Al Forno in Auckland

Amazing pasta!! It’s my favourite Italian restaurant. Food is really authentic. Owner is onsite ensuring everyone is satisfied. You can very well customise your order if you didn’t want specific ingredients added. Prices are reasonable for the service received. Highly recommend and will be coming back soon!

Spaghetti was normal. Marina pizza was so....... I naver ever seen this seafood pizzas visual, smell and taste... I was so disappointed food quality.

My partner and I have dined here over half a dozen times and each time the service, hospitality and food has been amazing. We highly recommend Al Forno to anyone who loves good Italian food. Make sure you book!

Great food and friendly staff. A bit pricey but hey, totally worth it!

Calzone good.Like the Al Forno pizza and tortellini di polo.Nice atmosphere with the wood pizza oven in the middle.

Always busy but the staff still manage to provide top quality food and gracious service. One of the best Italian dining venues on The Shore

Unfortunately a very disappointing experience dining here with 2 friendslast night on a Tuesday. One of which traveled up from Tauranga for this birthday dinner.All dishes we had were seriously lacking sauce and flavour , the birthday girls entree was missed out altogether , my chicken livers were dry and tasteless as was the Pansotti. I asked for more sauce but didnt get it. The mains were very slow to come out. The birthday girls Galliano chicken was inedible, it smelt really bad and there was no Galliano in the 2 teaspoons of sauce that was on the plate. She returned the meal.And to top it off 2 desserts out of 5 were unavailable.Service was polite but unattentive.You werent that busy. Its not that hard folks. Ive been in the restaurant business most my life.Will definitely NOT be returning.

Fantastic Italian restaurant with an extensive wine list and fabulous food. Lovely atmosphere and topped off with great service and staff including the Maitred whose bonhomie made for an awesome evening. Will be going back when were in Takapuna again.

Its been a wonderful night. Perfect service and a very tasty food.A special thanks to the waitress Gabriela and the owner of the restaurant. See you soon.

Went out for Fathers day, Food was Great, service was better than excellent, nice owner who shouted us a few drinks and we would all definitely come across town again for another night out.

Antonio is amazing. Make us feel at home and like a family. So the food is tastier. Wasn’t quite a nice first impression before meeting Antonio. Thanks heaps Antonio. Amazing because of you ❤️

Yummy Tortellini! So Creamy😋Tiramisu.. wow! No1 Tiramisu I ever have. I think best tiramisu in New Zealand.The mascarpone cream is so fluffy and creamy, taste of sponge with liquor inside was fabulous! Everyone must try this!Pistachio Gelato and Chocolate Gelato also have nice flavour of taste.Amazing Italian Restaurant at North shore😊

I absolutely want to thank Toni for his superb customer service. We absolutely had a wonderful time because of him. I dont need to say anything about the meal as it was already 10/10.Thanks again

Wonderful atmosphere, friendly staff and good pricing, the food was delicious and came to the table quickly, the service was fairly speedy and the overall experience was really good, would recommend to others and will definitely be returning 🙏

Best pizza in town hands down!!! They are always fully packed but they dont compromise on quality. Staff pleasant to deal with. Delicious pizzas!!!

Highly recommend, we have a lovely night out here. The food we got was outstanding as well as their service💯 will definitely come back to try more dishes.

Lovely atmosphere, wonderful staff and absolutely delicious food! Our son especially enjoyed the spaghetti bol!

You guys are a bloody gem indeed! Scrumptious food, cosy setting, best customer service and well priced! Can’t ask for more!And Tony, I’m coming back for the Bloody Mary 😂 you’re bloody awesome dealing with us!

Excellent service with flair! The menu was authentic, fresh and delicious. It was my first time dining at this restaurant and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Will come back!

Very delicious pasta with good portion size and Italian wines.Pizza looked even more delicious but we were unfortunately too full to try them. Will be happy to come back again just to try them.

I enjoyed dining here. But the place is small.

Food was absolutely outstanding, true authentic Italian if you have even been to Italy… Food came out all at once, was very pleased especially for a table of 13 and it was still hot. Staff were lovely and always prompt and overall 10/10 would come back again!!

