Review Fernando's Italian - Leichhardt

Excellent service, delicious food and great wine! Thanks to our host Leo who is full of knowledge and matched our wine to our food perfectly! We couldn't be happier with our experience and we'll be back soon.

Very clean and well presented restaurant. Open area but a little cramped if you have a function at the top floor. Salmon is so good! #RatheonRecommends the Salmon

Hygiene: Yes, it is weird to start with such a chapter... Anyway the place is not properly clean. The sheets of paper on the table are uncomfortable and cannot exempt from washing the tablecloth. When I took seat there wasn't any cutlery, and whe I asked for it I was served with a dirty fork. After that I noticed that the wine cristal was dirty too. This time I decided to go directly at the bar to show also my disappointment, at this point it did not surprise me that the waiter had to discard 3 glasses before giving me a new one. The Stuff: They were not so attentive but probably because they were understaffed with respect to clients. The Place [edited after some explanation were given by the owner]: The local is not well maintained and poorly finished. It is not adequate for people that have difficulty in walking as toilets are accessible only by stairs. The Food: Typical Italian tourist trap! 1)Nonna's spaghetti meatballs. It is not even an Italian dish! But let's be technical. The tomato sauce left much to be desired and sweet. It tasted like ketchup. To be honest meatballs were OK. 2)Gnocchi al pesto. Fair enough. 4)Pizzas. As you can see fro the pictures the brown spots on the "mozzarella" certify that the product was bad and passed too much time in the oven. Poor ingredients. And again, mixing fish with cheese is considered a taboo in Italy (or something that has to be left at the mastery of a starred chef, which is not the case), so anchovies on a capricciosa is everything but typical Italian cuisine.

Awesome place to eat. True Italian taste. Great quality of the food ingredient. We ordered meatball pizza, and pesto eggplant pasta. Both very pretty yummy. Overall great experience

The food and service are great 👍 Nice coffee ☕️ too no

Eaten here several times. Service is always friendly. Food authentic & never disappoints. Picture of Deliziosa Fettuccine ; Broccoli, Anchovies, chilli, garlic and white wine sauce topped with fresh ricotta cheese. Yum.

Food is incosistent. When I went there a few months back, food were fantastic. But , yesterday food just blant. Service is awesome though.

Sorry but this was terrible. Kids fish and chips had to be sent back as the fish was raw. Carpaccio was really thick and chewy and had to be sent back. Arrancini was average Drinks were OK We didn't get mains it was so bad.

Restaurant did not have my booking which I reserved few days before. Seats are cracked.<br/><br/>One of the waitress here is awful to deal with.<br/><br/>I have used the Entertainment Book since 2005. I wanted to use two vouchers (party of seven) and she states we can only use one, several times! I cannot believe she argues with me and adamantly states we can only use one voucher instead of seeking to clarify the matter. I request to speak so someone above her so she calls the owner. Obviously it gets nowhere. She comes back and I show her the T&Cs. End up getting to use both vouchers and recieve no apoligy from her. Attitude is appalling. I have never experienced with with another waiter/waitress before. Food was not great either. Found the special for 2 and the saltibocca too salty. Food very average. Will not be back.

Average dishes! Pizza was the highlight<br/><br/>Decided to have a date night in Sydney's Little Italy also known as Leichhardt.<br/><br/>Stumbled into this restaurant as I couldn't find the restaurant I wanted to go to 😂<br/><br/>We saw it had a lot of people and thought to give it a go.<br/><br/>The service, the staff and the atmosphere was terrific. Great friendly staff who were always smiling and professional. The atmosphere was great with great music and great patrons all around.<br/>Now... you go to a restaurant to eat...<br/>The food, well... Entree we had squid and pizza. Squid was chewy and a couple of times I had to scratch my plate just to cut through. The pizza on the other hand was the highlight of the food night. Crust was thing and soft with a crunch end. The cheese on top was soft with enough tomato sauce not to overpower the cheese.<br/><br/>My Seafood pasta. My oh my I was looking forward to this and sadly, I was disappointed. The muscles were cold, the prawns were just slightly over cooked and the pasta.... the pasta was undercooked. I felt like they also used wholemeal pasta because it didn't taste like how a normal Italian pasta should taste.<br/><br/>Would I go here again, definitely, always should try a restaurant twice to see if the chef just had a off night.<br/><br/>Check my out on Instagram at a_guide_for_your_appetite<br/>Let know how your visit was. Follow me on Zomato and Instagram.

