Teresita's — Restaurant in Melbourne

Embarking on what I naively thought would be lovely spot to stop for lunch with another local on a Monday—traditionally a day of rest for Teresita's outside of the Summer months—I was met with a reality that felt more like a social experiment gone wrong.

The owner might as well be running a prison canteen because he decided plates were a luxury item and asking for one was like trying to negotiate a hostage release.

Despite being the most simple of requests, he never gave us one and as other reviewers have also noted, proceeded to stand in the doorway glaring at us while we ate from the takeaway container we'd been served in despite there being dozens of empty seats inside and outside the venue.

Since when did ‘eat here and feel like a human’ become too high of an expectation, it was as if the owners personal motto is ‘Making customers comfortable is overrated’ and he’s hellbent on setting a world record for the fastest way to alienate the very people helping him keep his doors open in a cost of living crisis.

The whole experience was a masterclass in how not to run a restaurant unless your business model is based on making people never want to come back.

Hospitality is supposed to make you feel welcome, not like you're intruding on someone’s private misery. It’s a sad day when the food’s good, but the vibe’s so off you’d rather eat in a bus shelter and the highlight is leaving making it the kind of place you’d recommend to people you despise.

So, here’s a toast to Teresita’s, who’ll hopefully see this review not as a takedown, but a wake-up call, a plea for a return to the basics of what makes dining out a joy.

Because nobody wants to dine where the main course is a...

Place was a let down and waste of time. If dissapointment was a place this would be it. I could just be hungry but I wouldn't give this place another go. It was good atmosphere if your a local, but would avoid if a tourist. It seems they aren't really interested in the business a tourist has to offer. We asked to go in the back as they had a separate restaurant and bar, but was told it was full and was fully booked even for drinks. They offered to seat us outside to eat, we accepted. They took our orders for food, while waiting I noticed locals coming in and out as they pleased. 40 mins later the waitress came and told us 'they are to busy to serve us, as they are busy in the back room'. This was 8:45pm mind you, when everything in town was about to close. I wouldn't bother leaving a review, but the service and disrespect deserves less than 1 star. Went down to yolo gourmet to grab a burger instead and...

For starters, the food was below average given that it was pricey. We ordered food and asked for “take-away”, got served and we decided against going away and and eating because it was around 33 degrees outside and we couldn’t find any shade. So we decided to sit right outside the restaurant and have our food (there was hardly anyone at the restaurant at that time and probably had only a table occupied inside). As we we were having our food, the owner comes up to us (an old guy) with an extremely rude attitude and says that if we orderd food for take away we can’t be sitting here, and made us pack up and leave with our food. Never experienced such a thing before and surprised all that he treats his customers in such a way. The Asian lady was trying to be nice but the man kept...