George’s Paragon Seafood Restaurant

Our first time at Georges Paragon was an excellent experience with great company and fresh seafood and not to mention the awesome view of the Story Bridge and the Kangaroo Point cliffs. The only downside was the waiter ignoring my requests for hot water many many many times. Because it’s free? He was nice to my companions but he could have treated everyone equally and nicely.

This place is a sure hit! We rocked up at 6.30pm for tea and it was already bustling with patrons! We were ushered to the waiting area and the wait staff said we could get a table in 30 – 45 mins which was fine by us as we managed to score the half price menu (if you dine before 6.30pm) and enjoyed bevvies, overlooking the river/​story bridge.
Mary, our waitress introduced herself as we were seated and was super attentive and friendly the whole night which made our experience that extra special. We had oysters, prawn fettuccine, moreton bay bug and garlic prawns. Oh my the dishes were impeccable. The fettuccine was a generous serve. Enough to share between two. The bug is definitely the dish of the night and a must have if you are into your crustaceans and wanting something exquisite. The oysters are probably one the best ones we had. Plum, juicy and fresh. Prices were a bit on the high side but I can’t complain on this as we had the half price special! :p
This gem of a place is definitely a great find along Eagle st! ¹⁰⁄₁₀

Xmas lunch for the staff. I have been here several times and always have a very pleasant time. But to charge 10% on top of their dodgy ½ price advertising and then telling us that they have to pay their staff a surcharge for Saturday trading is a lie. This does not happen in Australia. If I worked here and was not paid the 10% that is being taken for every item bought I would be looking for a new job. This is not the Australian Way.

I got taken here on a date last night and my expectations were surpassed.
I’m not a big seafood eater, so I nervously researched the menu before leaving and a few things grabbed my attention especially the gluten free, dairy free options.
The restaurant was packed for a Wednesday ! Luckily we had reservations and were taken to our table quickly. Our table on the outside patio was wonderful, overlooking the Story Bridge and the river.
Our server was very attentive. One downside was the beer menu was scarce, I did see a full bar inside which maybe has more options.
Expect to pay at least $ 35 per main. My date ordered garlic bread for himself (I can’t eat butter :() and it was close to $ 9, which was a little off-​putting when it was served and it was two slices of bread.
I ordered for the main, the baby octopus plate and he ordered a plate that came with lobster, steak and vegetables although I can’t recall what it was named.
My octopus was delicious! Perfectly chargrilled and tender. It was such a large amount I couldn’t finish more than half.
He devoured his plate as well, it looked beyond delicious.
Overall the experience was sweet, even after the waiter knocked my water onto me :)
I’m not sure about the next time I will make it to such an expensive restaurant but I will make sure to recommend this to anyone for an ideal date night.

The view from this restaurant is amazing! It’s the perfect place to admire the story bridge and the city lights. The food… was a little dated, kind of circa late 90s early 2000s as was the décor.
I really enjoyed my entrée of baby octopus which was grilled to perfection. They managed to get it crispy and keep it tender, which I’ve always struggled to do at home. My main was heavy and generous, loads of cream over my seafood and chips. It all felt a little too pedestrian to be considered fine dining.
However, lovely wait staff.
Loads of potential, I look forward to seeing how it progresses.

Highly recommended. We just enjoyed a great family function here. The staff were friendly and helpful and the food was superb.
The staff went way above helping us out with usb issues on a video.
Highly recommend this venue.

Now if there is one thing I find annoying it is advertising which misleads. Lunches for 2 for 1 are all over the entrance to this very Greek looking restaurant as you head up the escalators. Im confused… it looks like a fine dining place but food is 2 for 1? Hell… let’s try it out anyway.
Its clean it is fine dining and the waiter service is next to none. Food comes out quickly too. My lamb and snapper were overcooked though and well. garlic bread a seafood chowder, snapper and lamb set us back 90 over dollars.
My issue is mainly that no one would pay full price for this in theory… one can argue menu prices which reflect the 2 for 1 should just be the standard orices because they are that much.
I am not going to be in a hurry back. This place was ok but nothing really stood out for me for that price.

