Papa Luigi's Pasta House — Restaurant in New South Wales

Papa Luigi’s restaurant seemed at first a very good option to spend an anniversary and Valentine’s Day with my significant other, however we were shocked at the events that unfolded on our special night.

Upon arrival, we were left standing waiting for our reserved table for 15 minutes. During this time, we witnessed multiple waiters walk past, acknowledge we were there, and continue walking. Initially we found this unacceptable.

After our wait, we were seated. When seated, no menu’s were provided, and no conversation was had with the waiter. This continued for the next 30 minutes as we attempted to wave down a waiter. Eventually we got the attention of the manager walking past, she provided us with menu’s and was very lovely.

Another 30 minutes goes by, we still haven’t ordered. I wave down a waiter, and at this point was quite annoyed at the fact no one has taken our order after being seated for 1 hour. Multiple couples around us also experienced this, some left after an hour of waiting and not ordering.

The waiter came and mentioned there is a long wait in the kitchen, after making excuses and talking to me about her job instead of doing it, she said she would go to the kitchen to ask how long the wait was, instead of taking my order. I found this quite strange, and it only added to my anger.

15 minutes go by, and i continuously see the waiter walking around, time wasting. I call her back over and ask her what the issue is, and more excuses were made. During this time, they never actually found out anything that aided me in my decision to eat. We were then told “your probably better off going to maccas”. This is not something you ever want to be told when dining at a respectable establishment. I then demanded to talk to the manager.

This is where the events of the night changed. The manager came over, apologetic and stressed as it seemed she was doing the job of everyone else in the restaurant. I mentioned to her the time in which we have been here, and the conversations that were had. She took this in her stride and ensured that she will make it up to us.

The Raghu we ordered was great, as well as the complimentary Wine for our troubles. The manager of Papa Luigi seems to be the only thing holding this establishment together and should be commended for her hard work. I’m sure it does not go unnoticed by...

We had dinner at Papa Luigi's to support local businesses, which unfortunately was anything but delightful.

To start, the service was alarmingly fast, reminiscent of McDonalds. Our entrees appeared on our table within a few minutes, as if they had been teleported. The garlic bread was overwhelmingly heavy, though the bruschetta managed to be a highlight.

However, the enjoyment was short-lived when a waiter, in a hurry, asked to clear away my mother-in-law's plate while she still had a piece in her hands.

For the main course, we had Polpette meatballs, risotto, and chicken schnitzel. Each dish was a disappointment.

The meatballs came with an unexpected 'extra' - a metal shaving, likely a souvenir from the kitchen scourer, at least the plates where clean!?

The rissotto was chicken, chorizo and peas. But, it was hard to tell if it was a rissotto at all. There was rice which formed more of a seabed at the bottom of what seemed like an ocean of soup.

If you have seen The Bear, you will know that every second counts, but the speed at which our servings arrived suggest a pre-prepared approach. Each dish arriving within minutes, was far too quickly to believe they were freshly made. My tough, dry chicken schnitzel all hinted at a kitchen more focused on speed than on quality.

It's baffling how when being presented with the bill, even though we had left our mains two thirds uneaten, there was no acknowledgment from the staff that something might be amiss. Even while bringing the metal shaving to the waiter's attention, at this point in time, only yielded a nonchalant response. There was no offer to adjust to our nearly $150 bill.

When taking the bill to the counter, the staff members more engrossed in their conversation than in attending to customers, were suprised at our presence.

From the moment we arrived to the second we left, our entire 'dining experience' was just over in...

Whoever is behind the food at this place is doing a fantastic job in creating delicious flavour filled dishes. Everything was fresh and so so yummy. That's where the positive ends. A relatively set menu for a Valentine's Day meal (fair enough & totally necessary with between 300-400 meals being produced altogether.....as a guess). The wait time from being seated, to receiving our appetiser AND complimentary drink was an hour! The wait time then for the main was almost another hour. Finally dessert was offered as a takeaway (as people wanted to leave, according to the wait staff). The excruciating wait times were predominantly dealt with by teenage wait staff, they were ill-equipped & buckling under the pressure. It was up to more senior staff to deal with that - very very unprofessional! Finally, I went to the bathroom on the way out only to hear one of the owners teenage (children? Perhaps?) mouthing off about how their staff were so #$@%ed & the disaster of a night was all of their fault! Why did you not get out on the floor to help, instead of standing around behind the bar?!?!? Hospitality is not just about good food.....and the food was delicious! It is about a level of professionalism & accountability. It is about creating an experience where people want to come back for more. Having a trivia quiz was certainly NOT my idea of how to spend my Valentine's evening! It felt like being at a nursing home Bingo match! So disappointed and very unlikely to come back for a repeat visit! What you need is a really great restaurant manager & less family members wandering around, taking up space. As previously said, whoever was in that kitchen was creating absolutely delicious food, but...