Pepino's Mexican Restaurant

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

I love Mexican food so decided to try this restaurant. Walked in and seated ourselves as there was no one around for 5-10 minutes or so, but eventually the waitress came out and she was great, friendly, knowledgeable and took our orders quickly. I asked a lot of questions and she was helpful. We did wait for her service at times but she was the only waitress and the restaurant got quite busy so it was understandable.

My boyfriend and I both ordered the combination plates which had a taco, an enchiladas and a burritos. You can choose the meat filling you wish to have on each item. The chicken was very average but the beef and bean mix was delicious. The taco and enchiladas were average also but the burrito was very good. Next time will just order one large burrito! The servings are large too.

For dessert we shared a Sombrero pie which the waitress recommended and it was really nice. Like a frozen chocolate mousse tart. Overall I recommend this restaurant for a casual meal

May 02, 2012 

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  2     

Was "welcomed" by unfriendly staff who has never smiled in her life. Was directed to a dirty room that looked he has been purposely trashed. Got drinks in throw-away plastic cups. We almost cancelled the whole thing but naively thought it would surely get better. It didn't.

Food was nowhere near as good as Pepino's who is just a few hundred metres down the road. Took me 2 days to digest. Quantities are large, but when the food isn't great, it doesn't help much.

I forgot: learn sign language before you book: some poor quality speakers make you feel you've got an average mariachi band sit at your table. Maybe we were unlucky that night? I won't risk it again though.

Apr 10, 2012 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Went here recently (with my partner who scoffs the lot) and we really enjoyed the steak fajitas and the 3 taco combo. Lots of colour and interest on the plate and quite spicy enough for us. I love the refried? bean dip.

They're licensed or byo wine. A good tempranillo would be super with this I reckon. Got water, no problem unlike some previous reviewers. Good attentive service even though it was quite busy. There is a fair amount of ambient noise there however. We liked it and will definitely be back.

Jan 23, 2012 

3.3 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  1     

Quite terrible, and very overpriced. The guacamole was made with cream cheese and tasted like it was from the supermarket. When will Australians learn that Real guacamole does not have any dairy produce in it! "All our produce is prepared fresh daily" must be an exception here, unless they mean freshly scooped from a Kraft bucket.

The frozen margarita that we ordered did not come out frozen (it was actually warm) and was very weak. I would normally have complained but I was being shouted dinner and did not want to make my host feel bad! (If she is reading - I still appreciate you taking me out!).

The whole time we were there we had multiple waitresses forget our water, despite asking at least four times. They finally bought it out just as we had finished our meals. Admittedly they were very polite and apologetic (hence, the 3 stars instead of 1) but the sad fact is that if you can't even bring something as simple as water to a table you really don't have much hope as a restaurant - sorry!

To the most important part, the food. The nachos (which isn't *really* Mexican, but anyway...) that we got as a starter was just tomato and cheese melted over some corn chips, aka a rip off. We were recommended to order the "deluxe" nachos which we did, $7.50 extra for three small ramekins containing guacamole, sour cream and salsa - ha! Though at least that gave it a bit more substance. The jalapeños (which we also had to pay extra for) had no flavour or spice whatsoever.

The Chimichanga, however, was nice enough but the portion size was very stingy considering the price. WIll not be going back, sadly.

Dec 21, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  8     

This was our first time to Peppino's and we were a little reluctant to go given some of the horrible reviews. However, I'm happy to say that we absolutely loved it! The waitress was on her own and was totally run off her feet but remained calm, and friendly the whole time. The food was uber fresh and delicious! We used our entertainment book card and got 25% off. Will definitely go again.

Nov 17, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

This was my 6th visit to Pepino's, still just as good as ever, I love this place. Staff were the best they have had to-date.

Jul 05, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  7     

I Love this place! I live in Gladesville and often go to Pepinos for a meal. They have The Best Food (in my opinion, of course) and don't get me started on the margaritas! They are so potent. I don't know why some of the reviews are so bad because I can't fault this place.

