Justin Lane Geelong — Restaurant in Victoria

Overall pretty disappointed with our experience.

We had a very large group booking of almost equal adults & children (which were all very young mostly all under 4). I booked months in advance & talked to many people over that time, stressing the need to be in the outdoor space due to having so many children. The week before I talked with a female on the phone & knowing the weather had been up & down, she confirmed that she had moved our booking to the alfresco undercover area. Unfortunately when we arrived, they moved us into the large indoor private dining room which was very small & not ideal at all for kids- it was the opposite of what we asked for. After speaking to whom appeared was the manger he said that was never talked about & I basically (implying) had made this conversation up. I didn’t know the girls name as I talked to a few different people over the couple of months. He made me feel stupid & was also not accomodating. I asked if we could move out to the alfresco area as there was only a table taken & he said we couldn’t as there were other bookings, yet the whole time we were there we didn’t see anyone else at those tables. We had to move in & out to the outdoor grassed area constantly for the kids, then through to the restaurant to eat & continue to do so for the next 2 hours of our booking as we were on the ‘feed me’ so our food was coming out over the sitting, not at once. The whole point of needing the outdoor space was so all the adults & kids could be together, no split up & running back and forth between areas. It was absolutely shocking that they didn’t accomodate or even try to, knowing very well we had so many young kids & clearly didn’t have time to sit inside away from them.

Only 1 young male waiter was very cheery & super helpful & was the only one who made us feel welcome. Other than that, the others didn’t seem happy to be there or helpful to such a large group. We had the ‘feed me’ & after asking multiple times if they could split it over the tables as some of the other adults on the other table were missing out they said it was too hard to do that. So we had to basically serve ourselves from the other table.

The food itself is average for the pricing, ie the kids pizza was $16 and just was cheese and ham. There was only a few items that came out that seemed alright, the general census from our group was ‘wouldn’t come back for the food’. The drinks menu was great though, so maybe if you were looking for somewhere for drinks only it would be better.

Giving it 2 stars for the overall aesthetic of the place & drinks options. Service & food being the downfall to this place.

We all wanted to love it, but none of us would return & we all left feeling pretty unwelcome &...

We visited Justin Lane to celebrate my sister’s graduation and had a great experience overall. We booked the shared dining option that included entrees and mains in an all-you-can-eat style, which worked really well for our group of 13–14 people. The entrees came out first, and there was more than enough variety and quantity to suit everyone at the table.

For mains, you start by choosing seven different pasta and pizza options, and once you finish those, you can select another seven to continue. We ended up doing two rounds and were allowed to take our leftovers home, which was a great bonus.

The food was generally very good—flavorful and well-presented. There were a couple of dishes that didn’t quite hit the mark taste-wise, but overall the quality was solid.

The venue itself is beautiful—very aesthetic and stylish, with a great vibe. It’s also located right by the beach, which makes it a lovely spot for both daytime and evening outings.

Staff were friendly, accommodating, and more than happy to take group photos for us, which added a lovely touch to the celebration. Despite being quite busy and possibly a bit understaffed on the night, they handled our large group well and made sure we had everything we needed. There was a billing error where we were accidentally double charged, but they caught the mistake quickly, called the person who made the booking, and issued a refund without any hassle. I really appreciated that level of accountability and follow-up.

Parking could be better—there’s limited street parking available, but you can also park at a nearby Westfield for two hours free, then walk over.

All in all, it was a really enjoyable experience, and I’d definitely recommend Justin Lane for group celebrations or casual gatherings. Just be mindful of the parking situation and be patient with service if it’s...

Every cafe and restaurant was buzzing today (Sat 18 Dec) as lots was happening on the Geelong Foreshore, so my mum and Aunty and I went to Justin Lane for a coffee and snack at 3:00pm (for an hour). There are 4 people in the restaurant which would easily seat 150 plus people. The lovely waitress said we can sit wherever we like. We chose to sit at a table (set for 6) right next to the front window, where the sun is streaming in, nice and warm. Part of the table is a bench seat against the window with a comfy bench seat cushion. Mum and I make ourselves comfortable on this seat, with my Aunty sitting opposite us. The reason we chose this seat, in the very empty restaurant, is because my mum who has motor neurone disease prefers a warm location to sit, she also prefers a comfortable soft seat (rather than a hard surface), and we also chose to sit away from the other patrons not only to reduce possible risk of covid exposure, but because my mum who has bulbar MND struggles to speak and those with her struggle to hear and understand her, especially if there is background noise. We are enjoying our seat of choice looking at the menu, and the manager (or owner) comes to greet us and indicates that he wants us to move to the “table for 4” next to the only table in the entire restaurant where the other people were sitting. Such a shame that a manager with such rude and disrespectful attitude has no compassion for his customers. They weren’t busy, they were empty, and the waitress was kindly looking after us perfectly, until he felt he needed to weld his power and demand we sit elsewhere. Left a bad taste in my mouth (pardon the pun). Won’t be recommending this place. Customer Service goes a long way. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from his own nice polite...