The italian food here is good, and starting with the garlic bread bruschetta was nice. Portions were good as well. The spaghetti and meatballs was flavoursome, however the meatballs did get a little sickening after a while. There wasn’t enough tomato dressing to go with the garlic bread. However, overall relatively decent for a hearty Italian meal.

Nice little eatery but nothing too flash - nice for big feed if that's what you are after. We had our wines offered as part of a Groupon deal and it was a nice evening.

First the service is great! People are lovely and friendly here. <br/><br/>Second, the food is rich and real Italian! If you are Italian food fans, please don’t miss it! <br/><br/>The quail with mashed potato and beans is excellent! I love it! You’d better to share with friends, coz it’s quite a lot! <br/><br/>I cannot remember other food name but all are excellent! Beef, pasta with seafood, gelato at last, great experience!

The score of 1 covers the aesthetics of the sandstone walls in what is a beautiful old building.<br/><br/>Unfortunately the positive experience ends there; Frozen seafood in the Vongole, stale bread used in the Bruschetta, the ravioli was rubbery to the point that we think it was microwaved, and the 'signature' Pappardelle Ragu could have come from a San Remo jar...

Have been to At Fernando's many times , sometimes it's really great, sometimes mediocre, this time pretty bad.  <br/><br/>Sat upstairs, which is kind of a weird area.  A couple of waitstaff were really clueless, one was good but she was obviously stressed out covering for others and running up and downstairs.  <br/><br/>We ordered one of the pizzas and opted to sub out the regular mozzarella with buffalo mozzarella, as is offered on the menu.  Pizza arrived fairly fast and looked good but upon picking up a slice (which promptly flopped) it became apparent that our pizza was sitting in a large puddle.  The entire middle of the pizza was a complete sog-fest.  <br/><br/>It was so unappetising we didn't even want to try it and sheepishly mentioned it to the waiter who took it away.  We could see what happened when she took it back to the kitchen where  the 'chef' laughed and scoffed.  She came back and told us that this was because of the buffalo mozzarella and that's just what happens.  We elected to pick something else (which is already annoying because half the table was already eating) and thought we'd be safe with a beef ragu pasta.  Sadly, the sauce was really astringent, like it hadn't been cooked out.  Ended with a coffee which took forever to come.

I had pasta and some drinks as a dinner ; drinks was amazing but pasta was average type<br/>It would be excellent if every aspects will be amazing.

I used to patronise At Fernando's but I stopped going because they were inconsistent; you could get a good meal or a mediocre one.  You never knew what to expect and I prefer certainty, the mark of professional food and service.  I would be wary of one-off reviews that praise a restaurant to the skies.

Probably one of the worst pizza's I've ever had. It arrived cold considering it was only a 5 minute drive away. Once we had microwaved it to eat it there was no flavour on the pizza, it was way too thin and extremely over priced. We were also able to taste the anchovies which we had specifically asked to have been taken.

What a Deals on at fernandos ! Family night. $20 all you can eat pizza and pasta every Tuesday night. We had dinner a group of people last week. It was a enjoyable dinner night with families. Delicious pasta and pizzas. Definitely we will be back. Yummyyyyyy

Went there on a Saturday night with my friends , pleasant atmosphere , great food , quick and friendly service . It was an overall great experience and definitely going again .

