Chicco Palms — Restaurant in Adelaide

It's been opened for about a month and it shows. Front of house needs a complete overhaul. The worst I've seen in Adelaide. We arrived at 8pm for an 8pm booking on a Wednesday night. Line out the door, which appeared to be a good sign initially, except when there were at least 5 empty tables not being used. We spoke to a lady when we first arrived to say we had a booking and she smiled and walked away to do something else. We tried again with another lady who said she'd look for the booking but then told us that they couldn't see it on the list and it would be 5-10 minutes for a table (Seinfeld anyone?). Two other groups behind us also had the same issue. At 8:25pm, 2 groups ahead of us in line had been given tables, we again approached a gentleman (who appeared to be telling people what to do) about a table and were told it would be about 5-10 minutes for a table - again there were at least 3 tables which were set but empty.

We left after this. As we were leaving a sports team arrived and went straight to a table that was prepared for them (20+ settings) without waiting in line. Not sure of the circumstances, but not a good look when you have 15+ people waiting for a table for over 30 minutes with spare tables that could have been used.

When we booked earlier that day we were told that we could have a 6:15pm table but we would need to be out by 7:30pm sharp for the 2nd sitting or an 8pm table and be out by 10pm. From that call it appeared to be a sharp operation. Reality was anything but. At no stage during our wait were we provided with a menu or invited to have a drink at the bar etc.

The kitchen seemed to be operating well, and the food looked OK but we didn't stick around to actually try it so can't rate that. It might be a new, hip place to try but with service like this there won't be many repeat customers. We're certainly not going back. If this is what a Wednesday night is like, imagine peak times.

Perhaps I'm being critical, but the service was bad, contrary to some of the other reviews. We ended up getting a table at Napoli just down the road - there's a great place for traditional Italian pizza, with...

I don't want to be that guy that leaves a bad review, but that's what I'm going to do in this instance. Visited this restaurant with high expectations. Looking around the restaurant it was very busy and the food LOOKED great. We had a 6:30pm booking and were informed our booking was from 6:30 until 8pm. Fair enough, understandable when it's so busy. We weren't seated until at least 6:45pm. 15 minutes of our 90 gone before we even sit down. Service was okay and our entrees were served quite promptly, but my God the mains took a while. Mains were finally served at about 7:45, we were supposed to leave at 8. Figure that out. The entree was okay, I got the crumbed chicken which was really nice. The garlic pizza was cooked terribly and basically tasted exactly how it looked. Burnt. Bit of an iffy start but still had high hopes for the mains. My spaghetti and meatballs was amazing, well worth the wait. My partners margarita pizza was also fantastic. Rest of the mains looked pretty good. We finally finished eating and didn't even get a chance to catch our breath and the waitress comes up to us and says "you guys are too full for desserts aren't you?" Simply agreed with her because it was clear she was just trying to kick us out to get the next group in. Have never had an experience like that in a restaurant, what if we did want dessert? Couldn't believe what I was hearing.

We finally go up to pay and thank God no police officers were there because any Covid safe plan was completely thrown out the window at that point. Absolutely dozens of people standing squished together near the entrance because the place is so unorganised. Looking at their phone and seeing 79 missed calls sums it up really. This place needs to employ more people and figure out what it's doing with its timed seatings because 90 minutes is not enough with how this place is run.

Unfortunately won't be coming back. Hope they can make the necessary changes because it has a lot of potential but has way too...

Booked for a 7.45pm meal for four to celebrate a birthday and got in just after arriving on time (no lineup outside). Corner seat for reservation wasn't too bad but felt overlooked by staff members. Ten minutes for someone to come over to order drinks (table water, two cocktails, glass of wine and beer). Another ten minutes waiting for drinks while the table near us was seated and had drinks brought out within the time we were waiting. Three separate people came over to give us drinks and then to order food. Service seemed quite disorganised and no set 'areas' for waitresses which meant we were repeating ourselves quite a bit. Understood that it was busy, but again, table near us had managed to get their food long before we even got bread for the table. Ordered two pizzas and gnocchi for mains to share. Food was fairly average, but could've gotten more ingredients while home making our own pizzas. Very limited menu to choose from as well. Whilst the pizzas were fairly sloppy, the gnocchi wasn't too bad. Had dessert while we were there as well, just for the hell of it. Now, we're fairly certain the girl said parfait. I don't know if this place actually knows what a parfait is, but it is Not a brioche bun with solidified mousse in the middle. We were given knives and forks to eat it, and honestly, it didn't look appetising in the slightest. Will never go back. Can tell its popular only because it's still fairly new. Don't recommend it as a place to go either, especially not for a celebration. Soft serve ice creams from HJs on the way home tasted better than anything...