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Hours
Sun
12:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Mon
5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Tue
5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Wed
12:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Thu
12:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Fri
12:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sat
12:00 pm - 11:00 pm
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere
Details
Someone from this business manages this listing.
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PRICE RANGE
$8.00 – $49.00
CUISINES
Italian, Pizza
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
meals, features
Menu
Starters
Marinated Sicilian Green Olives, Lemon & Orange Zest, Chilli, Rosemary
V, GF, DF
GBP14.0
Focaccia, Confit Garlic, Rosemary & Smoked Salt
V, DF
GBP18.0
Burrata, Eggplant Caponata, Pine Nut, Giallo Di Pane
GFO, V
GBP24.0
Arancini Pizzaiola, Tomato Sauce, Smoked Mozzarella, Basil Aioli
V
GBP18.0
Gnudi – Ricotta & Spinach Tuscan Dumpling, Passata Di Pomodoro
V GF
GBP21.0
Tomino Piemontese Baked Cheese, Prosciutto, Walnut, Honey, Lemon Thyme
GF
GBP22.0
Is this restaurant on the water, or waterfront?
Details
About
Brisbane's favourite riverside Italian! With a focus on shared dining and banquets, no visit to Brisbane is complete without a trip to Popolo!
PRICE RANGE
$8.00 – $49.00
CUISINES
Italian, Pizza
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, After-hours
FEATURES
Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Street Parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Digital Payments, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Waterfront, Non-smoking restaurants, Gift Cards Available
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4.0
753 reviews
Excellent
344
Very good
222
Average
80
Poor
57
Terrible
50
Doinlife
24 contributions
Nov 2020 • family
Wow just omg wow,
The food is perfect the staff excellent location is just great, so glad we pre booked to dine here after speaking with a family member about where to eat out for this special occasion, best advice i can give is to book well in advance as this llace is so popular you will have little to no success trying to get a table as a walk in customer, now the food omg, it was so full of flavour cooked perfectly and served with perfect timing, a large range of food to select from on the menue and the drinks menue is quite substantial as well, prices are fair not overly expensive and definately not going to break the bank balance.
Definately book yourself a table here either as an individual a couple or a group its really worth the experience.
Popolo southbank gets a well deserved 5/5 from us.
Written 10 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thassia
Svelvik59 contributions
Feb 2020 • none
Dropped in for lunch, we chose different dishes from the entre menu (nibbles to enjoy) excellent service and food. Restaurant close to Friendship pedestrian bridge from QUT/Botanical Garden. Highly recommended by the Norwegian elderly couple.
Written 5 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Racandtac
463 contributions
Feb 2020 • family
Loved our lunch here on Saturday to celebrate a special 30th birthday. Our waitress Sara was outstanding. So friendly, helpful with selection and attentive. Our sharing plates consisted of the fried olives, Polpette ( delicious) Zucchini Flowers were beautiful as was the calamari fritti so tender and tasty. Scallops were beautifully presented and tasty but probably wouldn’t have them again in a shared experience. As other reviewers mentioned the Schiacciata was fabulous and we also shared a Margherita pizza which was fresh and delicious with an amazing base.
Peroni $10 a glass was icy cold. Coffees $4 a cup. Probably the only disappointment was the Spiced ginger beer which probably had too much ice in it so was quite watered down on arrival. Dilemma because you want it to be ice cold on a hot day but it did lack flavour. Great meal though, great service and I noticed a few antipasto plates go by. They looked amazing.
Written 11 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
S G
1 contribution
Dec 2020 • family
I had booked to have my 30th birthday dinner with my family (6 people) and as soon as I sat down, before I was even able to talk to my family we were being rushed into ordering drinks and food.
Staff were really passive aggressive. We were reminded at least 4 times throughout the night that the table was re-booked for 8.15 (we arrived at 6.15) so if we didn’t order quickly we would “be kicked out without eating”. We had ordered drinks and mains by 6.30 and were constantly interrupted during conversations, presents being given etc. I am pregnant so it took a while to find something on the menu that I was able to eat, and was very flustered at being rushed to order.
My husband and I ordered the Margherita pizza to share and a couple of sides because I hadn’t had time to read further than the pizzas on the the menu. The pizza was really watery and had a giant chunk of mozzarella on each slice with some sauce - really the worst pizza I have had in brisbane. At the end we had a huge bill and a ruined evening. We were told at 7.45 that we had to finalise soon so we rushed to cut and eat the cake (that they refused to store in a fridge for us). Before we even finished our slice of cake the bill was bought to our table as a subtle hint to leave.
We found out that the restaurant closes at 9pm so I find it hard to believe that there was another booking at 8.15pm. They should be better equipped to handle dinners when booked as a special occasion and not so focused on turning over tables to make exorbitant profits.
As a lovely goodbye we were asked to stand out in the rain while someone paid the bill so we weren’t blocking the entry.
Written 12 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ClaireJ
Brisbane52 contributions
Aug 2022 • friends
Poppolo- we’ve been visiting this restaurant for many years now but today was nothing less than underwhelming. The waiters could not have been less interested, there was no attempt to entice us to stay or even enjoy desserts or coffee. Given this lack of interest we chose to move on only 50 metres away. This is very different to our previous experience and given the choice that Southbank now has, we’re moving on.
Written 20 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DAMIAN P
Brisbane120 contributions
Dec 2020 • friends
Recently went here with friends for the first time and was not disappointed. The food was amazing and very reminiscent of what I experienced in Italy.