My Boyfriend brought me here as a last minute decision, we were in the area and Starving! We called this place on the way to see if there was a booking available and a guy answered (I think it was the owner) typical italian guy told us he will have us fed in "no time " .. hehe we found this funny.<br/><br/>The restaurant felt cosy, the staff were very friendly and the background music was just right. A lovely Atmospher, I felt a sense of comfort and it was great to be in a place where you can actually hear the other person speak without being so loud..not to also sound too picky but even the seats cushion was comfy.. hehe <br/><br/>Since we were so hungry we may have over orderd but it was so worth it! We started with Oysters and calamarie which tasted and looked very fresh. Nothing better than good seafood right? Also had the brushcetta as an entree :)<br/><br/>For the mains my Bf had the eye fillet which was cooked just right, a bowl of fries and vegetables. We shared the Linguine dish.. and I ordered for my self the Barramundi that was also cooked nice and tasted fresh.<br/><br/>Overall a great place and will certainly be back!! Thanks to all At Fernandos Staff and Management

We had an amazing meal At Fernandos restaurant. I was very impressed with the quality of the ingredients and the effort put into making these delicious dishes. Spacially seafood dish was great. Good service as well. definitely we'll back soon.

Dined here last night with some friends after being recommended by a colleague and was very impressed! Food was amazing .. I had the ricotta ravioli which was to die for. The service was very friendly and accommodating, overall we all had a wonderful night with delicious food and great service. We will be back !

Was there with a large group of about 15 people and was not impressed in the slightest. <br/>Terrible overall service. There was one friendly and competent waitress but the others had no idea. Didn't know the menu, didn't know which table the food was going to and were extremely slow with drink orders and any requests in general. <br/>The prosciutto pizza was edible but underwhelming particularly when compared to morettis across the road. <br/>I had the ravioli in a burnt butter and sage sauce and it was the worst pasta I've ever had. Not cooked, no flavour and definitely not a burnt butter sauce. <br/>My mums mussels were just as bad. She couldn't eat them. <br/>The garlic prawns were the only positive. <br/>Will not be back.

Came here with a group of friends on a Saturday night, it wasn't too busy and we were seated as soon as we got there. However, it took almost 20 minutes for someone to take our order. Another couple beside us who were seated after us even had their orders taken before us. The only 2 waiters who were capable of taking orders were busy and didn't have time to even stop by our table. Overall, the restaurant seemed very inefficient and waiters were unsure of where to place the food, fumbling with order papers and such. <br/>The Fernando's Special pizza and the best out of everything we ordered. The Bolognese sauce was pretty yum! The prosciutto pizza was very underwhelming. Probably won't come back.

Not impressed and I'm not a fussy person (I think anyway). Shocking service - waitresses tried to bring us other people's orders twice before our mains. Mains came very fast but when I ordered asparagus ravioli I was expecting more than 8 ravioli filled with ricotta and specks of green asparagus. Ordered dessert to fill up and although it was "homemade tiramisu" it was not good homemade tiramisu, lots of cream not a hint of mascarpone and the coffee I ordered to have with dessert came after I'd finished. Not impressed and not going back. Waited over ten mins to pay at the counter, after waiting at the table for the bill, which didn't eventuate and the patrons at the next table suggested we just go inside and pay. I was overlooked for two other people whilst I stood waiting to pay, man at till ignoring my attempted eye contact and I would have walked out with paying except my husband wouldn't let me. As a vegetarian the menu choices were also very limited. Not recommending this place.<br/>Ps - want happy with paying $10 for what seemed like quite cheap wine either.

We enjoyed an excellent meal prior to going to the cinema. Salsiccia as great. Good value deserts. Wait staff are very friendly. We plan to go back!

Great Italian food here. This place is fabulous and service is professional and efficient. Love, Love,Love! Can't wait to bring my family here.

