Fratellino — Restaurant in Melbourne

Dear Fratellino’s team,

I don’t usually write reviews or complaints, but I feel compelled to reach out after our experience last night.

We’ve been regulars at Fratellino’s for years—we live around the corner and have dined with you countless times. It’s always been our go-to local, and that’s what makes this so disappointing.

We had a reservation for an early dinner (booked ahead of time as I had work the next day), and arrived on time. We were told there were issues with the booking system, yet no one had reached out beforehand to inform us. We were asked to wait "a couple of minutes," but that turned into 30 minutes standing in a cramped corner while other guests—some who arrived after us—were seated before us.

When we inquired about some kind of gesture for the delay, we were offered a complimentary garlic pizza, which we never received. To make matters worse, a table of four remained empty for some time. When we asked if we could take it, we were told larger groups were expected, and instead, other diners were moved there while we were offered a table next to the front door—cold, drafty, and completely uninviting in the middle of winter.

When I raised the concern, I was told bluntly, “That’s all we have—take it or leave it.” So we left.

The way we were treated was not only dismissive but truly upsetting, especially from a place we’ve supported loyally for so long. This wasn’t about a long wait or a busy night—we understand those happen. It was about how the situation was handled, the lack of communication, and the complete disregard for regular, respectful customers.

Unfortunately, you’ve lost us as patrons, not out of spite, but out of genuine disappointment. We expected better from our...

I ordered a take away vegetarian pizza and tiramisu from this restaurant a week ago. The pizza base was so thin it was like paper, and they were very stingy with toppings. Even the toppings that were there were cut extra thin apparently to maximise profit. The pizza tasted ok, but was difficult to handle and left me hungry. But it got worse. The "tiramisu" was basically like a tub of thickened cream, a little liquor and a few flecks of cake mixed through dumped in a large take away box. It was about 95% cream and tasted terrible. It was just a pile of cream when I opened the box...easily the worst tiramisu i've ever tasted. You would think at this point it would get better right? Wrong. I complained to the Manager who said "that's how our tiramisu is always made and didn't seem interested in the fact the dessert was so poorly presented and tasted terrible. To his credit he offered only to refund the tiramisu, but only gave a very vague promise he would "look after me" the next time I ordered a pizza. So I call tonight to order a pizza 15 mins before closing (I live nearby). The Manager isn't in. The staff have no clue what was said and were just as clueless as me about the Manager's vague promise. Then after initially offering to take my order, the young guy who answered the phone tells me "Oh, oh sorry the kitchen's closed now. You'll have to come back another time". I'm glad he got a good laugh after I told him I would now be eating vegemite on toast for dinner, because I wont be coming...

I’m so disappointed in tonight’s dining experience. We come here a lot as locals and also recommend to all of our friends as one of the best pizza places in Melbourne. Obviously it’s a no frills kind of place but in general you would expect atleast a minimum level of customer service.

We ate here tonight for maybe the 50th time and the waiter/owner was his usually rude self when we ordered. We put up with this because we like the pizza.

There was a cockroach on the wall behind us when we were eating and I screamed out of fright and was told to stop overreacting and to calm down by the same guy. He squished the bug and kicked it under the fridge next to us and when we enquired about where the bug we were told he not to worry about it.

Considering we come here a lot and we spent a lot of money here I thought it would be right considering the service and lack of apology that we would at least get a discount on our meal.

I said this to him when we were paying and he ignored me to the point where I had to say it a few times. He continued to be rude and offered no apology at all not to mention his attitude was awful and one of the worst experiences I’ve had in a restaurant in Melbourne.

We are not stupid and obviously bugs come into restaurants but we don’t come out to pay for a restaurant experience to have such poor service and to have no apology or no discount when a situation like...