Lucky & Pep's — Restaurant in Sydney

I don't think I've ever rated one star before simply because it takes getting so much wrong to get that score. I figure, in most cases, a place rarely fails in every single category to make it abysmal. Well, Lucky's and Pep's surprised me out of nowhere in this regard.

Service was beyond terrible, with me waiting 30-40 minutes upon arrival to pickup my order at the designated time. Naturally, I inquired upon the delay as it was possible that something had unexpectedly happened beyond their control. The individual, who later identified himself as the owner, described the problem being related to the recent influx of customers in the last 10-15 minutes. I looked around to confirm. The place had only a dozen or so customers. What I did notice was the one chef in the open kitchen who seemed to be texting. He didn't seem to know that my order had not yet been completed.

The owner then offered a drink as consolation, so I reluctantly accepted. He wandered off into the other room, never to return again. After the second half of my experience elapsed, 40 minutes total, my order finally arrived. In my microwavable container sat my noodles. They were lukewarm, as if they had been sitting for a while or perhaps not been heated enough. My complex dish must've simply taken much longer than the others I suppose. I paid full price, of course. Another person at the counter who seemingly had no idea what was going on took my complaint and grumbled something. And that was it - I left.

I can tell you that the food was only mediocre. You could just as easily find a match in the frozen isle, however, at your local grocer. I would not recommend this place to anyone as it has terrible service overall. Not one person seemed to be helpful and I am truly the least fussy person they could get. Maybe I didn't make enough of a scene?

All I know is I am not going back here again. I'd recommend everyone else to steer clear of this...

I have had disappointing experiences here before and we thought we would try it again, unfortunately with no improvement. I requested space for prams and high chairs with added notes of age of babies and need for them to sleep and be close by, on arrival we were met with no space for our prams and being really rudely told to move them out of the way (out of sight from us) by a staff member. When asked if we could shift tables a bit to create space we were told no, so the two (3/4month old) babies had to be held by mums crying during dinner instead of able to sleep in their prams as pre organised.

Aside from that rude encounter with the female staff member we understood they were very busy but took unusually long to be served, but then had to wait for our drinks for over 30mins or more and another lengthy period of time for our food, only to never be served again after (we chose to leave and go to the bottle shop to get our own BYO wine instead, which was much faster as they never came back to our table to serve) and couldn’t catch their eye to ask. We had allergies stated in our food order and they all arrived with said allergens on the plates. The chicken on multiple chicken pizzas were really cold and we found bits of bone etc in it. After we finished we paid at the counter and left a tip, which on the bill was labelled as gelato? If this was a once off occasion it would be perhaps understandable but this was a hopeful redemption visit after many other failed visits. Can confidently state that we won’t be going back again, although good to see friends it was a really...

Food variety is amazing and tastes great. The price for food is moderate (a great large pasta will set you back around $24) but definitely worth it for the quality.

Alcohol is on the expensive side but it is to be expected for this type of restaurant in this area. The selection of alcohol is great. They accomodate a wide variety of drinks, including beer, wine, spirits and cocktails, to suit most people. My friend was ordering an espresso Martina and the barman offered to make a salted caramel version instead. He looks the part and gives the bar an authentic vibe.

The atmosphere is great and the inside looks amazing. Tables are spread nicely so you aren't to close to anyone and they can easily accommodate large groups or parties.

The wait staff are excellent and they are constantly checking on you to make sure everything is alright. The wait for food was minimal even though the restaurant was almost full around the time we ordered.

This restaurant could easily be given a 5 star rating but small things like the lack of a kids menu and the bathrooms needing a major renovation make it more like a 4.5. I left the restaurant feeling extremely satisfied and full without the food being overpriced or the portions small. It is perfect in everything it tries to achieve: a great atmosphere with amazing food at a good price. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for great pizza or pasta or any of the other dishes this...