Ottimo Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Hobart

We were a bit surprised by this restaurant as it has plenty of high notes! I'm reviewing vegan options only. We ordered 2 vegan pizzas and a vegan pizzeta. First of all, we asked if we could have half of the pizza without mushrooms, but the chef said it's too complicated, it's either with or without mushrooms.. Then the cashew cheese they use for vegan pizzas... it is just crambled cashews mixed with (probably) nutritional yeast. I was hoping for an actual cashew cheese. The crumbled nuts did not add any flavour to the dish, I actually had to use some salt. The dough was nice and soft. However, it did not taste like from a real italian restaurant. It was more.. like the old style homemade pizza, if you get what I mean. We waited a long time for our food, and the place wasn't busy when we came. This restaurant is trying to be nice and cosy, but it's more like a takeaway place with some tables/booths added in, you can't even order their larger size pizzas because it's for take out only. People are constantly coming in and out for deliveries, uber eats, etc, which is not a pleasant vibe. Lastly, it was way too expensive! Believe me, I am happy to pay $30 for a pizza, but it must be a GOOD italian style pizza, served in a nice cosy restaurant. We spent over $70, and that's how much we pay in Sydney in a proper italian place that we love coming back to, despite the higher prices. Will not...

EDITED (The owner John has since contacted me and been extremely helpful and apologetic. I am really impressed with the way he has dealt with this experience. We unfortunately had a bad experience but he has well and truly made up for it. Thank you John, really appreciate it.)

Where the SERVICE is WORSE than the food!!! Had high hopes after seeing the reviews but unfortunately had such a bad experience with this restaurant. Picked up 3 very average pizzas and a pasta. 1 pizza was not the pizza we ordered, so we called to see if we could get a refund or pick up something else tomorrow for the inconvenience. The woman at reception told us our only option was to come pick up a new pizza they would make us but we didn’t want to go all the way back while the rest of our food went cold. She let us know that her delivery driver was in England and asked us if we would like him to come back from England to deliver the pizza for us… not really our problem? After stating we didn’t want to go back out and she refused to deliver us a new pizza. We asked for a credit or refund and she said it was pick up a pizza tonight or nothing. Worse thing was the wrong pizza she gave us was horrible and dry so we couldn’t even eat the incorrect one she gave us. I have never experienced such horrible customer service. Much better people and restaurants...

Ottimo Ristorante Italiano in Hobart is a true hidden gem, but.

I recently dined there with five others and I was genuinely impressed. Service was a standout: fun, engaging and attentive throughout. We started with two large garlic pizzas for the table, packed with flavour and a great way to begin the meal. For my main, I had the BBQ chicken pizza, which came generously topped and full of taste. What really stood out was the drink service. Our server was attentive and proactive, checking in just as drinks were running low, a detail many places overlook. It’s clear Ottimo values the full dining experience, including encouraging guests to relax and enjoy their drinks.

I originally thought 5 stars but when we looked at the bill, we noticed a Sunday surcharge that was not mentioned at any point. Might be on the back of the menu, not sure. So, our bill had $37.34 surcharge added. There was also a $20 discrepancy between the sub total and the total sale amount, guessing this was a mandatory tip? I understand why there are surcharges, but to not make it clear when booking, ordering is a reason not to return for me. This is just my experience and in no way suggests these surcharges and mandatory tips are not displayed somewhere within the restaurant, I just did...