The beloved local eatery closed its doors on March 31.
Nestled amongst the hustle and bustle at the river end of Pakington Street, Pompei Geelong was a welcome addition to the region when it opened its doors back in September 2020 with a clear focus on combining Italian simplicity with high-quality produce, delivering a delicious and authentic Italian dining experience to locals.
A local family-run business of four, comprising Alastair, Alastair’s partner Tamara, Kai, their daughter, and Brendan, their brother-in-law, Pompei combines about 50 years of experience working in food, dishing up the kind of devotedly rustic, no-frills authentic Italian food that you can feel doing you good, body and soul. Taking inspiration from their culinary experience in Pompei, classic Italian flavours were given a contemporary makeover.
The pasta menu struck all the right notes, featuring the likes of homemade tagliatelle alle cozze, spaghetti alla carbonara, homemade gnocchi Osso Bucco and penne pesto. You’ll also find a refreshing Caprese or pear e noce salad among the other items listed on the menu.
Now, two and a half years later, the venue has sadly closed its doors – permanently.
Keep up with the latest food and booze news across the region here.
Pompei Geelong bring rustic, no-frills authentic Italian food to Pakington Street
Posting to Instagram in a story on Friday, 31 March, the business announced it has closed its doors and would not be reopening.
“Hi all, sorry to say that Pompei has closed and will not reopen,” the story read.
“We have put our all into this restaurant and so sad to say goodbye to our regulars and the people who have supported us.
“Thank you all and we will miss you Newtown. Tam & Alastair.”
Owned by Geelong locals, the loss of another business is a devastating blow to the community, especially one like Pompei, which begun in the midst of COVID and the toughest time for the hospitality industry.
The idea for opening a family business was initially conceived back in 2017, but it wasn’t until COVID first struck, that the team decided to chase their dreams, stumbling upon the vacant spot on Pakington street.
“Our spot on Pakington popped up and it was such a great location with an amazing courtyard, we knew it was exactly what we were looking for,” Tamara previously told us.
“Once we decided on Italian cuisine, we reflected on a trip to Italy six years ago, where we went to Pompei and had the most delicious food in our trip, and made it clear that our name would be Pompei.”
We will miss you Pompei.
