I had walked by Pepe's many times and loved the charming patio. It has a quintessential Italian…read morevibe. Many of the Italian restaurants around Melbourne are more dressed up than I prefer when I'm craving a plate of authentic pasta and pizza from the stone. They were busy even at 3:30 in the afternoon but the hostess was able to find a table for me inside. Pepe's touts themselves as a cocktail bar as well as an Italian eatery, so I started with my favorite classic dirty gin martini. Things started off right when 3 olives came out on the pick. I'm not too selective with my dirty martinis, but this one was in a frosty glass, and perfectly balanced. The waitress was knowledgeable about the menu when I asked about the dishes I was considering, and she had her preferences and recommendations. The pizza was a popular choice, so I ordered the Bianca that includes potato, rosemary, and mozzarella. I also added the optional ham. It was a fantastic, rustic Italian pizza with a perfect crust. If you find yourself at Pepe's, I highly recommend having at least one pizza to try at the table. I also ordered an Orange Endive salad but didn't get the exact name of it before the menu was gone. It was the only salad with 'Orange' in the name. It was a very simple salad with not much to it. At times, I would get a bite of a very salty, bitter, charred flavor that was unpleasant to say the least. Otherwise, it was a plate of endive leaves with a few candied pecans. As a fan of anything with Orange on the menu, I would highly recommend skipping this salad. It will disappoint. It also cost around the same price as the pizzas. Order more pizza. Despite the disappointing salad, the rest of the experience was top notch. Pepe's is still 5 stars for me. The restaurant is a lovely place to dine, both inside and out. The service was excellent, the drink was 10/10, and I would have ordered every flavor of pizza offered on the menu.

Service was great and the food was quite tasty. The ambiance was lively and not too loud…read more Thx - J

Innocent Bystander was a very unique spot for lunch. The wine came in Erlenmeyer Flasks which was a…read morecool thing for the tasting. The wine was good but not the best we had in the region, however, the food and dessert was absolutely delicious! This more than made it worth it as well as the amazing indoor area they had. We'd definitely come back for food and drinks if we were nearby.

Food, atmosphere & service was delicious! We had the special pizza (really liked the sweet…read morejalapenos) We went here around 5pm on a Friday. Plenty of space and warmth for prams and groups. Accommodated our toddler easily without issues. Very happy with the experience and would bring friends to visit.

Amazing service, beautiful food - a wonderful team festive lunch!…read moreI organised a group of nearly 30 colleagues for a festive lunch in December 2025 at Tazio. The staff were incredibly warm and helpful throughout the planning process - special thanks to Maggie and Ray. We had the beautiful room upstairs for our function. Sitting under the big feature window was very glamorous. The food was top quality, generously sized, good value for the set menu price and plentiful. The menu was printed with our business name and individual menus were tailored/ printed for anyone with dietary requirements, so everyone felt comfortable understanding what they could eat. My team had a lovely time and we were all very grateful. Thank you team Tazio - I will definitely be back.

We went here for a snack and a drink early on a Saturday evening. The place was heavily booked, but…read morewe managed to get a table without a reservation. The good menu looked ok, but was not anything special. We had a nice pizza to share with our drinks. The drinks menu was very standard and without inspiration. I'm not certain why they were so busy. We are not planning to return here again with so many better options in the CBD.

We had the Pre Theatre set menu before we went to MJ the Musical . Very very impressive , the food…read morewas outstanding, delish!!!!! ALL of the staff that looked after us were amazing , super attentive very friendly and extremely knowledgeable . It may become our new place to go when we come to Melbourne . Highly recommend.

This place is a tapas bar / restaurant on the lower level and they have a rooftop bar as well. We…read morevisited both today and drinks at the rooftop bar followed by dinner at the restaurant on the ground floor. It's a stylish restaurant with nice tables and counter to sit on for a meal or drinks. The menu is small sharing plates and quite expensive for what you get. Tapas is priced per piece and $8.50 per croquette is quite pricey in my opinion. There is plenty of food options including main courses and three different paella's on the menu. The vegetarian options seemed limited here and perhaps they have a separate vegetarian menu but I didn't check to see if they did. The wine list has an ok selection of wine from Australia. NZ and Spain. The food was nice but nothing spectacular. The flavours were not intense enough for me. Sauces in Spain tend to be garlicky, flavorful and packed with flavours unlike the sauces here. Also a tad light on the seasoning. The beef main was very nice but lacked seasoning, the bone marrow on toast was lovely, the croquettes were lovely but the prawn over cooked and not tasty at all. Churros was also average. Great service and super friendly staff and bar tenders. Service was on point and the staff were attentive. Bit more punchy flavours and I would give it five stars.

