Poppi Tino — Restaurant in Sydney

My husband and I recently had the pleasure of dining at Poppitino restaurant where both the food and service were truly outstanding. We were particularly touched by the attentiveness of our server, whose name I regret not asking, as she made our experience especially delightful.

However, our visit was marred by an issue with the management of our reservation. Despite promptly notifying the manager, Vinnie, of the need to cancel a reservation for two to allow for table reallocation, we were still charged a $50 no-show fee. This fee was imposed without prior notification of any cancellation policy. Furthermore, this policy was inconsistently applied, as another guest who also didn’t show wasn’t charged. The restaurant wasn’t fully booked at the time, which added to our confusion over the need for such a charge.

When we questioned the no-show fee, the response was a surprising increase in the cakeage fee on our bill, from $10 to $30. Although I had previously received a text from Vinnie quoting a $30 cakeage fee for a large group, the lack of a standard policy and the seemingly discretionary nature of this charge were disappointing. Additionally, a 2% card surcharge was added to our bill at payment without prior notice, which is unusual as such fees are typically communicated upfront.

I also had to make a return trip to the restaurant to recover a $200 deposit that was not deducted from our final bill. This oversight, along with the uncommunicated cancellation policy, suggests a need for better administrative handling.

We understand and respect the necessity of certain fees, provided they are communicated clearly and in advance. The justifications given for the charges levied during our visit seemed inconsistent, particularly when considering that our order was sufficient for the number of people it was intended, despite the actual turnout.

I sincerely hope that the restaurant management will review and address these issues to ensure that future customers fully enjoy their dining experience without administrative hiccups. The food and service staff here truly...

Food taste and servers (2 female servers) were good but this is not about the food or the servers. This is about one: the time it took to get our food and that when it did come one of the dishes were incorrect and two: we felt lied to by the manager regarding their limoncello shots when asking to be comped for the incorrect dish.

We visited this establishment on 30 March, while we did not have reservations they sat us down. We ordered our drinks and entrees and they didn’t take too long to come out. But we did have to ask about the kids meal that we ordered at the same time as the drinks as took a while. The manager took the order for our mains and we waited. As we were waiting we noticed that other tables had been receiving their meals and they had sat down after us. When we got our mains the table who was sat after us had already finished their meals and received their limoncello shots. When we got our mains they gave us a lamb pizza instead of the lamb cutlets that we ordered. While the female server was polite and apologetic, we still felt that the timeliness of the dishes on top of the mistake was slow. When the lamb came out, it was overcooked and just seemed to be a really rushed job. When we asked to whether it was possible to get the lamb comped, the server spoke to her manager, but came back with the bottle of limoncello and offered us “complimentary” shots. Not once did she say this was free due to the mistake that was made. We saw other tables receiving the shots so we said yes. Shortly after the manager came and explained that instead of comping the lamb cutlet dish, he charged us the lamb pizza since it was a lower price. He explained that we also got limoncello shots that were apparently worth “$30”. Only to find out after from a family member who has been there before that the limoncello is free for customers! We would have appreciated the honesty rather than being lied to. While we liked the food we will not be going back or recommending this place to...

Went here tonight after reading rave reviews… rubbish from the get go.. waitress had absolutely no idea how to take our order or wasn’t even aware of what was on the menu..ordered kids meal and starters as soon as we sat down had to prompt her on drinks as well as taking our order for entree..waited way too long for 2 drinks to come out then finally main order was taken..waiting 25 mins for his kids meal to come out basic nuggets and chips that takes a few minutes to fry up..chased up waitress said she would go check never came back.. chased up another waitress..nothing. Then my partners main arrives (lamb pizza) before my sons kids meal???! Then here comes my main (pollo como) and no kids meal?? Then next up kids meal and our starters which I never asked for all to come out at once I specifically ordered our kids meal the second we got there plus starters so we could enjoy our starters without rushing to finish them to eat our mains waiting there on the table at the same time…Aracini ok could be hotter.. squid tasty but could have been bigger serve for the price..partner enjoyed lamb pizza but sadly as I went to try my main it was literally stone cold.. sent it back yet they seemed to bring out a brand new main meal piping hot less than 5 mins later so no idea why it took so long to fry a few nuggets and starters? They could clearly see how fed up I was at this point yet never offered any discount or even another two soft drinks on the house maybe while I watch my partner eat the last piece of his main meal while I still waited for my main to arrive? Pathetic customer service overall.. and manager didn’t seem to care whatsoever..just mentioned when paying the bill we get $8 off our pizza.. only because it’s $20 pizza night..wow! Great! Thank for that! $115 later..so overpriced for the portions and so beyond overrated! To top it off I now have extreme stomach pains and feel like throwing up the chicken I ate for my...