Review Marciano's - Chatswood

Great cheeseless pizza, the dough texture was just so enjoyable in the mouth. The chicken has an unusual pistachio sauce, it's like a different type of savoury, I liked it. And crispy skin always gets high score from me. The dessert was quite fancy, warm brownie, pear sauce. Very delicious.

Six of us dined on a wintery eve in mid August. There were two overseas visitors in our group, whom we were hoping to impress with a first class Syd restaurant experience, having been very satisfied with this place before, when we came here in Feb 17. This time though, the experience was not so enjoyable, on account of the poor service. The food, once again, though, was excellent. We shared two salads and a generous bruschetta dish to start with, and followed that up with a selection of pizzas and pasta dishes. Everything was fresh and tasty and nicely presented to the table on stylish white crockery for the salads and pastas, and large round stoneware dishes for the pizzas. My fettuccine Marciano was the standout dish for me. Having had it last time, and enjoyed it, I decided to play it safe and have it again. The meat was flavoursome and well cooked, with the pasta just the right al dente texture. But the pizza dishes were equally enjoyable and of course I tried them all. Serving sizes were generous. Ambience was a tad quiet, with the place being only about half full, similar to last time, but despite that, these guys really fell down in the service department. It seemed to me that the young lady maitre d, was the one doing all the heavy lifting, despite there being two other wait staff on duty. Whilst the drinks came out fairly quickly, followed soon after, by the salad and bruschetta, we then had to wait more than 30 minutes for the mains. That’s way too long, especially when the place is pretty empty. In fact by the time the mains did arrive at 7.45pm, we were just about the only diners left. To make matters worse, the main course, for one of our overseas guests, failed to arrive. When we pointed this out, the maitre d was very apologetic. The dish eventually made its appearance about 20 minutes after all the others, but to their credit, we were not charged for it. Of course, there were red faces all around, not least of all, ours. Marciano’s is a modern restaurant occupying the largest and most prominent position in “The District”, the popular new dining hub above Chatswood Railway Station. It’s a spacious, open, and airy place and even though it was midwinter, we were quite warm and cosy on account of the effective heating. But they don’t seem to be pulling in the crowds and I’m wondering whether the poor service we experienced is symptomatic of low staff morale or a lack of focus on the job. Price-wise, it was fairly reasonable with our 25% Ent Book discount, (up to a max $35). We ended up paying $175 for six of us and that included two salads, a single serve of bruschetta, six mains and four drinks (one main was not charged for). No coffees or desserts. However, having now used our Ent Book discount for the 17/18 year, and having been let down by the slow and sloppy service, I don’t think that we’ll be rushing back.

Absolutely horrible. Ordered the risotto to be delivered. The portion size was entree size at best (for $30) and was so oily. I'm not sure if they had put more in the container and then taken it out because the empty side was quite oily too. Rang the restaurant to query my food and spoke to the rudest lady who said it was that way because of the amazing quality. If someone is complaining about the food you may want to reassess the quality and work on your customer service. Way better Italian restaurants in the area

Everything is awesome! So many to choose from when we can only eat so much! Drooling.......... Excellent service you can't miss it!

Went there and had a great dining experience. The pizza was lovely, and the desserts were great as well. I must add that the wait staff were very attentive. Given all the earlier feedback, the owners must be paying attention now. Keep up the good work!

We had lunch here on a Saturday afternoon and it was really nice. The staff were attentive and friendly and the food was served promptly. Serving sizes are good. The bruschetta is fantastic and the mussels had a lovely flavour. Would definitely go back for a chill Saturday lunch.

1. Rude attitude about two waiters who wearing black tee and a manageress. 2. Ordering process – we shared food with a group of friends, the waiter questioned again and again with rude attitude and sounds like he’s dissatisfied with our order amount. 3. The waiter asked again and again about any beverage order, when we did not order much on the beverage, he turned to a rude face again, two waiters and a manageress walked around our table very often, and stared at us which made us felt very uncomfortable throughout the dinner. 4. The most ridiculous thing is, one of our friends who took an empty can of Japanese tea to the restaurant and put it on the table, at the end we found that they have charged us a A$7.5 corkage fee WITHOUT NOTICING US, which made us very angry, it was such a rip-off. I understand there is a corkage fee if we bring our own beverage in, but at least they should notice the customer before adding any item onto the bill, and in fact that was just an empty can on the table! This kind of service is really unacceptable, and I would sue them if there is a legal term which allows customers to sue a restaurant when they adding extra charge on the bill without noticing the customers. 5. Other than the service, the air-conditioning is very poor, all of us were kept sweating while eating. 6. The food quality was not bad but with this terrible service I definitely won’t go there again, and will tell my friends to blacklist this restaurant. They discriminate customers if you order less, even our bill was already A$224.5

