I am new to the area, from Southern California, and have eaten here two times. Of the approximately 15 restaurants we have eaten at in the area, this is by far the best. When we have out-of-town guests, this is the place we will take them. It's a place I would be proud to take them. It's literally the only place I've been to that I can say that about. All the food is great: from the salmon to the chicken to the pizza to the pasta .... The service is great: helpful, nice, don't rush you out.... The facility is nice: very comfortable with gorgeous architecture and furnishings. This is at the top of our rotation.... read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - Perfectly prepared salmon - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

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Terrible! The food was absolutely terrible! We had a party of fifteen with a private room,the table was beautiful but that's all I can say that was good. The service was slow we sat there over ten minutes before anyone ever addressed us. Finally we had been there fifteen minutes before we got our drinks or any bread. The appetizers were sub par and the only two people out of our group that somewhat enjoyed their meal had the steak. It was a very special day but the food was anything but special!! Unfortunately we will never be back. read more

We walked in and were not greeted. Eye contact was made and still were not greeted. Then the two women looked up and one of them said," do you need something?" I said a table for two. She said you can sit at the bar but we don't have any tables. They had plenty of tables. We left and went to the Japanese place across the street. They were busy and they seated us just fine. Hmmmmm was I a bit too brown. Hmmmmmm. read more

Went for Valentine's Day. Loved the touch of giving roses. Was disappointed by the truncated menu as the dishes I was looking forward to were not available, but I understand they were expecting to be super busy. Food was good not great. Service was the same, had to ask for napkins and a steak knife as they were not brought to us. We our server was very sweet. The bruschetta and oysters Rockefeller were the stand outs-- so good! Both our mains were a bit disappointing. The cook on my husband's steak was incorrect and it had zero char-- pretty much totally gray. My risotto was undercooked with a bit too al dente rice and watery sauce. It also was underseasoned. However the seafood was great so I ate that without hesitation. I keep saying I like but don't love Francesco's, and for dinner for $275 for two people in Rockford, I just expect better quality if we're going to be paying downtown Chicago prices. I would go back but it's not going to be a meal I seek out. read more

We were celebrating my boyfriend's birthday when we dined inside Bennys lounge on 10/9 around 7:45pm. Upon sitting down we waited 10 minutes atleast for the server (Malynn)to greet our table. She walked past us multiple times not even stopping to do a simple table touch letting us know she would be over soon. When she did stop over finally she didn't introduce herself nor ask were we celebrating anything. Very dry. We also asked if there was an option to add scallops to a dish, she first said she didn't really know then she said probably not . She told us she would find out. She indeed didn't find out and never returned to let us know. She did not bring out the appetizer (which arrived cold) she also didn't drop our main entrees off either. Which that's fine if you have other staff running food, that's common! Usually when that occurs that allows the server to provide better service because they can focus on their tables more . By the time she checked on us my boyfriend was done with his dinner. Within this time she had time to drop dessert off to her large party as well as check on her other table several times laughing and chatting with them. The service was absolutely terrible. This is my second time dining at Francesco's and while the food and drinks are pretty good service both times was embarrassing for this type of establishment. I did notice the other tables she had were frequently being checked on and assisted but not us. If your wait staff cannot treat all people of any race the same when they come out to eat they shouldn't be in a position to "serve" your guests. I come out to enjoy not only the food but my time and experience! On my way out the door I did ask to speak with a manger and a guy at the front said he was I told him my concerns and I wasn't looking for anything in return besides genuine concern and he didn't even show that! I got a simple "oh we are sorry about that" for these reasons alone this will be my last time dining at your establishment. From beginning to end the vibe was we didn't belong. Malynn should be retrained at the least! I've had better service at a hole in the wall and you guys are considered "fine dining" that's laughable. read more

