Pino’s Ristorante Pizzeria

You guys should be embarrassed
$ 26 for the parmigiana (tomato sauce, cheese and three slices of eggplant)
Risotto was under cooked
Duck was over cooked
Staff weren’t interested when we complained about the food

Everytime I walk up and down the buzzing restaurant hub that is Willoughby Road in Crows Nest, Pinos is the standout as the one packed full of people having a great time, catching up over pizza and pasta.
The pizza and pasta is average, but if you’re looking for a jolly atmosphere then this is the place to be!

Have been going to Pino’s for 20 years. It used to be fantastic, great food, cheap prices and wonderful service from a family team. Classic neighbourhood Italian. We went last night for the first time in almost a year and were very sad to see many changes. The food was still good although many simple, old favourites had been replaced by a much smaller, upmarket menu. The prices were the biggest shock though,…almost $ 30 for a pasta dish !! (And $ 20 for the kids meal !!). The service was fairly average too. It was really sad to see an old favourite change this way… I’m sad to say that I don’t think we will be going back again…

I’ve never posted on Unilocal or urban spoon etc but felt so disgusted by the service tonight that I had to sign up.
Being pregnant, I usually opt for Italian restaurants as they have simple dishes and have never had a problem ordering a pasta Napoletana at any Italian restaurant (even if it is just listed on the kids menu, I have happily paid for an «adult’s size)
I came for an early dinner with a friend– no one else was in the restaurant. After surveying their limited range of pastas I was relieved to see a pasta Napoletana in the kids section. I informed them I was pregnant and asked for the pasta and I was told no by the waitress. I then asked if she could ask the manager. She went to the man behind the bar who started making faces and the waitress returned and said I could only order a kid’s size. By this stage I was frustrated and asked why they couldn’t just add some extra pasta to make it a larger serving. They still refused. Not surprisingly I got up to leave, stopping by the bar to let the man know I’ve never received such difficult service from an Italian restaurant especially considering I am pregnant. He shrugged his shoulders.
I would understand if I was asking for something obscure or with a lot of changes but the sauce was on the menu! Nevertheless I went two doors down to Bravo Trattoria and enjoyed a lovely meal!

I have been dining at Pino’s for years and of recent times have been disappointed with the speed of service, but tonight this wasn’t the issue.
The Menu has changed completely. I understand with Bravo’s moving in just down the road the need differentiate may have increased, however for an Italian restaurant to have just 6 types of pizza, basically no pasta dishes for mains, no calprese salad or even a veal main is deplorable.
We won’t be returning until the menu is updated again.
Disappointed beyond words :(

This was unfortunately one of the most disappointing Italian meals we’ve had in Sydney. Surprisingly, this place used to serve decent quality meals, but have recently changed their menu. The food is bland and unappetising. The pasta is dry and without any punch. The boneless spatchcock did not live up to its name — strangely consisting of many bones, on a bed of in appealing and off tasting spinach. The service was terrible — it took us 12 minutes to even have a staff menu come to our table to greet us and plates were taken away before we had finished. Save yourself the money and visit one of Crows Nest’s many other better restaurants.

If you are after good Italian food in the North Shore area, Pino’s won’t disappoint you a bit. It was my first visit to this place on a busy Sunday afternoon. Loved the décor and ambiance, keep in mind this is no fine dining. We tried Salami Tartufo pizza (good) and Olive Ascolana (a couple olives had a slight bitter after taste). People were friendly and always alert which made the overall experience very good.

Pino’s was definitely one of the busiest places on the Crows Nest strip for dinner on this public holiday. I had the lasagna and a glass of shiraz. There was an overwhelming amount of beef and sauce on the lasagna though the lasagna sheets were soft and delicious. Overall, the service and food was OK but nothing outstanding. I’ll be back another night to try the pizza though!

Friday night, my friend and I decided to dine in Crow’s Nest, one of my favourite suburbs, so many restaurants to choose from. We like Pino’s and decided to revisit them.
The staff are friendly, attentive and very helpful and showed us a good table. It is also a BYO restaurant and they only charge $ 3.50 per person (Wine Glasses were Clean) which is VERY reasonable priced corkage being a suburban restaurant
We had two entrees and two mains which were plenty as my friend decided not to share a pizza. The Fried Calamari and Aracini (fried Rice balls), were just average.
As for the mains, we had the Scalop al Funghi (Veal) and the Agnello (Lamb). The Veal was excellent with generous tasty mushroom sauce but the lamb though well cooked was lacking sauce (Masterchef — not enough sauce!)
The bill came up to $ 109.00 before tips. Good price.
By the time we left, the restaurant was packed which is always a good sign and yes, I would visit this restaurant again when I am over at Crow’s Nest for Italian.

I came here solely based on the reviews. and guys I feel like you let me down! This was far from the best spaghetti I’ve ever had. If anything. it was very average. I got the Spaghetti Carbonara and I just expected more flavour. It was kinda soupy, lacking in presentation and just didn’t have anything special about it. My partner got the Spaghetti Pesto which I tasted (this had NO seasoning what so ever).
On the plus side they are generous with the Parmesan and the service was good. The cocktails are also mighty strong.