I had my first and much anticipated meal at Marcianos last night, and was extremely impressed. i was a little worried after reading some really nasty reviews, but my experience was so great, I had to write this review. The CALAMARI E ZUCCHINI entree was perfectly cooked, and the largest i've ever seen. My husband ordered the same, and when it arrived we wondered why our waitress hadn't suggested sharing, as it's plenty big enough for 2. We did share the OLIVES CALABRESE, though, again, huge, we couldn't possibly get through such an enormous plate with just the 2 of us, but the olives were very nice, and a good mix too, with at least 4 varieties. The Pizza we shared was 1/2 CAMPAGNOLA, 1/2 FRUTTI DI MARE. Next time I would not have the FRUTTI DI MARE, it wasn't very interesting, but the other half was exceptionally delicious. The crust is perfection, although our topping was a little underdone, I tried to have it put back in the oven for a few minutes, but the pizza chef came out to apologise that this isn't possible after the pizza is cut. He offered to cook us another, but we declined as we'd already eaten too much calamari!!! instead they packed it up for us, and It will be perfect once reheated in MY oven for brekky yum : ) Now about the wait staff : They are a delightful group of Italian women, of varying ages, who are knowledgeable about the food and wine menu. The service is prompt, friendly and helpful, extra lemon or chilli, not a problem. They were very busy with the restaurant 3/4 full, but we were not kept waiting excessively at any point. The only surprise for me was being at the back of a food court, is not an easy venue, although the view is ok, and the big windows are nice, noisy kids running around seems was a surprise for this level of restaurant, also the "public" restroom is dirty and although it is not Marciano's fault, it is a slightly negative part of the experience. I will say that it wont stop me going back there though, everything else was just too good to miss. I'll be back for sure : )

I'd come here again if only it was a little less expensive. The ambience is pretty nice too, very close from Chatswood station. Their pasta and pizzas were alright, except the pizza was a little burnt...

Picture a booked work lunch for a large group, and we were one of two tables. Service began well with drinks and entrees. Mains were an hour after entrees, again you could be lenient in expectations given we were 18, but the booking was not sudden.<br/>No one checked the quality of the food before it was served or how our meals were progressing. Three of us had steak - they were burnt - as were the potatoes accompanying them - one colleague didn't touch hers, another left half. I was so hungry I ate mine. <br/>To be told at the end we would receive no discount "off" because we didn't complain during the meal, is disappointing. We won't return and we will talk about it. Very foolish service: it should be noted that other foods ordered were either too salty or salad over dressed. The wood fired pizza and calzone was liked by some but all in all very disappointing and not recommended.

