This place is amazing! We have a group of about 50 people, and the service was spectacular. Our glasses were rarely empty, the food was prompt. Great job team! read more

Mio Modo - Italian Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

When we walked into Francesca's By the River, we knew it was the perfect spot for our Rehearsal Dinner and we were even more sold after tasting the food. Really, the food at Francesca's is delicious; anything you get on the menu tastes great. In addition, the setting was gorgeous (we booked the Fireplace Room) and a perfect fit for our large guest count. Once we booked the Fireplace Room, we worked closely with Gabriela to ensure all of the details were covered; she was so easy to work with throughout the planning process! The day of the dinner, the servers/bartenders were wonderful; they even helped us bring in our heavy boxes. Service during the event was stupendous and we had an awesome time! Big thanks to Gabriela and everyone at Francesca's for a great night! read more

We could not have asked for a better place to kick start our wedding weekend than, Francesca's. We knew we took our chances with the weather having a May wedding and unfortunately the Friday before the big day was 55 degrees and rainy outside. We had a Gazebo Pavilion rented down the street to have the rehearsal, but it was miserable outside and Gabriella, who is the nicest person you could work with, offered to let us use the room we were having our rehearsal dinner in to run through the wedding. They set it up to give us enough space to move around and were accommodating to any and all of our needs. The service was out of this world during cocktail hour and dinner and we cannot rant and rave more on how delicious the food was. We chose to do the Bruschetta and Calamari for appetizers, Cesar Salad, Penne del Pastore, and Pollo al Limone for entrees and the Tiramisu for dessert. The food was so delicious and everyone loved the space that we were in. Please do yourself a favor and book your rehearsal dinner or any other special event at Francesca's. They know what they are doing and everyone will walk away happy and full. read more

Our lunch at this Francesca's really hit the spot. My family has been going to their locations for two decades. Nice staff, attentive. I went crazy on bread but also really enjoyed our beef carpaccio. read more

Nice place. Great service. Nice ambiance. Unfortunately, the menu is absolutely tiny. Not much to offer, compared to other Francesca restaurants and much less than other Italian restaurants. read more

I really wanted this place to be a 5, and for the aesthetics and service it certainly is. They have really done a nice job remodeling the old Francesca's. They have more than doubled the space at the bar, and every seat was taken...which was nice to see. The bar area was pretty loud and is situated in the middle of the restaurant, so not sure about anyone who was trying to have a more intimate dinner experience. I was there with my family, and we were seated in the back room. Much quieter, almost a different restaurant from the front. As stated, the service was excellent. Unfortunately, to a person, everyone felt the food was fresh but had no "personality" to it. I had a chicken dish, which was recommended by the young man making mozzarella at our table (nice touch BTW). The chicken itself was good quality, but it was basically breaded and lightly fried chicken sitting atop a bed of pasta and a light tomato sauce. No sauce or cheese on the chicken itself. It had a hint of lemon taste but was basically high-end chicken tenders with limited sauce. I should mention the portions were generous, enough for some leftovers The next day my wife melted some cheese and marinara over it, and it was a very tasty chicken parmigiana. She also had a chicken dish and felt it was also bland. My daughter felt the same with her pasta dish. I am happy to have a good quality restaurant in the area, but IMO it is not up to par with the competing Italian restaurants in St. Charles and Geneva. In summary, good quality food, but the flavors are on the boring side. read more

Last minute decision to eat out. Thank you Open Table for finding the availability. Table wasn't the best, but considering we made the rsvp at 5:30 for 7 pm Saturday night the bar area table was fine with us. Food was outstanding. Husband had Walleye and I had squash pasta. Oh my, words cannot tell you how good the food was. You have more than enough, no appetizer needed. We did share the dessert special which was light, flavorful and very tasty. When the place is full, it's a bit noisy so if you have hearing issues, I'd go a bit earlier and avoid the crowd. Staff is attentive and truly interested in making sure we had a pleasant evening. When our waiter was busy there were numerous others that checked into be sure we had cocktails and clear the table. We'll look forward to our next visit. read more

Great food and atmosphere! All the usual great staff are back - Mary Beth, Michelle, and, Lisa are always awesome. Glad they are back.