Ah, Pino’s — an institution.
Now if you are after a fine dining experience, this ain’t it. But if you want a crash-​hot pizza in a bustling traditional Italian environment, bingo! Or, actually, any Italian meal. I just go for the pizzas, though. And the menu, at least the blackboard one, is erm, ‘rustic’ since a spellcheck reveals some entertaining interpretations of Inglis words.
Worth making the effort to book although you might jag a table turning up without one — depends. On what, I don’t know, but somedays you just get lucky, I guess.
BYO, so bring your own poison, and get ready for pizza most excellent.
Crispy base, stringy cheese, hot pepperoni, salty anchovies, fiery chili — cor, the real deal!
I am a repeat offender, I confess.

I don’t personally go to Italian restaurants too often, but coming to Pino for a nice Friday family lunch, I definitely will be coming back here more frequently.
The décor of the restaurant is very inviting, the staff are friendly and helpful welcoming customers with warm smiles. I believe smiles make a meal taste better!
For entrée, we selected the bruschetta and that did not disappoint! The tomatoes and the dressing was refreshing and a great way to clean the palate for the following course. The bread was the true stand out, it was fresh and crisp, and when you bite down on it, it just tears away allowing you to eat it cleanly.
For the mains, we shared two pizzas and a pasta. We had the pesto pasta, and I must say it was a delight, the pasta fresh, the sauce was creamy, however the star of the dish for me was their Parmesan cheese which pulled all the flavours together!
As for the pizza, I am not a fan of margherita pizza usually but Pino’s margherita was definitely one of a kind. The pizza base which I am very picky about was perfect, it was relatively thin, but wasn’t too dry and blended perfectly with the toppings. The flavours weren’t overpowering, but the perfect balance for a great feed!
The second pizza was the Pollo, which was chicken and avocado, this was a refreshing selection, but was relatively ordinary compared to other pizzas that I have eaten before. My favourite was definitely the margherita pizza.
Definitely coming back!

Very nice little full menu Italian. Pasta and pizza both first rate. Risotto Bosco was very nice as was the veal and mushroom penne.

Excellent food served by friendly staff. Not sure how you beat that.
I have been coming to Pinos for years now and find I compare all other Italian food to what I am used to here.
If I am in Sydney, I have trouble going anywhere else.

It’s not often I can honestly say there is nothing that you can fault in a meal. Well, today was one of those times.
To match the food, the service was impeccable and the speed of service was top notch. Everyone there had a smile on their face. Plus it’s always nice to hear the native tongue behind the bar.
Now to the ⁵⁄₅ food. The bruschetta was for starters… and it was just divine. The dressing perfect, the freshness of the ingredients again was perfect and the crispness to the bread was… yes, perfect!
For mains I couldn’t resist the linguine marinara. After what was a great start I didn’t think it could get any better. But it did! The mussels were perfectly good and very fresh tasting too. I will be here all day if I called out all of the seafood individually, but needless to say it was just divine!
The pasta was perfectly cooked and the tomato sauce was just right.
Value for money is also pretty good. For the serving that I got I would have gladly paid another 10 bucks for the pleasure.
Next time I will have to try a nice chocolate finish to the experience. I just couldn’t this time around.
I cannot wait to go again.

My Dad used to take our family to Pino’s all the time. One of the blokes that works here, an old guy, always made a point of coming over to say hullo and greet Dad with a big, meaty, double-​fisted handshake. One day I worked up the gumption to I ask Dad who it was. He seemed surprised, and said, «Why, that’s Pino, son.»
I always assumed Pino’s was just a name, like so many other places you see these days that try to conjure up a bit of personality for their business out of nothing. I never even considered a Pino actually worked there, or that he had a battery of loyal, life-​long customers.
Like most good Italian businesses (whether it be fresh fruit or money laundering), Pino’s is family-​run and achieves exceptional results by keeping things simple and not trying to be too fancy pants.
Everything’s good — the pasta, the salads, the scaloppine — but the real show stoppers are the pizzas, all made and pulled and wood-​fired by hand. The Anto’s Special («a supreme by any other name would taste as sweet…») is an erupting Vesuvius of toppings and flavour that will have your entire table crying into their pinot grigio.

Good little place! Friendly service and a great selection on the menu. High quality ingredients and the wines aren’t bad either. Great little neighborhood spot!

Doing a bit of daddy day care, I promised the boys that if they were good they would get pizza. Out of a bit of self interest, and not wanting to go the a mass produced pizza chain, I set twitter the task of finding me somewhere to go.
And so we ended up here. The quality of these pizza’s if far and above what is available at most places and it can be seen in their use of really simple ingredients in such an amazing way (though as half the pizza is a Hawaiian… it is pretty hard to screw up…). So it is easy to say that both the boys and myself were more than happy making a pizza disappear. I guess my only worry is that as the boys get older we will likely have to order a pizza each. (though that is an issue for another day).
What really made me happy though was that this restaurant had colouring in pencils and paper ready for the kids. If you are a parent taking your kids out, it is sometimes hard to keep them occupied while waiting for things to arrive (my stock standard at café is to build log cabins out of the sugar packets). So I really appreciated the awesome service.
All in all the experience we had here was great, and I have no issues recommending this place to others.

Pino’s makes my heart warm. It is one of those classic Italian restaurants which neither disappoints nor surprises. It is just traditional (southern) Italian food done well. The highlights for me are the Ricotta Ravioli Napoletana and the Scaloppine Parmigina.
Until recently the Pino’s restaurant was as traditional as the menu (think 1973 sort of vibe) but a couple of years ago Pino’s had a facelift! It sort of lost the cozy, intimate feel in favour of modernity. Even still, on a wintery night nothing beats sitting in the courtyard on the footpath, under a heater with a steaming bowl of pasta!