Classic seafood restaurant in a riverfront location. Enjoyed the food and the service was great!

I’m shocked and a little bit angry.
As a team working in retail we value talking and being together. one of our favourite colleagues is leaving us to work elsewhere so we decided on George’s Paragon for a goodbye dinner.
First of all, the sass behind the waitress made me sad. Simply asking for a fork resulted in a whole lot of eye rolling and rude comments. Poor form if you ask me. Before all of this we asked to move our tables together as we had a table of 20. However they split our table in half, served all the meals separately and didn’t bring out our meals at the same time! Refusing to even consider our request some more eye rolling came into play.
It was as if we were 2 parties. I don’t have a lot to say, I know I will go back because it is my two friend’s absolute favourite restaurant, so hopefully they can redeem themselves. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable with some of my closest friends.
Hope to have a better experience next time.

George, you don’t have feedback on your webpage so I have to do it here. I hope you read this.
This is a classic ‘tourist’ restaurant, in keeping with the general vibe of the eagle street precinct. I ate a really good dish of barbecued baby octopus tonight and a Greek salad. I’m shocked though at the prices.) $ 15 for a small size Greek salad? Seriously. All the prices are generally inflated. Better to visit at lunch when you can eat exactly the same dishes for the more reasonable half price menu. Also, I’m so sorry George has had to sell out on the Greek in his Greek restaurant. Fettuccine pesto and Cajun chicken in a Greek restaurant? Where is the Briam George? I’ve eaten here so many times seeking authentic Greek food and rely on lamb souvlaki, Greek salad and octopus to give me the experience. These are the only overpriced items I recommend for a hint of genuine Greek food.
Overall the staff are cold. It doesn’t matter how many times I visit, week after week, it’s like I have never been there before. I’ve eaten at the sanctuary cove restaurant quite a few times and its the same deal. This is a very poor representation of the real Greek food and hospitality experience. A thorough disappointment. Fortunately George has the monopoly in these locations when it comes to Greek food, the only reason I venture back. Choose your food wisely and bring a fat wallet to pay for it. Looking forward to done (any) response George.

For amazing views and atmosphere this place has it.
As far as food goes, Ive experienced better.
maybe that is the Melbourne food snob talking…
I wouldn’t call it bad but as I said, Ive experienced better.
I compare everything to Gazi now!
Views of the Brisbane river and the Story bridge are amazing. watching the boats sail by is beautiful.
I must say, the service we received was impeccable and was very pleased, especially with two children under tow.
Lovely place to visit on a Sunday as menu is half priced.