Family friends of ours recently had a function here for their son's Christening. We had a fabulous day!! The food was to die for and the staff seemed to run like clock work and the main function lady was so lovely. She really went the extra miles when it came down to every guest. My dad asked for some cashew nuts, which they didn't have in the restaurant and she went to the shop to buy him a packet. NOW THAT IS SERVICE! Can't wait to come back A++++++++

Went for dinner Sunday night and had the Chicken Parmigana and ended with a glass of their homemade Limoncello. The atmosphere was very cozy, warm and inviting and very professional.<br/>The chicken Parmigana was delicious and so soft it melted in your mouth with lots of flavour and a decent choice of wines to boast. I highly recommend the place.<br/>

Food was very average <br/>But big portion <br/>Creme brûlée had no taste<br/>Restaurant itself looked pretty cute <br/>Service wasn't too bad<br/>Probably won't be going back again

Always a pleasant experience here. Been coming here for about 5 years and food has always been top notch not to mention the service which always seems to be of high quality. Had many a function upstairs and we are always looked after. Recommended to any locals or even tourists in the Italian-vibe suburb of Leichhardt.

Very friendly service here and so polite. I had the Crusty Italian Garlic Bread Topped With Our Homemade Bruschetta Mix (bread served in basket and bruschetta mix in a ramekin) and Fernando's Homemade Lasagne. My first choice of Papardelle Al Ragu was sold out by the time I ordered. Food was quite tasty though lasagne could've done with more white sauce and meat sauce in between the layers as lots of meat sauce on top. Portions are generous.

I gave 1/10 only because I can't give a negative rating. Not even close to 1. <br/><br/>Really bad customer service. It took 30 mins to place an order and they got it wrong as well. <br/><br/>Avoid this place!

Disappointing evening. Service chaotic. Shortage of staff. Only one chef. Very long wait. Children fell asleep. Unapologetic manager. Food Ok when <br/>they got it right.

This is our movie night favourite.  We keep coming back.  The food is always superb.  I can't resist the homemade spaghetti & meatballs.  I swear they use something addictive in the sauce.  Their signature salad is delicious and the bruschetta is another favourite.  <br/><br/>It gets super busy on a friday/saturday so best to book.  Service is great on nights other than friday/saturday - be patient.

Located in the heart of Leichhardt in Norton St, At Fernandos is popular with the locals. They have nice specials every day such as all you can eat pizza Wednesday's, home made pasta and so on. Make sure you join their birthday club so you get a free meal on your birthday lunch. <br/><br/>Service wise, they are very friendly and always happy to help. The food is always good and fresh. It also doesn't take too long for the food to come out which is a bonus. <br/><br/>Great place for birthdays and big groups. <br/><br/>I'd recommend this place if you're in Leichhardt one day.

We've been here about 50 times. Partly because it's close by, but the food is consistently tasty with good sized serves.  The service is not consistent; it's mostly courteous and timely.  When it's not,it's chaotic.  It is chaotic on special occasions such as Mothers Day when heavily booked.  Would be a Good idea to have more staff working on these days😗 once I went on my birthday,( near Christmas) as Fernando's sent me a voucher, and the meal didn't arrive after 90 minutes. So we left cranky and didn't return for 8 months.<br/><br/>I mostly have the meatballs entree sized which would pass as a main in most places.  It's also better than the spaghetti polpette. Sometimes I have  the fish of the day, which is often a bit dry.  Just skip the butter sauce. Veggie sides are generous.  My husband has the spaghetti marinara often.<br/>Fernando's sSpecial Salad is a winner.<br/>Good value.  Good for a romantic occasion if you sit inside. It's warm in winter.

We watched State of Origin and the food was good and the staff were great. We will be back! The food was amazing and the staff were great!!!

Great celebration!. We recently celebrated our son's first birthday and had the private area upstairs. Anthony and his staff were very helpful and flexible. The food was really nice and nobody left hungry. Good central location and reasonably priced. Thanks so much Anthony and staff!. Antonio & Jessica.

Amazing, This little gem I've just discovered. Beautiful atmosphere and great service. The food was amazing, cant wait to to back again.

