IL Matto Werribee — Restaurant in Melbourne

I went on a date last night at this restaurant, and the ambiance was truly amazing. However, I’ve only given it 3 stars due to a disappointing interaction with one of the staff members.

We were initially attended to by a young waiter who was friendly and welcoming. Shortly afterward, though, a middle-aged waiter took over—and that’s when the experience began to decline. He even shrugged off a female waiter who had just brought us drinks and was kindly explaining the pasta options.

The mature waiter was noticeably rude and impatient. I’m not of Italian origin and wasn’t familiar with all the dishes, and my date wanted to try pasta—specifically penne rather than spaghetti—with a vegetarian option. When we asked for clarification, he responded in a dismissive and unhelpful manner.

I considered addressing his attitude directly, but I didn’t want to spoil the evening. Instead, I politely said we needed more time and waited for him to leave. A minute later, I gestured to the young male waiter, who returned with professionalism and genuine warmth. He demonstrated true Italian hospitality, kindly explaining that the pasta could be customised to suit my date’s preferences—which genuinely excited her and made her choice easy. Kudos to this young lad.

She ended up ordering the gnocchi, which turned out to be absolutely delicious.

I sincerely hope the older waiter is assigned to guests who might better appreciate his style, while younger, more courteous staff are given the opportunity to serve couples and newcomers who value a welcoming and flexible dining experience.

It’s unfortunate to give this restaurant only 3 stars, especially with such excellent food and atmosphere—but in hospitality, service makes all...

My family and I visited for dinner last night (there was 16 of us) for my aunties birthday. We were sat on two seperate tables as there was so many of us. The waitress took one table’s order and then walked away for about 5 minutes and then came and took the other tables order. The manager then yelled at her in front of our tables and got frustrated that she didn’t take the orders together. When we ordered our food, we had to point to everything on the menu as the waitress couldn’t understand English and what we were saying. The food was average and not great. My brother got the risotto (he asked for the pork sausage to be added and it wasn’t). The risotto was spread thin out on a plate and was cold. My little cousin waited an extra 10 minutes for her hawian pizza after we all got our food. The manager was yelling and getting frustrated at the staff in front of everyone which was really poor. It wasn’t a good look at all.

At the end, we were told to get out of our seats as they had to seat more people (there was no one waiting to sit down and by this time it was around 8pm). The manager lifted a table over everyone’s head to try and squeeze it in at the wall near where sitting and an older family member of mine was standing there and was rudely told to move.

Overall I know the venue has just opened but I won’t be visiting again, it wasn’t a good experience. It’s great that some of the staff are Italian, it adds a nice touch. However they need to understand the menu and English so when customers are ordering, they aren’t being asked to point to the menu and repeat themselves...

First up how exciting is it to have another amazing eatery in Werribee this suburb is taking over as a place to eat in Melbourne… ok service is fabulous we certainly were offered a drink within 5 minutes of being seated massive tick. Great menu and beautifully written with an excellent cocktail menu, and a well thought out selection of authentic Italian cuisine to choose from. The food mmmm I’m being picky only because I’ve eaten all over Italy ( in a non braggy saved up for holiday way ) BUT where was the garlic? We had entree 10/10 Pizza 6.6/10 mozzarella was cold which made it weird and base was really wet and Sicilian olives extra were not Sicilian … gnocchi which read like a must have but sadly felt like it had been thickened last minute and needed fresh continental parsley and cracked pepper and the pasta bouncy and delicious but the sauce was a bit plain with zero garlic or waft of white wine. Cocktails were Amazing !!!! Except what’s with the dehydrated citrus as garnish why can’t we have fresh limes in our $21 Margaritas?.. Service was 10/10 attentive, fast and efficient cannot fault it. We will definitely be back this is only my first impression and it’s so great to have an authentic Italian restaurant in a township which has been really built on the back of the Italian community over the last 7 decades. Cannot wait to try the gelato all summer long. Ps it’s a tiny bit expensive and priced out of the weekly visit market for most of us and music was...