I found it odd that the dining room isn't open on weekdays. The cocktails were all pretty sweet for my liking, but they were still ok. The bread and seasoned oil was yummy. The French onion soup wasn't anything special and had almost no onions in it and the broth was too sweet and not seasoned enough. The bolognese was sweet as well and needed more salt/herbs. When I asked for Parmesan cheese on top of my pasta, I expected them to bring a bowl of freshly grated parmesan and not a shaker. That was unimpressive especially at a nice restaurant like this. The chicken parmesan was average and we substituted the penne noodles for angel hair with Alfredo. I'm glad they were accommodating in that aspect. The noodles were mostly plain and there was hardly any sauce on them. The service was kind when we saw them, but our food took much too long to come out. Our checks took a while to get picked up as well. The ambiance was lovely and we still enjoyed it because of the company at our table. I expected so much more considering the prices and the type of restaurant it is. I would not come back. read more

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The atmosphere is wonderful, very friendly staff and the Food Ooh La La speechless, we drive all the way from Wisconsin to Rockford for the food and the friendliness read more

We ordered small pans of lasagna, sausage with peppers and salad (came with garlic and plain Italian bread) for my small family's Christmas Eve celebration. It was delicious and perfect for 7 adults and 1 teenager. Everyone raved about the flavor- best lasagna we've ever had! Kudos to the entire Frannie's team- thank you!! read more

I took my mom and dad here for New Year's Eve. Got there at 5pm with reservations. Seated immediately. Milk was excellent. Children's menu and crayons came promptly. The table was good height for my high chair. read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

Went here for a birthday dinner. Ambiance, food and service are a 10. The presentation for the birthday cake & ice cream was so artistic. I would probably frequent the restaurant more often if I didn't have to drive 1.5 hours to get there in good traffic. read more

The food was outstanding as it always is. The service was top notch and always enjoy the live piano player for the ambiance

We were at Franchesco"s on September 4th to celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary. We enjoyed our food, but this review is to credit our wonderful server, Yosi. She did such a wonderful job taking care of us, and she was so fun and entertaining! If you go to Franshesco"s, ask for Yosi. You will be delighted with her! Just an added note : it's so nice to see someone who LOVES her job! read more

Beautiful restaurant, food was amazing and flavorful. Very welcoming employees and just a great experience all around. 10/10

We have dined here quite a few times. Never had a problem with the food.It was always delicious this time.The service ruined our night out. Our server must have been brand new or very ill. Trained, we sat at a small table in the bar.\n And ordered drinks. We had to ask for bread service 2 times before we finally got it, which was right during dinner. .We had appetizers, they were great.We asked if there was bottled water, she said, I don't think so I will check.I clearly saw people at the bar drinking pellegrino. We had to ask her twice for bottled water.And she finally brought us a plastic purified water bottle that looked like you got it in the convenience store. We had to ask twice for extra parmesan cheese. She rarely checked on us and was never to be found until it was time to bring the check. Food has always been delicious.But tonight, the service totally ruined our dinner.Not sure.If we'll be back when?\n You are spending $200 plus for 2 people. You expect the food to be delicious in the service to be spot on. I would suggest checking out salt restaurant.\n if you haven't.The service is phenomenal as well as the food. read more

We dine here regularly at the bar. We've tried most of the menu and everything is always great. Stephanie usually takes care of us and she's amazing! Looking for a nice evening out give it a try you won't be disappointed. read more