Great experience at Mio Modo. The food was excellent. The service and staff was amazing. Everyone was very friendly and will be back very soon. read more

Francesca's never fails to amaze, they have sweet staff and menu prices you can't beat. We started with Calamari and it was 11$ for a huge portion, the two of us almost got full just on that. We continued to order off the lunch menu and our items were hot and deliciously fresh! If our waitress wasn't checking up on us due to the other tables, the bus boy(man) was. He was so sweet and made sure we were all set! We finished with a banana bread dessert with gelato. It was amazing! Can't wait to come back again! read more

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This is one of my absolute favorite restaurants to go to. Perfect for a relaxing date night or any special occasion. I have been going to Francesca's for years and have NEVER been disappointed. The food is always outstanding. I have also been lucky enough to always have Mary Beth as my waitress, she is one of the best I've ever encountered. So personable and friendly, she always makes me feel like family. I can't say enough good enough good things. read more

Delicious food as always. Mary Beth is a blast and a fantastic waitress. Always a great experience

This is the Best restaurant in Saint Charles! The bartenders (Lisa and melissa) are the best anywhere! Staff friendly, food so good and drinks spectacular! They have weekly happy hours with excellent choices and specials too! If you haven't been here get on over and try! read more

The staff and management are superior to any local restaurant. When you walk in you're welcomed with smiling faces and greeted as if you're family. The food is outstanding and comes out promptly and exactly as ordered. You can tell the chef takes pride in his work and makes every visit memorable. We've celebrated dates, wedding receptions, baby showers and everything in between at this location and will continue coming back for life. Thank you for all the memories and delicious food over the years. read more

Hands down, one of my WORST dining experiences in my life. I'm a HUGE fan of Francesca's in the city and have dined at three of their locations. I was really looking forward to a company dinner here on Friday but the entire experience was a failure. If you read my other posts, I seldom care about service - I'm there for the food. But when the lack of service impedes on my dining experience, then I'm completely unforgiving. Granted - we were a group of 19 people but we weren't difficult at all. We all wondered if our server's lack of attention to us was due to the fact that her gratuity of 18% is already automatically added to the bill? First and foremost - my biggest complaint is that in our THREE HOUR dining experience, our server came around twice to ask about drinks. All of us sat there drinkless most of the evening. It was a Christmas party - we had an unlimited budget for wine and beer and we only ordered two rounds! This is not entirely our servers fault but also the manager's fault (although she should have asked for help) as there was no bartender on duty for a full dining room in the back! Aside from our group, there were at least another 10 tables and NO BARTENDER? Each server was responsible for making drinks too. We made these reservations WELL IN ADVANCE - there is NO excuse as to why no one was around to help out. Second complaint - this is something I took for granted but I definitely am acutely aware of now after my experience here. Even at the most simple of restaurants like Chili's or Applebys, the coordination between server and waitstaff is impeccable. Ever notice at these restaurants and even higher end restaurants, the server knows what dish is yours when it is time to serve? Remarkably, the dish you ordered lands in front of you without anyone asking? Well at this Francesca's location, we had about 4 servers come around with arms full of hot dishes, screaming out the dish and asking us to identify what dish belonged to whom.... At restaurant at this level should have better experience with this! As I mentioned earlier, when the service impedes on the experience with the food - I'm unforgiving. My husband ordered their special, a $33.95 beef tenderloin, cooked medium-rare topped with morel mushrooms and a reduction. Hmm...no wine. He had NO WINE to enjoy with his meal? We asked the busboy TWICE to get our server so we could order drinks. He either didn't like our table (I don't know why he wouldn't like us) or he didn't understand me or my husband when we asked. We just saw him walk back to the bar area and though he stood next to our waitress, nothing was said to her. I ordered the Tilapia which is the fish I order every time I go to Francesca's - it was just "ok". Most everyone said their food was good but not outstanding. It's such a shame because I love Francesca's on Taylor. The last straw in dining experience was really an awkward one. My husband ordered the second bottle of wine (about two hours into our meal and we had been sitting empty for about 1 hour and 20 minutes by now). The waitress exuded lack of experience with this move. Here's how it worked: The waitress came around with the bottle for my husband to taste. She poured a taste, hubby tries it, give the nod to go ahead. Meanwhile, the wine glass he had been using was still in front of him. She pours everyone else a drink, then pours the wine into his FIRST glass of wine, then pours the balance of the TASTE into the FIRST glass of wine!!! and whisks the taste glass away. Extremely poor wine etiquette! This entire dining experience left such a bad taste in my mouth that I will never come here again. read more