Update Return visit 20 Aug 17<br/><br/>Six of us dined on a wintery eve in mid August. There were two overseas visitors in our group, whom we were hoping to impress with a first class Syd restaurant experience, having been very satisfied with this place before, when we came here in Feb 17. <br/><br/>This time though, the experience was not so enjoyable, on account of the poor service.<br/><br/>The food, once again, though, was excellent. We shared two salads and a generous bruschetta dish to start with, and followed that up with a selection of pizzas and pasta dishes. Everything was fresh and tasty and nicely presented to the table on stylish white crockery for the salads and pastas, and large round stoneware dishes for the pizzas. My fettuccine Marciano was the standout dish for me. Having had it last time, and enjoyed it, I decided to play it safe and have it again. The meat was flavoursome and well cooked, with the pasta just the right al dente texture. But the pizza dishes were equally enjoyable and of course I tried them all. Serving sizes were generous. <br/><br/>Ambience was a tad quiet, with the place being only about half full, similar to last time, but despite that, these guys really fell down in the service department. It seemed to me that the young lady maitre d, was the one doing all the heavy lifting, despite there being two other wait staff on duty. Whilst the drinks came out fairly quickly, followed soon after, by the salad and bruschetta, we then had to wait more than 30 minutes for the mains. That’s way too long, especially when the place is pretty empty. In fact by the time the mains did arrive at 7.45pm, we were just about the only diners left. To make matters worse, the main course, for one of our overseas guests, failed to arrive. When we pointed this out, the maitre d was very apologetic. The dish eventually made its appearance about 20 minutes after all the others, but to their credit, we were not charged for it. Of course, there were red faces all around, not least of all, ours.<br/><br/>Marciano’s is a modern restaurant occupying the largest and most prominent position in “The District”, the popular new dining hub above Chatswood Railway Station. It’s a spacious, open, and airy place and even though it was midwinter, we were quite warm and cosy on account of the effective heating. But they don’t seem to be pulling in the crowds and I’m wondering whether the poor service we experienced is symptomatic of low staff morale or a lack of focus on the job.<br/><br/>Price-wise, it was fairly reasonable with our 25% Ent Book discount, (up to a max $35). We ended up paying $175 for six of us and that included two salads, a single serve of bruschetta, six mains and four drinks (one main was not charged for). No coffees or desserts. However, having now used our Ent Book discount for the 17/18 year, and having been let down by the slow and sloppy service, I don’t think that we’ll be rushing back.<br/><br/>Original Review 05 Feb 17<br/><br/> FOOD TYPE <br/>Italian<br/><br/>FOOD QUALITY<br/>Four of us dined on a hot Sun night in Feb. We kicked things off with a few drinks to cool down. Peroni for me and a Pina Colada ($15) for the wife. The twins stayed non-alcoholic with lychee mocktails ($8). Instead of entrees, we decided to share a single Italiana salad ($15). That was fresh and nutritious with a nice tangy dressing. For my main course, I choose the Tagliolini Marciano ($26) which is the linguine-style pasta with veal, tomato, onion and chilli and my wife ordered a Napoletana pizza ($21) which has tomato, anchovies, mozzarella, olives and oregano. The twins choose the traditional lasagna ($24) and the spag marinara ($29). And that was pretty much it. My tagliolini tasted like standard spag bol but that was fine with me, as spag bol is my fav dish anyway, and had it been on the menu, I would have ordered it. The linguini pasta was soft and slightly al dente and the meat was flavoursome and tasty. My wife’s pizza had a soft but chewy base, topped with lashings of ripe tomatoes, creamy mozzarella cheese and olives, though it was a touch black at the edges. Twin No 2 had to send her lasagna back because it was too burned, but the replacement dish was fine, while Twin No 1, being a bit fussy, wasn’t overly impressed with her spag marinara, finding it rather ordinary. Serving sizes were generous which meant that we had no room for dessert. <br/><br/>ATMOSPHERE<br/>I love the atmosphere here. Marciano's Chatwood, like it’s sister restaurant in Lindfield is a large and cavernous place with seating for probably about 150 people. But unlike Marciano's Lindfield, which we found a tad dark and gloomy, this place is light, bright and airy. The colourful green tables are well spaced out with plenty of room between you and your neighbour. The decor is warehouse style, with high ceilings, brick walls, wooden furniture and huge windows looking out onto the streetscape outside. That all adds up to a relaxed, laid back and comfortable ambience with a sense of space and openness.The night we dined, it was probably about 60% full, but given its size, I guess this could be regarded as a respectable turnout for a Sunday night. The location is just perfect in the new and revitalised area above Chatswood station, now known simply as “The District” which has many restaurants, shops and cafes. What a huge improvement it is on the dreary and depressing place this once was. The atmosphere in The District hums with energy and activity, and it’s a great choice for an evening out.<br/><br/>SERVICE <br/>Unlike Marciano's Lindfield, with it’s all-male waitering complement, over here it’s an all-female cast, and what a delight these pretty Italian ladies are, in their smart black outfits. They’re helpful, polite and efficient. The moment we arrived we were made to feel welcome by the friendly maitre d’. Our booked table was ready for us but not in quite the best place, so she relocated us to a better table with a view. Orders were promptly taken and the food came out quickly. When we had to send back the lasagne, our waitress handled that smartly and with tact. She was apologetic and polite and offered us a serving of garlic bread, while we waited for the replacement. In any event, the replacement dish didn’t take long to arrive, so the extra bread was not needed.<br/><br/>COMFORT<br/>Chairs are firm and comfortable and the table was big enough to fit all the dishes. I’m assuming though, that with the tiled floors, lack of carpets and high ceilings, it could be a tad chilly in winter unless they get they get some serious heating going, but in summer it’s perfecto!<br/><br/>MENU <br/>Menu is simply laid out and easy to follow on two large sheets side-by-side in plastic laminate to keep it clean and hygienic. There’s a separate specials menu on a loose sheet attached to a clipboard. The small drinks menu is enclosed in a sturdy cardboard binder.<br/><br/>TOILETS<br/>The toilets are large, clean and well provisioned. The prominent signage is visible from just about anywhere in the restaurant. It’s a slight trek down a long corridor but at least that ensures that they’re well away from the kitchen, storage and waste areas. Only problem are the aging 1980s-style hand dryers that take 20 mins to dry your hands, Hand towels would be a welcome addition.<br/><br/>ACOUSTICS<br/>Marciano'; has been cleverly designed to minimise the noise factor, with tables well spaced out, high ceilings and plenty of room so even though there are no carpets, we had no trouble conversing.<br/><br/>COST<br/>With our 25% Ent Book discount (up to a generous max of $35) we paid a reasonable $105 for four, and no-one left feeling hungry. We had three drinks (inc a Pina Colada), a shared salad and four mains and that was sufficient.<br/><br/>BOOKING<br/>As mentioned, this is a large place with plenty of room, so I wouldn’t think that booking is essential unless of course, like us, you want to accumulate your Dimmi points. <br/><br/>PARKING/ACCESS<br/>Being Chatwood, you have two large shopping centre car parks to choose from. There’s the nearby Westfield, and slightly further away is the Chatswood Chase. Both offer three hours free parking. The Chase is about a 15 minute walk up a slight incline, so Westfield is the better choice. There’s also street parking anywhere off Archer St, where most restrictions end at 6.00pm.<br/><br/>SUMMARY <br/>We had a pleasant evening here and it was the perfect choice for a hot and sticky summer’s night. Everything went smoothly with no hiccups! The food is fresh and tasty, the ambience is laid back and relaxed and service is perfect.