Had reservations right at open because we had a scheduled event to get to. We gave ourselves 2 hours with a party of 6 to have dinner and get to our event, (7 miles away). There were 4 other tables including another table of 6 that arrived half an hour after us. We waited for an hour and a half and still hadn't received our food. We had told the server upon arrival that we had an event to get to and checked in with her twice for a status update. After 90 minutes we told her to just bill us for the 3 drinks we had and we would be leaving. The final straw was the party of 6 that arrived after us were served their appetizers and meal before we received anything. The server hid in the kitchen because she didnt want to deal with dropping the ball, no manager came out, I havent received a follow up call, no resolution. I can only state that in working in customer service for multiple decades, the greatest insult was the complete disregard for even an acknowledgement. Ignorance to an issue that occurring in your establishment doesnt make it go away, it only creates a clientele that will never come back and wont hesitate to express to others their terrible experience. We didnt ask for compensation or a discount, only recognition that something fell through the cracks. I would recommend the ownership invest in training their leadership on conflict resolution and how to get their kitchen to operate with expedition when necessary. I fear this type of atmosphere is the reason the business continues to see a decline in loyalty and sales. Hopefully they can course correct, but in spite of that possible effort, I will never return as a patron. read more

Franchesco's Ristorante, located in Rockford, Illinois hosted our wedding on June 7th, 2025. Kim Salomone was are wedding planner/coordinator for our big day!! Kim and I stayed in touch for all the planning over a period of five months. We flew to Rockford for the tasting a month before the wedding. The food was amazing!! The decorations of the Galleria Room were stunning and beautiful!!! I was amazed at the creativity and love that showed throughout the whole process!! Kim was great to work with and was eager to please every step of the process!! Kim also made our wedding cake!!! It was absolutely gorgeous and delicious!!! our family and guests were very impressed with all the detail of the wedding!!!! We were also married on their beautiful patio!!! It was decorated to perfection which carried over to the reception!!! If you are plannin/ no of someone in the Rockford, Illinois area, Franchesco's is the best!!!! Ron & Peggy Kosch read more

Great food and excellent service. Francesco's can't be beat for everyday or special dining events. We've had two funeral luncheons at the main location in Rockford. Everyone complimented us on the quality of the food served and the kind helpful staff. These were very sad times for our family and this meant a lot to us. read more

To start the overall experience was very good and the ambiance was very very intimate and romantic. We started with the calamari which was delicious and it was the first calamari I've had that wasn't chewy. Bread with olive oil was fantastic, and I had a Cesar salad which they nailed except the croutons were a bit greasy. My boyfriend had the linguine Charlie, shrimp was slightly overcooked but overall good, pasta and sauce was pretty underwhelming but still decent. I had the seafood risotto, it was good but the crab, lobster, and shrimp were overcooked however the scallops were perfect. Risotto itself was very good but it was missing the wow factor I expected. I would definitely try it again but overall the entrees were really missing the wow factor for the price. Service felt inattentive but we feel like it was appropriately so because it was a more fine dining experience and I think more than anything it was just something we weren't used to. I would absolutely try this again but it is not something I would make a special trip for. read more

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I am literally obsessed with Franchescos. Best food in town. Wonderful workers. Great variety for the menu. Wonderful servers, hosts, bartenders, anything and everything!!! 10000% please go here. read more