A Big No-​No!!!
I was invited for my girlfriend’s birthday dinner that was celebrated on Saturday evening. As it was meant to be a surprise for her, everyone was meant to arrive at 7pm. A couple of us arrived 10 minutes to 7pm when our table was not ready just yet. So we were seated close to the bar and ordered a glass of champagne each. The restaurant was already busy at that time. All looked promising and made me believe it would’ve been a great dinning experience.
As soon as our table was prepared, we were seated. While I was passing the lady who seated us, she did not even have the courtesy to greet me but asked me out of blue how tall I was (What The Hell?!) I found it very offensive and so not professional!
When our birthday girl arrived, I could not stop looking at her how excited she was to see us all. She was seated right next to me. While she was seated — waiter pulled out her chair, I was amazed how the waiter placed a cloth napkin on her lap. She did not even sit properly yet when he flicked the napkin between her busy hands and lap… and then he pushed (literally pushed) her chair even closer to the table. It did not look good at all. She did not say a word but I think it was mainly because she was having a little happy cry. From that point the waiter did not turn up to be any good… but even worse.
I did not know what to order right to the last minute. Even though I had menu list opened, I involved myself more into conversations… as you do. When waiter was taking orders, I was able to ask for a garlic bread because I had not had a proper look what else. «Is that all?» he asked. «No, it is not but I need a bit more time to decide what else» In meantime, he took orders from others and came back to me. As I was reading through the menu, he started talking to me unexpectedly from behind. So I ordered an entrée Avocado Seafood. «Is that all?» he asked again. «Yes, please»
During the night the waiter upset me to no end. I talked to a friend sitting right next to me quite often. I sat close to her and sometimes had to even lean over the table a bit to hear her when she talked to others. When the waiter brought me a glass of water or needed to fill up my glass, he pushed his hand between us. It was very wrong… so I could not help myself and raised my voice «EXCUSE ME?!» He did not even apologise… no word came out of his mouth. Later on he was giving us dessert menu. So obvious how much he was order & money driven. I do not know if they had to make a budget per table but this didn’t look right. When he approached me, he slid the menu between my and my friend’s head while I was listening to and looking at her. I so wanted to smack him with the menu.
The entire experience with waiting service made me refuse to order anything more than I have — a glass of Moet, an appetiser and garlic bread. I refused to support their business anymore.
Considering the prices, the food did not correspond to them at all. Seafood that ended up on my plate was hardly fresh. Prawn tasted like a boiled prawn tale bought from deli in Coles. Meat was a bit tough and colour very orange. I had an outstanding entrée Garlic King Prawn in Southport which cost about the same… yet, incomparable quality. It was purely a piece of octopus, scallop, king prawn and a tiny bit of barramundi on avocado. No rich in taste… no dressing… for $ 22 I felt like I could still have something. Yet, I refused. Luckily I did because I did not have much cash on hand.
At the end, I was meant to pay $ 6.5 garlic bread, $ 22 avocado seafood and $ 19 a glass of Moet ($ 47.50 in total). A friend who organised the get-​together asked us to contribute extra $ 10 booking fee per person. A booking fee?! I have never heard of it. So I gave $ 60 into the pool of money… and we were still over fifty dollars short for the table. So I gave them another five bucks. So not happy with it all… but tried to forget for the sake of my friend’s birthday celebration.
Five of us decided not to give any tip to our waiter. So the total cash was only 30 cents more than bill. Ha, suck up, waiter!!!
When I shared my disappointment over our waiter, one of us who is Even Coordinator for restaurant in Caxton Street mentioned she must have seen the guy before. She thought he might have been a waiter from agency she used for casual waiting staff when she was short of people. If he was or was not, that is a question. It definitely does not excuse George’s to hire such hopeless staff.
The only highlight of the entire experience was bar staff. A friend of mine took me to a bar where we asked for tasting of greek wine. There were three young guys who were very helpful. Although they did not give me the tasting right away, they did not forget to bring it to our table… even though it took about 15 minutes easy :-/​
While we were leaving a waiters standing close to the exit greeted and thanked us. I was smiling at them but thinking «I am so never coming back here ever again»

I absolutely love love love seafood! My parents took me here back in May the night before I left for my overseas experience in the USA and it was worth the wait.
The location is just stunning. After walking around the area and scoping out the potential restaurants for us to all dine at, we finally picked George’s Paragon. The location of the restaurant overlooks the Brisbane harbour bridge and is just stunning at night and also without a doubt during the day.
When we arrived, we knew the place had to be good, there were so many people waiting to dine in there — we waited for about 40 minutes to get a table. That was how popular it was! We didn’t mind the wait either because you can sit at tables near the entrance that overlooked the harbour while drinking your beverage — I had red wine of course. I loved my time here with my parents just bantering, having a good goss session whilst enjoying a good glass of wine with the old folks. When we were seated at our table, our waiter was very polite and professional. Tipping is not customary in Australia but I did tell Dad that we should tip him regardless and so we did. Absolutely deserving.
Food came in a timely manner and was beautifully presented. I love dining at fine dining restaurants. I especially love doing this with my parents, it’s something we always did as a family and as I write this, it makes me miss them so much more! Slightly went off track there, but food was pretty good. My Mum ordered a chef’s special which was pan seared fish (crispy skin) that had been put in the oven to bake, Dad isn’t much of a seafood fan at all (he does not know what he’s missing) so he had a Fillet Mignon (eye fillet) with roasted vegetables and gravy that was absolutely delectable and I had garlic prawns over risotto — it was a bit of a garlic overload to be honest and yes I have had better… But nonetheless, it was still delicious and deserves the 5 star rating I’m giving this restaurant.