The metre long pizza is good value. Love the thin crust. Service can be challenging during busy times. Pasta is ok. Fried calamari is salty

Amazing location in corner of the Lvl 3 food court above Chatswood station. Floor to ceiling glass over looking the trains through to the Channel 9 tower. Hand made Pizza of true Italiano standard, a truly authentic offering for a casual lunch or Dinner.

Appalling customer service. Threatening, arrogant and rude waitressing and deceitful practices around hidden costs. Better customer service at McDonalds.

Would 100% not recommend this restaurant! I went this for a birthday with about 20 people and received very shady service! We ended up paying $60 for water!! Without clarifying with us they asked if we wanted 'still water' and failed to mention it would cost $6 a bottle. When we asked the waitress about it she was very rude and we said we probably wouldn't come back. She responded with 'we don't want you back'

Went here for dinner, on a scoopon for two. Had entrees of the fried calamari, which was nice and also the garlic prawns which were served on a large slice of bread.. Not so nice, bread was very soggy and prawns lacked taste. <br/>Had the Calzone and mushroom pizza for mains, both were good, especially the calzone which was the standout meal for me, it was very cheesy, tasty and quite a big portion! I loved that the meals were served hot. <br/>Desserts of cannoli and the Nutella ricotta cake were good. Overall great for what we paid for on the scoopon. The waitress we had was new to the restaurant, she was attentive and polite. Unlike the girl at the cashier, as we went to leave, we said goodbye and thank you. She just ignored us, and it's not because she didn't hear us (as I said it twice because I thought she didn't hear me) but she just didn't care. Definitely not a good role model for new waitresses.

a bit of a let down imo, the pasta was quite average, spag-bol was decent but nothing special in particular and the risotto was so-so. Salad tasted very weird.<br/><br/>The pizza was the best part of the meal but nothing special in terms of taste. Overall way too much salt on all of the food. Service was average, not bad but not great<br/><br/>Overall quite expensive for what you get, better options imo

Pizza was below average. Salty base, very thin, extremely thick crust. Tomato sauce wasn't that impressive either. <br/>Service wasn't that much better, waitresses were nice, yet I can't say the same about the manager. I went with my family of 5 (2 adults 3 kids) and we had to book to sit on separate tables because we had a scoupon for two adults, and they didn't want us to share with the kids. When we got there we found our two tables next to each other. We had to promise not to share our food before them joining the tables together. <br/>When it came to ordering my children were forced to order from the kids menu, this is ridiculous as my oldest daughter is 15 and is old enough to order from the actual menu. The waitress had to ask the manager and finally let them order from the normal menu.<br/>We could feel the manager watching us like a hawk throughout dinner making sure we didn't share our food. This was such a bad experience, I am scared for life. I can see why they need to use the scoupon program.

I really hope this restaurant gets enough business to stay open in Chatswood. Although it is in a food court, it feels like a restaurant.<br/><br/>Great pizza, Via Napoli style but more generous on toppings.<br/><br/>Great cocktails and good wine list!<br/><br/>Don't recommend take away for pizza, as the base gets soggy very quickly.

