Don Pepe Restaurant

12/1/2012

• 1 check-in

I didn't think right in Ozone Park, there would be a decent Italian restaurant.  Walking into Don Pepe you may be overwhelmed by what looks like a giant open living room where you can see the kitchen.  Well, cuz it is!.  We had a pretty big party (14 people?), and the staff tried it's best to accommodate us.  They put together 2 round tables, which was still a little inconvenient but they get an A for trying.  The food for the most part was pretty tasty.  Their pasta was very creamy and heavy but packed full of flavor.  However, only their main dishes were good...oh, and it's only family style, which I like.  The house salad was....eh...let's just say Dole pre packaged salad was better.  The lettuce was beginning to brown and it had WAY too much vinegar dressing.  Had tartufo for dessert and I'm sorry but what kind of a place doesn't serve coffee as a dessert option?  They only had cappuccino which was also so-so.  

Important:  Another big inconvenience which I really hate when restaurants do this, they do not accept cash.  In my opinion, a restaurant is an establishment that serves, and is part of the "service industry".  That's one of the reasons why I took a star off.  The mediocre salad and lack of cappuccino irked me a bit as well.  I would probably come back, but with a much smaller party.  Waiters and main course was good but not enough for me to give it a 4.

3/1/2016

Great hole-in-the-wall. Authentic and inexpensive; in a neighborhood of good food, it remains a solid go-to.

1/10/2014

This is the standard hole in the wall. It's pretty charming if you're charmed by that sort of thing. The waitress was nice, I was pretty happy with my Cuban sandwich.

I met up with friends at a bar immediately after and gave the second half of my sandwich to a friend. We were both sick the next day...and she was still sick the day after that. As long as you're young and strong, you should be fine.

12/22/2013

PLEASE Do NOT eat here! #1 there was hair on my rice and two the food was old and I got food poisoning from it! yuckkk! The place seemed old and the food was NOT fresh.

5/20/2009

• First to Review

Don Pepe Restaurant seems like it has been around for centuries, both in look and feel. The place caters to regulars, a happy assortment of local color that enjoys breakfast, lunch, and dinner here.

No matter how many times I learn my lesson, I am always attracted at first to the bar and its several round diner stools. The huge bump that creates a legroom-free zone always makes me move after ordering though, as this seating is just for kids.

A specialty of the house is the sandwich de bistek empanisado ($5.50, breaded steak). The sandwich is too big for one sitting, and perfectly washed down by the guanábana juice, a favorite of any Caribbean.

After ordering, it takes a bit of work to get them back to your table for a coffee ($0.75) or the check, but it gives you plenty of time to rifle through the merengue and bachata loaded jukebox or enjoy people watching.

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  Sandwich de bistek empanisado

  Sandwich de bistek empanisado
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2/11/2012

400 bucks and the worst service and dinner of my life. I will never eat here again. Eggplant that was uncooked. Braciole that was dry, unseasoned and flavorless. The pasta was good, wow, they didn't mess up the pasta. But the sauce tasted like it was from a jar. The manager never once came over to ask how dinner was. They were too busy watching TV. This place is living off its reputation from 30 years ago. Soup to nuts we were done in 50 minutes. They put nascar pit crews to shame. Take my advice try another restaurant this place is not worth it.

6/8/2013 Updated review

Reviews about Don Pepe's in Ozone Park Queens are for a different and unrelated Italian restaurant.  Took a pal here before Golden Gloves and he loved their fried pork chops, and I wished I had ordered them too.

1/23/2011

OH the memories!!!I used to go to a school right around the corner from don Pepe's and this was the only place me and my friends could go eat after we snuck out during our free piriod  (the wonders of duct tape) since it was around the corner we could still get back in time for class. I remember things like french fries and grilled chesse which they unlike most hispanic reasturants actually did correctly. I also remember a very nice smiling fat man in an apron telling us the importance of school and making sure we got back to class on time. Not to mention the way he would start conversations with our parent about what nice kids we all were as we passed by after pta meetings.