This place is awesome to start with, the view, the service and the ambiance, and the food is incredible– but if you get there between 5:30 and 6:30, they give you a half price menu– and boy, is it worth getting there early! They have some great wines (NOT half price), and the Moreton Bay Bugs were spectacular!
I will definitely be back next time I am in Brisbane!

This is for a function dinner, so take into account there were 30+ in our group on a reduced menu (but still 3 – 5 choices per course), and almost all prepared to let loose for the night (as much as a group of corporate bunnies varying in age from 20 – 60 will).
Ambience *****
George’s makes good use of it’s top level Eagle St Pier tenancy with floor to ceiling windows and balcony to capture the nighttime romanticism of the Brisbane river. There is a perfect view of the Story Bridge, and you can spot the Kookaburra River Queen down on the dock below. The restaurant is tastefully decorated for Christmas, with silver, white and blue hangings meshing well with the blue and white décor (normally a no-​no for me unless at the local fish and chip). Tables are spread adequately apart and place settings are neat and elegant. The bar is circular and visible from any angle in the restaurant and the decorating is done well here, too; it’s not hard to ruin the look of an inner dome, but they’ve done some smart and stylish decorating there.
Service ****
The service was GREAT. I love a restaurant with drawling French waiters and swift, attentive staff who have learned their profession; little things easily passed over, or only found in function venues, like how to properly serve wine, which side of the customer to place the plate, and laying napkins. Love it. On the other hand, a young waiter tipped my glasses off my face putting one of the plates down and then had a giggle about it with an equally young waitress about three feet from where I was sitting, so that put a dampener on what would have been a 5 star service review. But the older staff (and I mean the ones who weren’t born post 1980) were fantastic. Spot on, there.
Food ***
I had heard about the food being amazing and so was expecting amazing things, but ended up a little disappointed.
First up was a starter of garlic bread served with shared plates of garden salad. This was quite good — the garlic was too heavy for my preference, I could taste it on my tongue the rest of the night, but the bread was soft and crunchy where it should have been and the dressing kept the salad light and fresh.
Entrees. Now bear in mind I am not a lover of seafood and ordered a seafood medley (one of those ‘first’ moments; heck if I’m going to do something new, better at a place known for seafood, right?) Well on first sight, I palmed off the oyster — blech. What remained was half an avocado, in the empty pit hole of which had been smartly placed a mussel, prawn (bug eyes and all), scallop and unidentifiable bite of fish which might have been barramundi as it wasn’t very flavoursome. The plate was presented well, the scallop I think wasn’t seared properly, there was no discernable fry-​marks that I could see: it might have been braised for all I could tell. The mussel and prawn tasted like what I expected prawn and mussel to taste like.
Mains was an improvement — I was back in my comfort zone with a non-​seafood eater’s safety food of eye fillet mignonettes, mushies, mashed taters and bocconcini. The meat was a relief, cooked med rare and yet crunchy on the outside — typically accompanied by red wine jus. The mash was too salty but I put that down to the whole ‘seafood’ atmosphere. Quite a few people had ordered a barra and bug mix for their mains and the bugs just didn’t look as impressively BIG as I recall them back in my kitchen hay-​days. The waiter took a while to come around offering cracked pepper; maybe he was doing the rounds on the whole restaurant?
Dessert was a better affair; I had ordered pav, but somehow ended up with the sticky date pudding, and surprisingly enjoyed every bite. The pud was smooth as silk, the quinnelle of vanilla ice-​cream accompanying, smoother. The portion was perfect after all the food beforehand, and I only left what looked like a cream gun squirt of whipped cream on the plate. If it was hand piped, which it very well could have been, I think the chef should have used a different nozzle than what’s typically found on a cream gun.
I might have brought the food rating lower for the time it took for it all to come out, but I don’t know whether the hold up was because we were in a big group and started late (go for entrée was 7:40pm-ish) so I’ll leave it as is. But it just seemed to take forever to get it all out to us and in the correct order; I believe we were served dessert around 10 – 10.15pm?
Overall, I gave the restaurant a 4 star review because I would go another round here, but in a more intimate group of friends and during a weekend lunch, rather than a weeknight dinner. Per person we ended up spending ~$ 100 each, though that’s drinks included so I’ve left the price range at $$$ because a more casual sitting would no doubt be less.