Came here as our favourite Dante’s Pizzeria was closed. Do not recommend!! While they were busy, there was adequate staff compared to the amount of customers. Our entree came out within 10 minutes and was lovely, our mains on the other hand. We ordered when our entree was bought out … we did not receive our mains until an hour and 10 minutes later. In the first 30 minutes not one server came out to even tend to us let alone tell us there would be a wait. When one finally came out and said it would be a further “10 to 15 minutes” it ended up being a further 40 minutes. About 20 minutes before it came out we asked a server if the food had even started being cooked as we had pretty much reached our waiting point to which he replied it had been, but I really did not seem that way. We were constantly left assuming that the food was right around the corner but it really was not. The food quality was then so exceptionally below an acceptable standard and we were so extremely underwhelmed. While we were offered a drink on the house (we turned downand were given 20% off our bill. The only reason stayed was because the entree of the garlic pizza was very good! Paying $65 for this experience was absolutely ridiculous and not worth it at all, let alone if we had to pay the price before the 20% discount! Our pizza was just totally bland and not flavoursome at all and our pastas main sauce was literally water. While they were apologetic it was just all round not a great experience! If I can suggest one thing it is that, if you know you cannot handle the amount of customers - do not take new tables! (Will add pics when I figure out how too as this is my first review haha I have never felt the need to actually post a one before)

Great frozen Margaritas!!!! We did not eat there but seen some of the food coming out and it looked good.Definitely be going back to try the food and sampling a few more of those margaritas

tasty, and great ambiance. the portions are pretty small but staff are friendly and attentive. felt like the pizza could have had a little longer in the grill and nothing too different from other Italian restaurants but it was still enjoyable.

Nice restaurant with classy interior and tasty food. We got vegetarian wood fired pizza! It was tasty and good 👍🏻. Service was quick and friendly.. we were offered options of drinks after dinner , some good options there to try!

This little restaurant has quickly moved to the top of my list of favorites...A comfy vibe, with a real brick fire oven- the pizza proves its worth! I enjoyed every item, and it came very quickly on the busiest night of the week- need I say: authentic and delicious. Higly recommended.

The food was bomb. How do you make a simple margarita pizza that delicious?! The staff were so friendly, funny and accomodating. Will definitely be telling my friends about it!

Had the Spaghetti Vongole, and oh my what a treat. Totally delicious, espc when paired with a man-o-war pinot gris. Lovely friendly owner/manager, and really fast service, even with a full restaurant.

While the ambience, vibe and service was great last night, unfortunately some of the food wasn’t. The linguine pasta wreaked of canned tomato paste and I had 1 full king prawn and a king prawn head & tail but no body. The calamari and gnocchi starters were good but overpriced.

This place is so good a really nice place for a meal. the food was just delicious mmmmm, the service and staff were fantastic..cant wait to go back and try some more delish food from the menu..thanks for an enjoyable dinner..

Fantastic food and atmosphere, wonderful service. Try the risotto, burrata (amazing!), creamy mushrooms, the tiramisu - all so delicious! If youre not drinking wine or beer, make sure to order the house made lemon lime and bitters. Our server Tony was hilarious and made us feel so welcome. Wish I could give them more than 5 stars!

My wife and I really enjoyed our time at this restaurant. Everything was perfect, wine, food and the service. We will definitely come back. Highly recommended 👍 👍

Good place for a date night, mostly they are quite busy so make a reservation in advance. Nice ambience but to be honest the food is not that special. The staff are kind and attentive.

Al Forno was great, the manager Tony was super attentive, with attention to detail and made us feel like valued customers. The potato gnocchi, leek, gorgonzola, walnuts,creamy white wine sauce is amazing. My daughter got the pene pollo which was creamy with a rich mushroom flavour. The montepulciano was excellent. Thanks guys, will be back

Booked a table for 2000hrs on a Thursday to be told that they had exhausted all meals other than pizzas, including starters…. Which was quite frankly a big disappointment. After waiting for more than 10 minutes for the waiter to check their food stocks, it was confirmed only pizzas were available. Staff were nice and they apologised numerous times. A small discount would have been a nice touch for quite an inconvenience but, nope. Food was reasonable.

A very disappointed experience. Although I booked through bookme two weeks ago, and confirmed in the morning, we have been told only a table just in front of door was available. The place was cold and food cooled off quickly. In fact, there were four other tables - were not used until we finished. At the end, the manager didnt work out the bill correctly, and we have been overcharged for about $10.Thank you for your reply.We have two children with us. There were no explanation about booking online. In addition, I called you in the morning, left voicemail, and called again in the afternoon to confirm 4 people booking.You also mentioned your shop was fully booked that night, but there were four free tables for 4 until we finished our dinner. It was 5.30pm, not a peak time.

One of the best Italian restaurants we’ve ever been to! Loved whatever we ordered!From pasta to pizza and steak! So yummy!You should try their fettuccine! So rich ad creamy. Will def go back very soon 🙂

We went to Al Forno last weekend, it was good to see it open again after being shut as previous experience eating there was great.Although not having a booking we were asked to wait while a table was arranged which took forever & other people arrived without a booking.It took sometime to finally being seated & like other people waiting to be seated we were ready to leave given the delay.Once seated the food was good although the seasonal vegetables ordered as a side dish were cold, they looked like they had been cooked then re-heated & the quantity not enough for two people.Hopefully this is just a one off.

