Pausa Pranzo — Restaurant in Melbourne

Went there today, just on 12pm. The place is small so it was busy but there was plenty of staff. The waitress staff are also lovely. Unfortunately when I ordered, my dish was not available, so I chose the special meatball panini. The waitress came back and told me it had sold out.....really??? it was 12pm not 2, who runs a kitchen that sells out of their special lunch menu item at 12pm we thought. The kind waitress let us know that there would be a half hour wait while the kitchen prepared more. We, without any fuss said ok, we would wait. The waitress came back a few minutes later explaining that the kitchen wanted me to choose something else because they were busy and may not remember my order in 30 minutes. What the??? Just some feedback, you just don't give your customers that explanation. Anyway i calmly said that i would not be chosing anything else and we waited for my partners order. This establishment presented with the intention that I could only order what items where convenient for them. What was more surprising was after around 10 minutes the waitress said that they would compromise for me and I could have like an entree order where the meatballs were served as 3, with the same sauce in a bowl. Weren't they sold out ????....so why the meatballs in a bowl and not a panini?? Why was this a compromise?? You either server the food you advertise or not. I understand that the waitress was just relaying the message from the kitchen but It honestly just felt like a panini, (their advertised special) was just all to hard for this kitchen. Whilst we were polite to staff, we will not be coming back and our experience has resulted in this poor review, bad word of mouth to our local community and family. You need to get on top of your kitchen and orders. There is just too many options in Preston and I will be taking my business elsewhere. Just so...

A 3.8 rating is spot on for this small cafe. This is the sort of place I’d like to see more of. It’s a tiny almost hole in the wall place on High Street and it has a predominant Italian flavour. There is coffee, drinks and snacks and maybe the odd meal available here and it looks to be all quality stuff. There’s also a small range of Italian packaged foods dotted around for sale. There are Italians running the cafe and you have to love that when they know what they’re doing as these guys do. Overall it seems like a great place to grab a refreshment and a snack on the run at any time of day.

The cafe makes great use of a very economical space. It’s also smart and stylish inside with a nice fitout that works well. There’s one table only though. Otherwise there’s three seats at a bar against the wall and a bench for two to three only. No matter at all. The coffee was lovely and it was a good price too. Service was nice as well. Efficient and polite. I really liked the look of the snacks on sale here and earlier reviews attest to their quality. Next...

‘Pausa Pranzo’ means ‘lunch break’ in Italian but you’ll find me here for breakfast, lunch and dinner (kidding - they close at 3pm but if dinner was an option, you’d still find me here). The owners Mauro and Diana clearly have a passion for what they do; it is evident in their service as well as their food. It’s authentic, top quality and true to its roots.

They serve up freshly made-to-order panini’s and now pasta options for lunch. They have 4 options for their panini’s — salami, prosciutto, mortadella, and vegetarian, all with various fillings on offer. I ordered the Il Caprino - fresh ciabatta, mortadella, grilled zucchini, goats cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. Whilst I’ve only tried one, I’m confident in saying there’s nothing to fault here. The ingredients are fresh, good quality and the portions are fantastic for the price. It is constantly busy for a reason — if anything, I feel it is underrated. I’ve never been to Italy, but I feel like if there’s a little slice of it in Melbourne, you’ll...