Can't understand how this place can have such a high rating - staff were friendly, service was quick but sadly it's the worst Italian we've ever eaten - was tasteless, used cheap ingredients and lacked any kind of soul - whoever was in the kitchen clearly didn't taste what they were cooking. I strongly advise going elsewhere for Italian

Outstanding family dinner. Our impromptu decision to dine in was well worth it. Reasonably priced, good sized meals that tasted delicious. (I highly recommend the basil pesto gnocchi.)<br/>Our kids devoured their pizza & risotto. All topped off with a friendly, helpful waitress. A+

We were impressed by this place. The pizza was nicely wood fired and the crust and toppings were beautiful. Also the service was top notch. We were even given some free lemon-cello at the end. We will be back for sure, great place!

Worst service in Sydney. Honestly have never had service this bad before!! Our dinner took 4 HOURS!!<br/><br/>Firstly, no one mentioned when I booked that there would be a set menu for Valentine's Day - so when my friends and I arrived we were presented with a tiny menu where we had to choose options for a three course meal. Having no idea how much this would cost, we went along with it. We only ordered entree and mains to begin with.<br/><br/>I had to ask for table water, and I had to ask for a beverages menu - it took 45 minutes for someone to take my drinks order.<br/><br/>There was an hour wait between entree and main. 1.5 hours after main, still no one had taken our dessert order. Once they did, an hour later we were told they had sold out of the dessert we ordered.<br/><br/>The table next to us sat down an hour after us, but because they complained were served and ate all three of their courses before we even ordered dessert.<br/><br/>We then decided to leave without dessert, at the cash register I was given attitude by the staff because I wasn't accepting of their apology. No discounts or anything were given, so I think us paying the full bill was VERY generous.<br/><br/>We were seated at 7pm and left at 11pm. It felt like we were on an episode of My Kitchen Rules - the difference is those are amateur cooks and this is supposed to be a proper restaurant.<br/><br/>Completely unacceptable. Pity, because the food was decent - but not amazing enough to cancel out the absolutely abysmal service.<br/><br/>Would not recommend this place to anyone. EVER!

Had a meal here as part of a group celebrating friend's birthday.<br/><br/>Quite nice cosy restaurant with nice ambience. The quality of the food was good. I had the seafood speciality from the restaurant and my girlfriend had rib eye stake. Both were good and for reasonable price. Only minor issue was that the service was a bit slow at the beginning......

This is amazing Italian food, the staff are SO friendly I love a genuine Italian restaurant where the staff and waiters are actually Italian with proper hospitality! Please come here and enjoy I don't want to see another wonderful restaurant close on Norton!!

Customer Service 1 - Food Quality 0. The staff at this place genuinely try to please and ensure you enjoy your meal. It's a shame that despite such a comprehensive menu, the food is pretty average. Not bad but nothing outstanding - it's often hit and miss.<br/>I'll be back because it's walking distance from my house but I wouldn't go out of my way for this restaurant. Over all a 6/10.

Food isn't worth your money. No effort was made on the food - this is truly one of those low quality Italian restaurants in Sydney. If you're just looking for a mediocre dinner, this place might suit you otherwise go somewhere else. Service was not bad, but the food... The lasagna was food court quality but costed $19. The Spaghetti Marinara was soaked in plain Neapolitana sauce. We should have read Urbanspoon's warning beforehand.

Worst pizza ever. I came here for dinner with a group of friends using Groupon vouchers. The vouchers entitled us to have one pizza per person. The pizzas turned out to be very below average. They didn't even taste Italian - they were like just those ordinary pizzas that you get from the pub. <br/><br/>The restaurant was understaffed so we had to wait for a long time for someone to take our order. And the after-meal coffees took ages our parking at Norton Plaza exceeded the 2-hour free limit and we had to pay $20 for each car.<br/><br/>A horrible dining experience, I wish I hadn't purchased those Groupon vouchers.

This was the worst value I've ever come across. The pizza was $23 and had about $2 worth if toppings. The toppings weren't even well dispersed. It was flavourless and boring.<br/>I appreciate with traditional pizzas, less is more but that is when the ingredients are of a high quality and are full of flavour.

Delicious! Best steak I've had in Sydney and the waiter was great! Top marks!

