks) in fact it was so big I had to take the rest away in a container and the dessert was delicious.

All in all we all had an amazing night, our host was awesome, the meals came out fast and the food was fantastic!

I ate here once for my friend’s birthday dinner. We were a big group of about 10 people and I arrived the latest after finishing work.

When I was looking through the menu, the waiter rudely told me to hurry and order my food. I decided to order an entree as I wasn’t hungry but I didn’t want to just take up a seat without ordering anything. I would understand if they were unhappy to do this if there were only a few of us but it was a big group and everyone else ordered mains. The waiter then grabbed the menu away from my hand and didn’t come back until about 5 minutes later.

When she came back to our table she told me that the Maitre’d wanted me to know that they are not a coffee shop and the next time I’m there I’d need to order a main. She added that I was not allowed to order any alcohol either.

Well, there will never be a next time. Thanks to the terrible customer service. I will be more than happy to pay the same price or more at another Italian restaurant in town.

the food is fantastic, but the venue is a let down

My sister who lives in Wgtn introduced me to this restaurant a few years ago and I have been there 3 times – I love it. It’s always crowded and noisy but just adds to the atmosphere – I kind of expect it when I go there. The food, especially the salmon risotto, is wonderful. I wish I had the recipe………. Would highly recommend it to anyone looking for good Italian food in a convivial atmosphere.

I love Nicolinis

Its what you expect when you go to a reasonably priced resturant which is crammed full every night.

The Food is excellent, the service is ok, and they take care of the kids and dont look down there nose at you when you ask to eat before opening ( thanks guys).

Rapheal has been in the biz for so long its a pleasure watching him work with 4 to 5 pans and smile at the same time.

If you want great food go to nicolinis.

If you want to be pampered, buck up the extra $100 per person and go to port nick.

This restaurant needs closing down! Or at least needs to get a new Manager!

I have never felt so mistreated in my life!

My partner and I went to Nicolinis for a nice night out, we ordered drinks and entrees before coming to order our mains!
The main menu is okay – not that brilliant for non meat eaters, or anything slightly tailored to needs! I ordered the Seafood special, and ask very politely to have the heads taken off my prawns! wholey moley! this is the worst thing I could have done!

Basically the waitress got very angry over me asking for such a thing! She then got her manager! at this point all was still relatively calm! He came out and I asked the same from him, “please, would it be alright to take the heads off my prawns”

… there we had arms flying everywhere!!!! and we found ourselves getting yelled at by the MANAGER and we were sent out of the restaurant for questioning their menu! I asked him to explain why, so that I could understand, and he yelled back “do I come to you and ask you to explain your life to me!?”

He was darn right rude! I have never felt so humiliated… Please think seriously before going here. Also, if you are the owner of this restaurant, understand that Wellington is a small place and that business will be lost FAST!!!!

Thanks for reading
Lee

Firstly you have to pay $10 for them to bring out a birthday cake! what a cheek.
Secondly most of the staff except a few are just plain rude and unhelpful.
Thirdly the place is very crammed and very noisy
Fourthly the food is not cheap and not that great!
Would not go back again

Visiting this resteraunt on the evening of 8th September ’09 with visitors from the U.K.. We were directed to what can only be described as a back-yard at the rear of the esablishment. When I protested about the seating to the manager, he was most rude and unhelpful, trying to demean my request, to sit in the main dining room. I was made to feel very embaresed in front of my friends. The food proved to be merely average.

I now wonder what has happened to customer sevice. On further enquiries this manager, has a reputation around the city, re’ his attitude toward his staff and a poor commication with customers. I will never return!!

I attended with 4 other friends offering them a fair amount of money when it came to billing time but refused to allow an extra wine glass for the couple sharing an entree and main. We are 25+ and had purchased 3 entrees and 4 main meals plus 2 bottles of wine, I found this to be very disappointing as the meals were delicious.

The food was a pleasant surprise considering the odour of rubbish that seeped out the cupboard immediately adjacent to our table. The ambience of the back room in which we were seated had all the appeal of a army bunker. On the positive side, the meal itself was enjoyable.

We attended on a Sunday night and found the service to be excellent despite the fact the restaurant was particularly busy.

The quality of the food was fantastic. After a recent trip to Italy we can safely say this was the most authentic Italian pasta we have found to date in New Zealand.

Will definitely be returning and would recommend this restaurant to anyone else.

i m marco from italy and i ve been living one year in wellington.i worked at nicolini s for 5 months and let me tell,that s the best italian food i ve ever tried in new zealand…..nico is a place where u can feel the true italian experience…….

As an Italian, I’ve eaten here quite a few times and happily brought guests who want to experience Italian food in the city. Tonight, we had a work group from out of town. The food was really good and everyone enjoyed their meals. The environment is really noisy here and we shouted over loud music. We also had a bench table squashed against the wall, with very little room to let people in and out, yet were told that we couldn’t pull the table out any further as there needed to be room in the aisle. Hmmm. The service was ok, although it’s not comfortable for guests to hear the manager shouting instructions and telling off his staff.