The Leveson — Restaurant in Melbourne

Went to dine with 3 guests. Upon entering and clearly unsure whether we just find a table or need to be seated by an employee. We were ignored by both the barman and a server. Proceeded up the stairs in the hopes that perhaps someone in the restaurant section would help us, still looking around unsure at this point & standing on the green astro turf section, 2 waitresses walked from the door to the bar up, toward the kitchen and completely ignored us standing there waiting! When someone finally asked if we needed a table, we were seated, given menus and water, then left so long that we had to get the attention of a nearby waitress so we could order.

THE FOOD: Where do I start, I ordered the chicken schnitzel with mushroom gravy & it was FOUL!! I genuinely don't know how one could mess a classic like that up. It had what I'd describe as a gross taste, that leads me to think either out of date or given even that the chips were gross - perhaps the oil(?). The mushroom gravy also unpleasant. The slaw was absolutely disgusting! It verged on sourkraut!

The second guest ordered the cassarecce pasta and requested no chilli, no surprise at this point it came with chilli. It had so much lemon in it, it was overpowering and unpleasant.

The 3rd guest and the kicker!! Beer battered fish and chips and it was delicious! The chips didn't have a funky taste like mine..

I had been to the Leveson before and it was good enough to return to but sadly this experience has left a...

Amazing. My friend, Dave, and I came to The Leveson for dinner on the 19th of February, a warm summer evening, in search of one thing: the famous Leveson Parma. We turned onto Leveson St, briskly walking to our 7:30pm reservation, ready to be greeted by the staff. Though upon our arrival the first staff we met, a young man in his 20's, said "Scan in to register". I looked at Dave, he looked at me. The sweat precipitating on our brow. Twenty minutes earlier, forgetting about the COVID-ridden world, we left our phones at home to charge. Scared, we turned to the man and our voice broke "We left our phones at home" as we turned to leave admitting our mistake. "Wait, you can sign in on mine" he said. A glimmer of hope arose in our hearts. What a saviour. We were let in, and sat at our table with the friendliest waitress who didn't remind us of our thoughtless mistake. We had The Parma, and were very joyed. We left with full bellies. But better yet, we left with full...

The Leveson is not "wheelchair accessible". I was with a group last night, which included someone who required the use of the venue's wheelchair door. The doorway is being used for storage! We were told that we should have called ahead, so they could have cleared the tables and chairs being stored in the "wheelchair accessible" doorway. After spending some time outside in the rain deciding what to do, we ended up going to a different venue a block over that did have wheelchair access and were more than happy to accommodate our large group and the subsequent food orders. I direct the Leveson's owners' attention to the Australian Human Rights Commission's FAQ on Access to Premises. I'm a local for the last twenty years, and have very much enjoyed the Leveson during this time. But I was astounded at their myopia last night in causing the emotional distress for my friend. (Not to mention missing out on the orders from our 10+ group.) I'll be going elsewhere...