I will begin this review, by reinforcing other reviews I have seen about this restaurant regarding the wait time. DO NOT disregard those reviews, because the food actually takes forever to come.My partner and I visited Al Forno yesterday for dinner, our once a week cheat meal! We were craving a nice pasta dish and Lasagna, and due to other reviews about their "Amazing Lasagna and great service" we disregarded all the negatives and dined here anyway.We ordered Bruschetta, Penne Pollo and also the Lasagna.We were given our Bruschetta first, the starter dish. It was actually just covered in Garlic, way too much, and extremely overwhelming.We ate half and we waited for our mains. We were not visited by any of the staff at all, during our 50 MINUTE wait for our mains. We had noticed that customers next to us, who had also arrived after us, had eaten their meals and left too.We then asked the waitress, how much longer for our meals - and she said oh, sorry for the misunderstanding, we just assumed that you were taking it slow with your starter.- If you see your customers stop eating their starters and just waiting, why would you not just approach and ask ? Instead of making an assumption.The mains came 5 minutes right after us questioning.1. The pasta for the Penne Pollo - was Undercooked, still hard and not soft as normal pasta should be.- After expressing myself to the manager, he said that this was Authentic Italian style of cooking it, BUT "he would cater for us the next time we come in".- Why would you not ask your customers when they first place the order ? How would you like it to be? Or at least inform them on how it will be served?2. The Lasagna - Not worth it at all. Botched with tomato paste, it was like eating tomatoes with a bunch of mashed potatoes. Almost no mince whatsoever, and I know that every lasagna lover would be highly offended with this quality. It was literal trash. I told the manager, and he said he wasnt sure as to why this had occurred.The only positive, our meal was 50% off as we used First Table. I am so grateful we did not pay full price for that, good god.- Stop making assumptions about your customers, and improve your customer service. Talk to your customers, express how authentic the food is, and damn well cook it the way it should be cooked.This place is a disgrace towards Italian food.I would highly recommend others to use First Table if coming to this place, as it is not worth paying full price for terrible quality "aUtHEnTic" Italian food.Pictures below are the hardened pasta, bruschetta and the botched lasagna mashed potato style.Will not be coming again.

Good thing we reserved table earlier. Place was packed but service was good. Food was tasty and sumptuous. Would recommend to friends to try.

We have been here a number of times and it seems as though every time it gets better! Wonderful service and the most outstanding authentic Italian food, with such great variety. Would highly recommend, will be so worth it.

Lovely authentic Italian atmosphere with beautiful murals on the walls. Food is always to die for; I’ve been coming here sporadically for over 5 years and have never had a dish that doesn’t make me want to personally thank the chef. The pastas are always creamy, well-portioned and absolutely delicious. We will keep coming over and over again.

Great Italian food, attentive service and pleasant place to have dinner! My favorite is the seafood pasta, the pasta was hand made and irreplaceable! Everyone loves the gelato and coffee tasted great!! Very busy restaurant on Sat from 5pm. Remember to make booking before you go! Will definitely visit again :D

The Costata di Manzo (500gm Prime NZ Angus Rib Eye)was really good and highly recommended.The King Prawns of Gamberoni were undercooked.The pizza guy was just quite cool without any smile,no wonder the pizza were salty and pricy.Tiramisù is a must have.The manager was really friendly and attentive.

The best Italian restaurant in Auckland. Foods are awesome we enjoyed a lot and also really appreciate the service. All staff members are polite and have a nice smile on their face. Specially the lady waitress. Had a freshly made wood fired pizza also . Definitely going back again. Thank you team

We went to Al Forno for some takeaways last night. The staff showed true hospitality and the food was amazing! Ordered a mean lasagna and pizza funghi. Well definitely be in again. Loved the desserts too. Thanks Dan!

Well established restaurant in Takapuna while others have been and gone. Awesome tatsy authentic Italian food. Good serving size and given its high quality, the above-average price is well deserved. Plenty parking out in front it pay and display park next door. Lots of choices from the menu and even kids menu selections are very tasty. Friendly staff and very professional and fast. One of our favourite places on the Shore. Reservation recommended.

Such a spectacular restaurant where you can enjoy a delicious meal with your family. Wide variety of dishes, Great atmosphere and fair prices. Definitely I’m coming back again

Atmosphere was a bit busy however understandable for Valentines day. So glad I booked however because if I didnt I wouldnt have tasted the most amazing meals Ive had in a long time. The tortellini and sauce was a brilliant combination. The lasagne wasnt too tomatoey and just melted in your mouth. Portion was great for the prices you pay. Staff were professional and friendly.