Apart from being a little bit on the pricier side, the food is very well presented, so neat and so appealing with all the different colours, and the staff are so friendly and attentive. I find that I crave their food after a certain amount of time so often dine there and I have had a great time on every occasion. Highly recommended in my view.

May 24, 2011 

1 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

The bandicoot are you sure you ate at Pepinos? You must be either crazy or an absolute snob. Honestly the menu you are describing isn't even what they serve. Theres no capsicum in the nachos. I absolutely loved them. They were perfect they even served the sour cream, avocardo and salsa separately so they didnt go soggy. I had the best meal along with great service by a girl called gemma I believe. She was helpful, knowledgeable and recommended the fajitas that my friend loved. The tortillas were perfectly cooked. Don't mean to be rude but I'll be coming back tomorrow. Great service, great food and a great atmosphere. I'm no food critic but it's the best meal I've had in a long time! :) Hope it helps. Bye.

Mar 02, 2011 

4.8 Average

Food  3      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  3     

When I was a child, Mexican food in Sydney was the ultimate in sub-optimal ethnic cuisine. That's changed greatly, thanks to modern Mexican restaurants like Baja Cantina and the Flying Fajita Sistas and Izote. However, the glorious tradition of awful Mexican food in Sydney lives on at Pepino's!

We were seated by a very pleasant and attentive waitress, and ordered some entrées. The chile con queso was ghastly, a bowl of melted Cheddar, with no chilli in evidence. The guacamole wasn't home-made, which showed. And the nachos were surreally awful, mince and roasted capsicum, spread on cornchips.

After an entrée like that, our hopes weren't very high for the main course. Which is a good thing. The 'beans' were some kind of texture-less goo and completely unseasoned. The rice was similarly unseasoned, and cooked with peas. (Possibly trying to do arroz con gandules? Or arroz a la española?) My partner ordered a quesadilla, which turned out to be dried-out chicken and masses of Australian Cheddar, all on a Woolworths Select tortilla. The tortillas were barely toasted or griddled, they seemed microwaved and were slapped together into a tortilla sandwich.

We had a 12 year old boy in our group and he ordered the 'Kids' Combination Plate', a tiny taco and miniature burrito, with about a cup of chilli-less chile con queso, congealing on the plate. To cap it all off, the last main course arrived a good fifteen minutes after the first one arrived at the table.

But there were occasional flashes of delight, like the chimichanga, which was wonderful, crisp-fried and filled with well-flavoured chorizo and cheese, served on lovely chopped fresh tomato, red onion and lightly-dressed lettuce. This kind of inconsistency makes it even worse, if the cooks could make a chimichanga that good, why couldn't they season the damn rice?

Overall, I'm glad I went to Pepino's, as a source of war stories, an "I ate at Pepino's and lived" sort of thing, but I'm not going back. Ever.

Read more on my blog

Jan 21, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  5     

I have been to Pepinos a few times and had enjoyed it (although it was quite expensive for what it is). As it was my Birthday, I my partner took me to Pepinos as he knew Mexican food is a favourite.

We entered the Restaurant and had to approach the staff as they were having a chat together, and they made no attempt to approach us. We were seated and requested drinks, Margaritas for Birthday drinks.

The drinks arrived very promptly and it was then that I gagged upon tasting the glass of lemon mix cordial. It was so sweet that I couldn't believe anyone could get through a whole glass, it was soo bad! I asked the waitress (who was again engaged in a conversation with the staff of 18 year olds) if it was possible to have a freshly made Margarita instead of a premix.

The answer was that they were Too Busy, and she didn't know how to make one anyway! She stormed off saying to us, "well don't blame me if it no good" She then went up to the gossip central, and said something to the other staff who then all stared at us and whispered.

We promptly got up and left the restaurant, and will Never go back, I have told quite a few friends not to go there, and if you don't want to be ripped off and treated like this I suggest you don't either.

Dec 29, 2010