Service was great and staff were very accommodating with our requests to try different dishes in non-standard sizes
Definitely worth a visit if you love your Italian food.
Written 3 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fiona S
Canberra79 contributions
Feb 2020 • couples
Located in a quieter area of Southbank with a great view across the river to the city, particularly lovely in the evening. Menu had a good mix of dishes and drinks. We had expected a higher end restaurant given the location and view but it tended towards the casual with pizzas, pasta and share plates. Service was friendly and efficient.
Written 7 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Linda
Hanc226 contributions
Jan 2020 • couples
a lovely restaurant right by the river. staff were ready to take orders for drinks explain menu and dishes. all dishes are for sharing. we had spatchcock chicken and roast lamb. these dishes ordered by the men were soon demolished. we had risotto which although no mushrooms was delicious and also gnouchl. very well recommended
Written 30 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Teresa K
Adelaide73 contributions
Jan 2020 • friends
We have been here a couple of times with friends who live near the Gold Coast and have never been disappointed. Our friends tried to make a booking online but there were no vacancies so we thought we would try and enquire face to face. Sara greeted us and was able to book us in (6). We enjoyed a long lunch with fantastic food opting for their set menu and plenty of free flowing wine. Could not fault a thing apart from the fact that we were way too full to even contemplate dessert.
Will be back on our next visit.
Written 13 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cdferguson
Brisbane8 contributions
Dec 2022 • none
I tried to book by phone the evening before for early dinner on Sunday. I was told that they were completely full and the earliest available was 8pm. However, I checked on Opentable and there was an available booking at the time that I was hoping for (5pm) and many other timeslots around that time as well. I am unsure why they had a different answer regarding their availability on the phone.
The waiter did not know the answer to some simple questions, such as whether everyone on the table would have to order a banquet. They also were not aware of which foods were gluten free - initially taking an order for gluten free but then coming back to advise it was not gluten free.
We ordered mains with a few sides for 6 people. The food was delivered to the table over a period of 5 minutes, however one person never received any meals. We decided to start eating so the food did not go cold. It was not until we called someone over after 15 minutes to ask where this meal was that anyone noticed the problem. They had not taken our order correctly. By this time most of us had finished eating. The more experienced waiter who came did not apologise but re-took that order and said they would make it as soon as possible. It took about 10 minutes to come out and everyone else had finished eating. The food was ok but nothing special.
Apart from not having any apology about the missed meal they also still charged full price for it.
Considering the menu prices and a 10% Sunday surcharge I would expect better service and some apology for the mistake made.
Written 4 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Geoffarsenal
Ballina7 contributions
Feb 2020 • none
We dined at Popolo and loved the food , the setting ,the wine and the staff(who were exceptional). This is a gem, where you can share meals and eat at your own pace whilst overlooking the river and parklands.
In fact we enjoyed it so much we decided to go back the night after. I highly recommend the pork meatballs,gnocchi,arancini and pizza.
Written 10 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Voyage774157
Brisbane26 contributions
Jan 2020 • none
Enjoyed a great evening to celebrate Christmas in January as its always to hectic in December. Everyone loved the food, so good we had the Mangia Mangia, 6 course Italian feast such a wonderful way to share food with a large group and the food just keeps coming. I will defiantly go back . the location is very central and such an amazing view of Brisbane city and the river. Easy walk through South Bank.
Written 20 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
D S
1 contribution
Nov 2023 • friends
We have visited Popolos previously and had found the location, the city views and the food to be good and so wanted to continue to support the establishment.
Service was good but unfortunately, the food offerings on this occasion were surprisingly mediocre and very overpriced for pasta dishes - prices started with a 4. The wine list was good but similarly too expensive.
The amounts of main ingredients such as prawns, Moreton Bay bugs and spanner crab in the dishes we received were very very limited - almost as if rationed and insulting for the prices being charged.
This coupled with the overcooked pasta, a lack of seasoning and not even a chopped parsley garnish - lead us to feel we might have stumbled into a riverside “tourist trap” rather than the Italian restaurant we had previously enjoyed.
Overall a disappointing evening making it hard for us to continue to support this restaurant.
Written 30 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lucy V
64 contributions
Oct 2020 • none
We met up with old friends for my 50th birthday dinner at Popolo on Friday night. We had a group of eight. We had a fantastic night! The staff went out of their way to accommodate our wishes and were attentive, cheerful, patient....and tolerant all night. They knew we were having a great time and let us stay late. The food was delicious, the weather was beautiful, the table position and view of the river on a spring night was fantastic. The food was so good that my husband I went back for dinner the next night, just to have the ravioli again. We can highly recommend this restaurant and we can't wait to dine there again.
Written 3 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MrsMackThe3rd
68 contributions
July 2022 • family
The spot is perfect - river view, grass out the front, full of people enjoying their weekend. The wine list is extensive and the drinks list appears abundant - but stock is minimal…. Ran out of lemonade, not enough ingredients left to make lemon, lime + bitters and lemon squash is also unavailable. Several beers unavailable but the wines were great, despite the price. No kids menu - but our 8 year old loved the duck ragu. The food is pretty good, if you are happy to outlay a small fortune, we get the feeling the establishment is trading on a long standing reputation, rather than current offerings…. Perhaps for the customer investment, the standard could be increased.
Written 12 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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