I will not ever be returning to Francesca's by the River due to a very lackluster first experience. I went to grab lunch with my family on a Sunday. The bartender / server we had was pretty much incompetent, the whole place seemed disheveled. It literally took us 40 minutes to get our food orders in. A member of our party explained to the server she had some food allergies, this request was never communicated with the chef as there was plenty of dairy in the sauce on her dish. Don't waste your time with these place, there are plenty of better options in the area. read more

It was a while ago but in this case it's not the food that prompted me to give a bad review, it was the overall experience. The food was OK at best but I always believe that a kitchen can have a bad night & if I enjoy myself otherwise I'm always willing to return for a second but not in this case. The location is far from being acceptable as a romantic restaurant so if you're trying to impress a date or loved one, blind fold them before getting here. The street looks like there should be a junk yard, a liquor store & a gun shop lined up right next to the restaurant. OK, that's nitpicking but it's a bad first impression. We were 20 minutes early but we had to wait 30 minutes past our reservation time. When I asked the hostess why such a long wait when there were clearly open tables she said that the owner is expecting a last minute party and those tables were reserved. I asked when the party called in because we had reserved a table for two, two weeks earlier. Hostess apologized and was quite embarrassed as the line of people waiting for their tables was beginning to grow. I asked to speak to manager or owner. She went and found a man named Helmut. Helmut? Must be a real authentic Italian Restaurant. I asked Helmut why we can't be seated when there are many tables open. He basically said the same thing about a POSSIBLE party coming in any minute. The couple behind me began to complain that nobody should have to wait for a POSSIBLE party when they have definite reservations. Helmut, the owner & businessman replied,"It's my restaurant & I'll seat who I want when I want", then he stormed off. Don't know why I stayed when everyone behind me walked out. But I stayed & ate an average meal for above average prices. Wait staff was wonderful, hostess was great & apologetic but the ownership...they should be embarrassed. So remember, if you go there make sure Helmut is having his friend dropping by because you won't get seated when you are supposed to. read more

We have been to Francesca's a few times over the past 5 years and we have had a great experience each time. Our most recent visit was on Easter and we were delighted with the buffet and the variety of items from which to select. Everything was very tasty and there was really something for every taste, including salads, and brunch items. We went back a few times for more items and even dessert items. Some standouts from the menu were the salmon, chicken romano, meatballs and prime rib. The shrimp, salads, and lentil were also outstanding as were the prosciutto and romano cheese. From the dessert options our favorite was the red velvet cake and macaroons. The price for the buffet was adequate for the quality of the service, the food, and drinks. We highly recommend this restaurant for special occasions such as Easter. We may return for Mother's Day or an evening to dine. Great atmosphere! Thank you! read more

I give this Italian restaurant afor the food and for the checks at the end of your dinner. I love their Margherita pizza and roasted chicken. The deserts are very delicious too. I been to all the other Francesca's too. Elmhust will make our pasta al dente. The on in Naperville will make my requests a snap I like my pizza with extra basil and fresh garlic delicioso read more