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Was having a wedding, wanted it catered. Decided on franchescos cause the food is good. They couldn't have cared less about us. Terrible communication, no assistance. The vibe was something close to, "oh you would like to order food from us? Gee I don't know, maybe. We will try but, youre going to have to figure it out. We are really busy with other customers. Your $900 order really isn't that important to us" I am giving 2 stars instead of 1 for the simple fact the food is good. Cant take anything away from that but a complete nightmare experience of emails riddled with emojis and unexplainable exclamation points. No assistance. Treat the customers like they are a bother to them. Delivery of food was careless, and sloppy. My call history has 17 outgoing calls to franchescos and 1 incoming. That pretty much says it all. Details below. Wouldn't order from there again if it was free. I submitted a catering inquiry on the website on or about April 15th for my wedding which was to take place on May 18th. It was 20 people at a private residence approximately 2.3 miles from the restaurant or 6min(according to google). On April 19th I received a response asking a few basic questions: number of people, location, and what kind of menu we were looking for etc. I responded immediately with those details and also asked if they were able to deliver the order and also if there were any staff that could be hired to serve the food like is sometimes available for catering events. 2 days later, having not heard back from them, I asked if there were any steak or beef options available since they were not on the catering menu. The next day, now April 23rd, they responded suggesting I order off their catering menu and that since my event was on a Saturday, even though it was still weeks away, it would be "difficult to find someone to deliver and/or service staff to work an offsite event. We could look into catering steaks as an option" Okay? Look into it. This is a catering inquiry. Im not looking to hear 'good question' in response to my inquiry. They then went on to say to look at the catering menu, which I had clearly already done. I responded an hour later stating that delivery was a big deal to us so I would like a yes or no. I gave the address again and pointed out that it was very close. I was also fine with no serving staff, that was not a deal breaker, but delivery was. It's a small wedding we are putting together ourselves, I didn't want people picking up food in their suits and dresses. The response the next day was "Awesome! Please let me know if you have any other questions". If youre following along, I haven't had a single question answered to this point. Also, I am already done with them at this point, however my bride was going crazy with everything else. We had already picked out an entire menu with the question of steak hanging out there and decided we were going to see this through with Franchesco's. If it was up to me I would have cut it off right there. So after the Cool story bud answer to my last email, I called the restaurant. Was told to call back and ask for XXX, the person YYY I had been emailing with was not there. Called the next day and spoke to XXX who I later found out is an owner or partner... not sure which but a very high on the food chain member ok. I express to her that Im not feeling so confident about their handling so far. She tells me in summary they have been very busy. Taking orders, collecting money for them and delivering food I am assuming. Exactly what I am trying to do Its now April 29th roughly two weeks from my initial inquiry. No questions answered, a menu I had already picked from sent to me and no answer on delivery. Also, no assistance, suggestions or guidance in placing an order. Its not like we haven't been corresponding, I cant explain it. I email saying I have the order together, except for the prime rib that is hanging out there. I again ask about delivery, and how should I place the order, do they want me to email, call what. No response, days are going by. I call again. Same thing, gotta talk to so and so blah blah blah. Another day or 2 goes by call again. Get XXX on the line. She suggests the "possibility" of ordering prime rib for my event. I say, "sounds good. What is the price" she doesn't know and will call me back. Couple more days go by and still no price or confirmation on the availability of the prime rib that they had mentioned. Why mention it if you don't know how much it cost or if I can have it at all? No call back. It is now MAY 7TH ! I have called so many times ive lost track at this point. I email YYY "I would like to place my order today but I am still waiting to hear from you or XXX about the availability of prime rib as an option." read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - No idea what this is. Something wrapped in pancetta. didnt order - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

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They make the BEST olde Fashioned in town! Secondly their spaghetti and meatballs is probably the best thing on their menu. It's the most incredible spaghetti I've ever had! read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - Update needed! First off they make THE BEST old fashioned in town! Secondly ALWAYS order the meatballs and spaghetti! - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

Had dinner here tonight and had a great meal. Ordered the special salad, filet, tortellini, salmon bites, bruschetta, lasagna, and finished the meal with the tiramisu and almond cake and everything was excellent. Service was top notch and the hand crafted cocktails were perfectly mixed. Maybe one of the best Italian meals that I have had in a long time. read more

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So I travel quite a bit for work and blessed to eat a lot of different food all over the US. Francesco's is definitely one of my favorite restaurants with incredible food and awesome service. Benny is the proprietor and was just amazing to chat with. The menu has great variety so it can appeal to everyone as well. I had the Chilean Miso Sea Bass, Shrimp Charlie, and this tomato relish bruschetta type dish. All were superb with the most surprisingly delish being the tomato relish which is totally out not my normal ordering zone but I loved it! If you are in the Rockford area you have to make Francesco's a destination! read more

Definitely great food!!! You pay slightly more for great service and delicious dishes, well worth it!