This place was awesome. Okay, it does sound like a place that basically serves parmas, something…read morethat I really can't get into (though of course the Victorians absolutely love them), however it is also the beer that is what drew me back to this place, multiple times in fact. Yeah, this place turned out to be pretty cool, and it certainly was a great place to spend some time, and grab a nice beer. In fact the beer selection is constantly changing, and they have an awesome selection of craft beers from around the state. Yeah, if you like your craft beers, then this is definitely one of those bars worth checking out.

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well here's mine:…read more Parking: 3 Location: 4 Decor/ambiance: 4 Customer Service: 4 My first time having Parm in Australia and whoaaaaaa! This place rocks! The chicken parm was amazing. I can't wait to return this spot. The location is downtown Melbourne where there is lots going on. Parking is in nearby garages. I don't remember there being a private lot for parking. The decor is a typical bar BUT i must say its rather elegant with the wood trim everywhere. The service we received was awesome. They offer several types of chicken parm. The portions are huge. We were able to share one parm and it was two of us. Great meal! Can't wait to return.

We had delicious food and great service. This restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. It's along…read morethe river. They have a bar. They do charge for sparkling water. We started with the kibbeh. It could have been more flavorful. The dumplings were delicious. The grilled barramundi was delicious and served with a brown sauce and rice. Prices were okay.

Amazing staff and wonderful food!…read more My coworker recommended this spot so we all came for dinner one night. The workers were so friendly and welcoming. I guess one of my coworkers is a regular here since we stay close by. We got a bunch of different food and everything was so delicious. I did prefer the regular hummus over the other one they offered but both were very good. A few of us decided to come by again for dinner the next day because we liked it so much. Lots of seating and it's right off the water.

Excellent food. In…read moreMelbourne on holiday/vacation and came to this place on the first night. When we walked in the hostess stand wasn't apparent but was placed in the middle of the restaurant. The Gnocchi I received by mistake but it was a much welcomed one. The truffle was very pronounced. My husband had the Sofia Pizza, he said it was pretty solid but "had a lot going on".....full disclosure he says pizza has a lot going on when there are more than 3 ingredients on it. I would definitely come back if I lived here.

Was staying at the Marriott hotel and quite literally it's right next door. Read the reviews and…read moreit sounded like one of the Melbourne hot spots. Tried to go on our first evening in Melbourne, but unfortunately the place was closed due to a private function (Christmas party). Came back a few days later. The weather had changed so it was unfortunately not the sitting outside kind of weather we had hoped and what looked like Trunk was designed for. Decided that we would go to the diner side, instead of the Italian side. Walked in and what struck us immediately was the noise! We had our hearts set on trying this very cool little spot. We initially had to wait for some seats to be cleaned up, even though there was a number of open tables. Once seated our server(s) were very friendly and we had our food on the table in no time. I went for the burger and my wife went for the chili salad. My burger was ok, but the bun was such that it nearly disintegrated and I was left trying to eat a squished out mess. I tried my wife's meal and it was definitely very tasty. Overall, The food was good, but not fabulous, like I had hoped. Even though the place was only 1/2 full, the noise levels were such that we had to nearly yell at each other to be heard. The entire place is glass, hardwood floors and metal chair (which make a seriously loud noise when moved). This would have been a cool place to linger and chat, but unless you have a blowhorn that's just not possible. Out servers were very friendly and good. I think had we been able to sit outside this would have been a fabulous spot. I'll go back, as long as I can enjoy my meal outside.

Great open air dining area overlooking the river walk. Came early enough where we were seated…read moreright away. The tables filled up soon after. Full bar and a great wine list with all wines from Australia. Wedge salad was not a traditional type. Heavy use of mint throws it off. Not what i expected. The filet was overcooked but was seasoned well. I prefer not to use a steak sauce when the flavor and meat is done right. But in this case, I used it all. Wonderful mushroom mustard sauce. Potatoes were seasoned with garlic and fried perfectly. Excellent side.

Bad service Food is ok at best…read moreChicken wings are bland. The server said they were cooked in Louisiana hot sauce. No way.