Suitably adequate John Dory. Service was attentive and friendly. Good ambience. All in all, a lovely lunch :)

Came here on a Sunday afternoon to grab some seafood at the recommendation of a couple members of the hotel staff. The restaurant is located at a very nice location along the river so that if you prefer to eat outside, you definitely have the option to do so.
The first thing I noticed when I got in was that I was horribly underdressed. I showed up in a t-​shirt and shorts while everyone else around me was wearing causal suits and dresses. However, the host did not wait twice before bringing me to a table in the middle of the restaurant.
I started with a half dozen of the natural oysters and then went onto the Kanoni which was a sampler of a whitefish (I believe it was sole), half a Moreton bay bug, and a giant shrimp. The oysters tasted very fresh and included an interesting looking pink cream sauce. I’m not a huge fan of adding things other than lemon to my oysters but I still took a dab of the sauce and it tasted like a sweet mayonnaise. The Kanoni portion was quite ample and also came with a side of thick cut fries. However, I wish I had just ordered more of the shrimp (or I guess the English-​speaking world calls it «prawn») and bay bugs because the fish was quite dry and bland.
Overall, the experience was pretty good though I had quite a wait for food (15 minutes for oysters and 30 minutes additional for the main). The wait staff was very good and I had no problems getting water refills and condiments. Price was a bit on the high side even for lunch (or perhaps I’m just coming from Houston) but the food was well worth it.

In the city it can be hard to find a high quality and reasonably priced restaurant for lunch. George’s Paragon seafood restaurant is the answer to this dilemma, with a half-​price lunch menu on offer every day. Even better, the half-​price menu is extensive, with lots of different seafood and non-​seafood options. The quality of the food is high (especially the seafood), the service is good, and the outlook over the Brisbane River is unbeatable. You can also grab a half price dinner if you’re seated between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. George’s Paragon has the location and class of a CBD seafood restaurant, but with prices that make it accessible for everyone.

Despite its misleading name, George’s Paragon is NOT on George St. I discovered this after wandering haplessly up and down George St in the city for about 20 minutes the other week. My phone battery was flat, I was wearing pointy high heels and I hadn’t bothered to look up the restaurant’s secret location before leaving work.
Only the thought of half price lobster kept me wandering up and down the street. Luckily, I finally remembered my husband mentioning the address that morning (Eagle St Pier) and arrived just in time to order off their half price menu.
George’s Paragon is an up-​market Greek style restaurant specialising in seafood and traditional Mediterranean dishes. With its gorgeous view over the Brisbane River and the Storey Bridge, plus a generous half price dinner menu when seated between 5:30 — 6:30 on a weeknight, its popularity is understandable.
I ordered the Barouti while my husband went with the Moreton Bay Bugs. When my meal arrived, I couldn’t believe the huge serving of barramundi, prawns, scallops and bugs smothered in a creamy sauce. On tasting, the seafood was fresh and the scallops were generous, plump morsels which melted in my mouth. My husband, who is probably a more discerning diner was less impressed with size than quality. He rated his Moreton Bay Bugs as average and we both agreed that the side of chips were pretty bad. Shoe-​string fries probably would have gone with the meal instead of their chunky, stale potato cuts.
Still, the view was perfect, the meal was mostly delicious and the price was generous. This is one seafood restaurant to try before Christmas.