Food- not good. Could tell the minute the antipasto hit the table we weren't dealing with an Italian chef. The meats were not fresh and the cheeses tasteless, the capsicum and eggplant straight from Woolies deli. Partner's steak underdone, my lamb shanks overdone drowning in a commercial tomato sauce. Service passable.

Excellent $30 for 2ppl lunch deal. Came in a group of four and ordered 2 x $30 special. We each had a pasta (very good, decent size portion but not massive) and drink (wine, juice, soft drink etc), as well as bread and salad b/w each pair. Very pleasant verandah seating, spacious with pot plants and shade roof, and raised up from the street so theres privacy even though you're outdoors.

Went here with hubby for valentines day. The food was great. Service was good considering it was super busy. The staff wizzed by as if on rollerskates. Manager made sure we were happy with our meals, which is always nice. Will definitely come back again.

We loved the entres and mains. Service was excellent.

Tasty Carbonara !. My husband and kids said this was THE BEST carbonara they had ever eaten. We went early for dinner at 6pm, so had good, prompt and friendly service. The dishes were adequately sized and other dishes quite tasty also.

Good service. Below average Italian food. Fish and meat portions especially veal, were tiny and guests left hungry. Pasta dish with prawns, crab and cherry tomatoes was missing the crab.. Spaghetti Marinara had fresh seafood but couldn't be tasted as it was taken over by oregano. Come here if ur not Italian and you will like it... If ur educated about or are Italian... Give it a miss... My guests and I left hungry.

After eating here a few times the food was good but service ha always been terrible. Worst wait staff I have ever witnessed. The straw that broke the camels back was last Sunday when staff did not actually serve anyone and after 20 minutes waiting we left and will not ever return. If you like service - stay away from this place.

Best spaghetti bolognese we have had in the last two decades. Good service and well priced. Good atmosphere with an open fire.

Sunday Breakfast. I would love to tell you about the food, or the service. But we received none of either.<br/>When we arrived we got a brief "Hi" from the waiter. With no further instruction we found ourselves a table and waited. We sat patiently as he appeared to be the only person serving and he was bringing out orders placed before we arrived. He then came out and looked at us, and walked away. To bring us menus? No such luck. So we found the menu and got it ourselves. The table beside us kindly pointed out to him that the table on the other side, who had just arrived, needed menus. He obliged, and then came back and took their order. And then brought another small group to their table. And brought them a menu. And took their order. While another waiter walked out, dropped the bill on the table next to us and strolled back inside.<br/>So we walked down the road to Le Pain Quotidien and had food on our table in the same amount of time as we sat and waited at At Fernando's. And it was delicious.

A few of us visited At Fernando's for Sunday lunch and had used the vouchers. We will never return. The food portions were tiny (like 3 prawns in a prawn main dish). We saw other orders coming out and the serving size was different so we were made to feel second class because we were using the voucher. Food was ok but very disappointed in the service. We won't be back.

Aja. My husband and I dined her over the weekend as we had purchased a Living Social voucher for 2 entrees, 2 pastas and a bottle of wine. Overall the experience was very pleasant. The entrees came out quite quickly. We had the squid and half dozen oyster kilpatrick to start. Each oyster had a huge pile of bacon on it which made it a little difficult to taste the oyster itself but the flavour was lovely. I ordered the Penne Gamberi for main and was a little disappointed that it only came out with three prawns. The sauce was a little lacking in flavour and the pasta overcooked. However, the wine was lovely and the most important thing for us was that, as voucher holders, we were not treated as 'second class' citizens. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive despite how busy the restaurant was. Also, we were not limited as to which entree or pasta we could order. Many restaurants impose these kinds of boundaries on you when you have purchased a voucher but we were free to order whatever we liked from the entree and pasta menus. Overall a pleasant dining experience

Really good! Great food; they take standard Italian staples and do them really really well. Better than many others in the area. friendly but not overbearing service. I'll be going back for sure.

Another terrific Italian restaurant on Norton St. Try the trio of pasta platter- $15 per person and you can select any 3 of 6 the different sauces. They have the best garlic bruscetta in town, and the service is great.