Not worth the time or effort for thanksgiving was a totally disappointment what I paid for a plate I wouldn't pay 10 dollars for much less that they charge read more

My elderly uncle and aunt went there to celebrate their anniversary on Tuesday. I'm out of state and wanted to surprise them with a dessert. I called it in and gave my credit card number. I described what they looked like and the hostess called me back to say she had located them per my description. They never received the dessert I payed for. I called the manager the next day to asked that the charge be removed from my card since they didn't receive the dessert. The manager was refused to remove it saying they couldn't be sure who my uncle and aunt were! I will now have to dispute it with my card company! very poor customer service, don't go there! read more

I have to say the place is explicit management is great the best service that anyone can ask for.. the quality in presentation given makes this place have more the 5 star... family friendly or date with a love one I have to say the food is marvelous, from the calamari to there lobster soup to there appetizers.. definitely recommend and will drive 1 hour again to come and visit this awesome place read more

Visiting Rockford heard about this restaurant went here with 12 friends everything was terrific I had blackened salmon which came with spinach and apples and potatoes and I ordered a Caesar salad and everything was great my friends ordered a steak one of them ordered card everybody ordered something else and everybody loved their meals this was a terrific place and an easy five star with great service read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - Myself and 12 of my friends - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

The food is always delicious. My unusual order is the salmon and I get the tiramisu for dessert which is to die for!if it's your birthday they put a firework on your free dessert read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - Tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

My daughter's bridal shower at Fresco's was so ill prepared, that they decided they can't do them anymore. Tables had no linens originally, and we were told "Franchesco's must have taken them for a wedding." They finally found some, much too big for the tables, and brought them out all wrinkled, carrying them like something from an unmade bed. My friends and I had to move a heavy table to cover up wax stains they couldn't remove from the carpet. Plus, no apology. Ever. Avoid Fresco's and Franchesco's. Customer service is deplorable. read more

Top of my list for best wedding venues in this region. They can accommodate small up to large groups up to 400 I think. A must see for weddings. read more

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We had the luxury of being at this lovely place on Christmas Eve. Perfect table, perfect waiter, (I love when a restaurant hires proper staff then trains them well. It's not rocket science, ya know!?) well executed food and the most delectable tiramisu. OMG! I can't wait to go back. I highly recommend! read more

Last summer we took my Brother in law and our family here because so many of our friends raved about your place we were all extremely disappointed. The pizza looked and tasted like a frozen one. My brother in law had your spaghetti and meatballs and they were as dense has a hockey puck . A do over would be nice the best was the bruschetta . read more

The Easter Brunch was amazing today at Franchesco's Ristorante! Everything from made-to-order egg omelets to fettuccine Alfredo prepared in the Pecorino Romano wheel ...not to mention the Prime Rib, Lamb & Ham carving station, Lasagna, Eggplant & Chicken Parm, fresh fish and all the delectable homemade desserts! Everything tasted delicious!!! Easter blessings to all... See you for your Mother's Day Brunch! read more

Extremely over-rated. The calamari was cold. My filet was the only good part of the meal. The lobster bisque (which of course is extra) did not contain any lobster. My husband's Delmonico steak was very fatty. Not at all worth the $116 plus tip read more

A perfect place for date night. My husband and I were in town from the Chicago suburbs for a local concert. The ambiance was perfect and we loved the modern decor. The live piano music was the perfect touch. We had 2 fish dishes, the pistachio crusted salmon and Asian sea bass. Both were superb. Coffee and the NY cheesecake were delicious. We will definitely go back next time we are in town. read more

Easter brunch ok. Lots of choices. But isn't there anyone in the kitchen that can season food? Most of it was very bland. Prime rib not very tender although it looked beautiful. And again, bland. Salt and pepper at the table did not help much for anything. If you HAVE to eat low sodium, you may like this food! read more

Beware. This business was cited for not following covid guidelines While they have some great entrees its not worth the risk of getting covid read more

Franchesco's Ristorante - Italian Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

So called one of the best restaurants in Rockford but they can't even get your order right