Cant believe the poor quality, poor service and rude waitress, avoid at all costs, the pizza arrived soggy in the middle yet overcooked and about an inch thick on the crust, pricy too,

So glad that this place opened because there's finally a good place for pizza in Chatswood!!! The pizza here is great! If you love a good traditional wood fire pizza, I would definitely give this place a try! I've been here a handful of times already since it's opened and I know I'll be back again for more!

Been there 3 times already, Pizza's are excellent and authentic, done in a wood fired oven. I'm Italian and fussy about my pizza so its great having something like this close by in Chatswood.

pizza was cold on delivery, toppings on the potato pizza was greasy and uneven... not much else to say about the caprese pizza, was a caprese salad on bread..was a disappointing meal..

We had a great time here, delicious, authentic pizza which took me right back to Naples, and awesome antipasto. The service was very attentive! Will definitely be returning again.

I went to the Marciano's Chatswood on 19 Feb 2016. My comment as follows:<br/><br/>1. Rude attitude about two waiters who wearing black tee and a manageress.<br/><br/>2. Ordering process – we shared food with a group of friends, the waiter questioned again and again with rude attitude and sounds like he’s dissatisfied with our order amount. <br/><br/>3. The waiter asked again and again about any beverage order, when we did not order much on the beverage, he turned to a rude face again, two waiters and a manageress walked around our table very often, and stared at us which made us felt very uncomfortable throughout the dinner.<br/><br/>4. The most ridiculous thing is, one of our friends who took an empty can of Japanese tea to the restaurant and put it on the table, at the end we found that they have charged us a A$7.5 corkage fee WITHOUT NOTICING US, which made us very angry, it was such a rip-off. I understand there is a corkage fee if we bring our own beverage in, but at least they should notice the customer before adding any item onto the bill, and in fact that was just an empty can on the table! This kind of service is really unacceptable, and I would sue them if there is a legal term which allows customers to sue a restaurant when they adding extra charge on the bill without noticing the customers. <br/><br/>5. Other than the service, the air-conditioning is very poor, all of us were kept sweating while eating. <br/><br/>6. The food quality was not bad but with this terrible service I definitely won’t go there again, and will tell my friends to blacklist this restaurant. They discriminate customers if you order less, even our bill was already A$224.5

The best place to eat. It's only new and absolutely no improvements are necessary. <br/>The pizza is authentic italian and the meal I had called the Carne was delicious beyond words.<br/>Service is friendly and attentive and the environment relaxed and comfortable.<br/>Loved it! 👌

Loved the new Marciano's outlet in Chatswood. Their pizza are excellent, great balance of flavours and high quality ingredients. The staff is very nice and always present. Try it asap since it's not yet crowded....

Leave the keys at home! Finally, good pizza in Chatswood! This saves me the trip to Crows Nest and Lane Cove to get traditional pizza. <br/><br/>Taking the last remaining floor space at the District in Chatswood Interchange, it happens to be the best location. Where all other restaurants there can't shake off the food court feel, Marciano's slick modern decor of dark woods, spacing of tables, and natural light and views from the large windows give a relaxed ambience where you don't feel rushed.<br/><br/>The menu is traditional without being pretentious and many high quality products are represented throughout the menu. The the prices on par with its competition without being excessive. <br/><br/>We ordered two entree's and a pizza.<br/><br/>Calamari E Zucchini ($20)- The calamari and zucchini were lightly dusted in flour and perfectly fried to almost a tempura like coating. The calamari was very tender and well seasoned but the zucchini seemed a little thin and became soft quite fast. If the zucchini was cut a little bigger, it would have maintained its shape but could have also offered a nice texture to compliment the calamari which could get quite heavy along with the homemade mayo. But on the whole, very nice.<br/><br/>Potato Croquettes ($16) - Lightly crumbed and crispy casing enveloped a very fluffy potato filling balanced with herbs and mozzarella stringing from the centre, these croquettes set the benchmark for what all potato croquettes should be - fantastic!<br/><br/>Calabrese (Pizza) ($22) - The crust is on par with Via Napoli and leaps and bounds ahead of any other pizza in Chatswood albeit, the base also resembled Via for being slightly soggy when left too long. However, at least they provide a pizza spatula. The hot salami was slightly crispy for a change and the tomato base was house made. <br/><br/>The service was friendly and welcoming and even the lady manager came out to serve guests and ask how the food was which is a point of difference to many Italian restaurants these days. The manager stated that the pizza chef was proudly from Naples so there you go!