The best thing about dining at Frankie & Benny's is the surroundings.
It does a good job of evoking the sense of a 1930-40's Italian-American Diner type of venue,
which is pretty good for a franchise restaurant, it doesn't feel too plasticy or mass produced. The staff are polite and the service is good.
When we arrived the waiter offered us some garlic bread to eat whilst we looked at the menus, I expected this to be complimentary, but it turned up on the bill ('you should never assume :-) The garlic bread
wasn't really bread at all, it was some kind of thin pancake with
garlic-butter smeared all over it, needless to say it wasn't very nice.
We ordered:-
Hot dog got what we expected!, Pizza On the same pancake thing as the garlic bread,
very little sauce or cheese :-/ I know proper Italian pizzas generally utilize thinner bases,
but I've eaten in many other Italian restaurants and their bases were never this thin.
Calzone probably the best thing we got, still using the same base ?!?
Carbonara, I would say probably the worst I've ever tasted
(and I've tasted a few!), it was stodgy, greasy and the ingredients seemed low quality,
it left an oily texture and taste in my mouth.
The food was sub-standard especially for the price per meal, but it all arrived at the table hot
and the whole thing came in at around £40 (just over!) Which, while not breaking the bank
was way too much for this quality of food. Two small Cokes came to over a fiver,
which seems a bit much.
There are plenty of places around that offer better quality food for a lot less than Frankie & Benny's does.
We overheard other customers complaining about their food to the staff, We probably should have too but as we have no intention of eating there again I guess it doesn't really matter.
In summary, not impressed with the food or the price but, if you like going to restaurants just to look around then this is the place for you. :) read more