Pepe's Italian & Liquor — Restaurant in Melbourne

I don't usually leave reviews for venues, however the staff were so friendly and accomidating, making me feel so comfortable I couldn't not give them five stars. Since I did a birthday booking for my mother almost every staff member acknowledged this and offered her a free drink! The food was also delectable, my only qualm being the fact that I chose the spicy vodka rigatoni, which was indeed spicy, and I should have been mindful of this due to my taste for things on the milder side. Even still it was delectable, and if you're alright with the price (Rigatoni being $32) I found it filling and worthwhile. The only thing was that since it was so understandably busy, it was quite loud. We ate inside in the dining room so this may have been a factor as opposed to eating in other areas, but I have not returned just yet to find out! Outside of the noise, the lighting was low and inviting, and it feels very comfortable especially if you're there for a glass or two. If you are interested in having dinner before a musical or production, this is the perfect place as less than a block down the street you have both the Comedy Theatre and Her Majesty's Theatre, so perfect for dinner before a show or a birthday night out, speaking from experience. Once my mother and I had finished watching our production (SIX), we had enough time to come back for dessert where we ordered my favourite of all time, "heaven's pavlova", which was so beautiful I almost wanted to order another for home. When our server brought it to us there was even a candle without my asking. The server we had was so sweet and asked us questions about our experience of the production after we had returned, which I found so thoughful and she honestly made my night more than the production (I'd ask to give her a raise if we had managed to ask for her name!!) Overall, I loved it! And I'm so glad that I decided upon this venue. Definitely recommend and will come again...

A large group of us came to Pepe's Italian & Liquor on a Thursday evening for a birthday celebration. There was about 20 of us, and we opted for the set menu at $65 per head. They were very accommodating and provided us with alternative vegetarian options for those with dietary preferences. The food was delicious, and consisted of an entree, main course, and dessert. I particularly enjoyed the arancini, macaroni, roasted vegetables and tiramisu. There was quite a long wait time between each course, but we were happy to wait as that meant we had more time to celebrate the birthday party.

Unfortunately, we were very disappointed at the end of the evening when we tried to order a round of shots for everyone at the table. The waitress came up to the table and blankly stated that we were being 'too loud and inappropriate' and therefore they were going to refuse selling us shots. We were all so shocked at her words, because we were a large group of people celebrating a birthday, so no doubt we were making some noise. I believe that our noise level was proportional to the number of people we had, and we were never being inappropriate or disrespectful to other patrons at the restaurant. This was an upsetting way to end the evening, as we simply wanted to have a round of shots to celebrate the birthday girl. But instead, we left the restaurant feeling as though we had been kicked out and told to leave. We had just spent thousands of dollars and we were prepared to spend hundreds more, but instead were refused service without a noise warning or anything. Disappointed about...

If you haven’t been to Pepe’s what are you doing?! We came for dinner last night and it was amazing, the atmosphere is warm and cozy yet vibrant. The staff are all lovely, we were looked after by Tyler who was extremely friendly and helpful for the evening. We sat outside so it is ordering through the QR code and your entrees and mains come out at the same time. The cocktails are great, we tried the summer kisses, oh pear and espresso martini and they were all lovely especially the summer kisses if you like something sweet! For food we went a bit overboard.. we ordered the HOUSE BAKED FOCACCIA which was crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. ARANCINI was tasty with lovely mushroom flavour and a great amount of cheese. PROSCIUTTO pizza dough was amazingly delicious, definitely one of our favourites of the night. POLPO ALLA PIZZAIOLA was lovely the octopus was cooked well and there was a little kick from the jalapeño. STEAK TARTARE was a highlight of the evening, none of us have ever tried it before and we all loved it! The SPICY RIGATONI VODKA, when they said spicy they meant it, only 1/4 of us could really eat this one, a bit too spicy for us sadly. The other past we ordered, GIGLI, was a winner though, so flavourful just amazing with the sausage 10/10! The QUATTRO SALUMI pizza was nice, a little bit of a kick but the perfect amount and lastly the PORK BELLY pizza, this one was lovely, salty yet sweet just a perfect mix! Thank you for the amazing...