Big Mama's — Restaurant in Sydney

We lived in sydney for years and always went to big mamas regularly, prior to 2020. We visited Sydney in June 2022 and brought our two kids, we were looking forward to regular dishes. Food was very good, but expensive for what it was. Portion size, was a bit small for a stew but it was delicious., the prawn pasta was yum and a good size for me. I don’t eat huge portions so it was perfect. However, I was pretty disappointed with the variety of food and how expensive it was for kids. It’s a local trattoria, that’s the brand. The menu online, is different to In house restaurant menu. The kids menu was outlined at $ 16 online (which is still expensive for a kids menu), it was actually $22 in the restaurant. We ordered steak and plain spaghetti for the kids. It was was the cheapest cut and shaved steak, also was not very appealing to look at nor was it tasty or well cooked. The ice cream per scope, $5 online, it is actually $10 per scoop… waited for a mini coronetto from woolies. I then asked for mixed veg as the kids option had no veggies outlined. I was told, no changes to the menu for broccolini, also a plate of carrot would cost 16-20 dollars 🤯. No veggies for kids 🤣. Moral of the story, not really a family restaurant. A restaurant for adults. What a shame, I do understand that restaurants were hit hard with Covid, but so has everyone else. Be mindful not to alienate your customers and...

Wow! Yep just WOW! Looks small from the street but once you walk inside, you’ll find it warm, welcoming and several intimate dining rooms that feel homey and comfy. If I have one suggestion for an improvement it would be to get more comfortable seating. We sat upstairs and talked for awhile after we finished our meal and the seating is not very inviting for that...but definitely not enough of a bother to lose a star! My dining companion had the rabbit and said that it was definitely yummy. I ordered the pasta and shrimp, that was excellent, too! We shared the orange and fennel salad, a good choice with an order of garlic bread.

As wonderful as the meal was our server, Anita, was on top of her game as she chatted with us, made sure the waitstaff and bussers served orders to the correct patrons. Turns out, Anita is the chef’s niece and a very busy, very professional asset to Big Mama’s. If you have not been to Big Mama’s yet, make sure you do. You can...

Having previously had a good experience here, I returned to Big Mama’s with my father all the way from Victoria, and a few of my friends before the football.

Boy, what a huge mistake.

Our waitress, an older lady who wore her glasses on her chin, had the gall to tell us to be quiet when we were laughing together at a joke, in neither a raucous nor inappropriate manner. Furthermore, and possibly because she wore her glasses on her chin rather than her eyes, she charged us $50 more per bottle for our wine, of which we had two.

No doubt she acted discriminately against us as we were dressed smartly but in our football colours, despite spending several hundreds of dollars at this sub-par “Italian” outfit.

Thanks for leaving a sour taste in our mouths, I had limited time with my dad that weekend and would’ve appreciated a nice meal with him.

Too long don’t read - there are much nicer places next...