I ate here on Sunday for my BFs cousins suprise 50th b-day party! We had the back room reserved and sucessfully suprised the hell outa Teri, it was great!I wasnt excited for the food because I have had Francescas in Elmhurst before and I wasnt impressed at all but this Francescas was different! I'm going to start off by saying that the waitress (mad I didnt catch her name) was extremely helpful and did a really great job of guiding the party and serving the food. Now to the fun part, We started off with apps. Bruschetta and Calamari. The bruschetta was so freaking good! The mozarrella on top was sort of ground up instead of the usual slab of cheese on top.I had like 4 of them! I asked around and the calamari was also top notch. We then were seated.The seating set up was awesome, there was like 25 or so of us and they set up the tables in a giant rectangle so we could all sit together and still see each other. The first round of food came out, it was a ceasar salad and fresh baked bread.The entrees that were served were a penne pasta with chicken and a cream sauce, and lemon chicken with potatoes was the second entree.I couldnt dine on any of this and the nice waitress I was talking about before was so sweet she got me a house salad and had the chefs make me a special vegetable linguine with oil.All of it was wonderful! I was super stuffed. The only downfall I would say is if I were to go back there really arent any vegetarian choices on the menu for me.All the sauces are made with vegetable stock so I would have to be a pain in the butt and request a special dish again. read more

Why does this place only have four stars?!?! This is some of the best Italian food around. Gluten free menu is great, appetizers are great, restaurant is great and wait staff it great. They do tend to over book- so I don't often go with a group or on holidays but for just a regular occasion this place takes the cake. Gluten free calamari appetizer is FABULOUS if you love seafood like I do. read more

My brother recently moved out to St. Charles so I've had the opportunity to extend my reviews further west. One of the first places I tried was Francesca's, and I'm glad I did. Though it looks fairly small from the outside (almost like a small corner diner), it is larger on the inside. I quickly learned how popular of a destination Francesca's is for local St. Charleans(?), though the atmosphere is still comfortable and not overwhelming. The food was great from top to bottom. The highlight of the meal being my entrée (you shouldn't be surprised), the ravioli tre funghetti (three little mushroom ravioli in Italian). It was wild mushroom-filled ravioli in a porcini mushroom cream sauce, drizzled with parmigiano cheese and truffle oil (!!!). This may be slightly excessive for the non-mushroom fanatic, but I loved every bite of it. read more

It's been a couple months so it's time to update my Francesca's by the River review. Sorry, but I'm going to repeat myself. The food is amazing. If you don't see what you want on their menu, ask they may be able to make it for you. Mary Beth always does it for me. Speaking of Mary Beth, she is THE BEST!!! When you go, ask for her and you will not be disappointed. This past week I had Rigatoni with homemade Pesto Sauce and the Francesca's Salad. Both were so good. If you're in St. Charles and you don't try Francesca's you are just plain missing out. read more

Tried Mia Francesca's in the city and hated it. I went out for my cousin's birthday and he wanted to go here. Since it wasn't my choice, I went. The food tasted nice and the drinks were good and the prices weren't bad. But the next day 4 out of the 6 of us woke up with different scales of food poisoning. So no matter what was good that night, my opinion drastically changed when I spent my Easter sick. Thanks a lot Francesca's. read more

Mio Modo - Chicken with potatoes - Italian Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

I dined there with my family once and will never return. One of the dishes we ordered came with 3 tiny potato wedges and a piece of chicken; the same fare could have been purchased at KFC, I couldn't believe it! I also found a bug in my glass... for flavor, maybe? Definitely not worth the money. Go to any of the pubs featured along Main Street and you can get better food for half of the price! read more

We went to Francesca's for my birthday. We will not be back. My gluten free pasta dish was not good. I ate a very small portion of it. The vegetables were barely cooked and the dish had no flavor at all. I took the rest home for my husband to try. He said it did not taste good and threw the rest of it out. I don't normally write about reviews but I feel very strongly about my feelings. I told the server that I am unable to eat dairy when I ordered. As a birthday treat they brought me a cream puff filled with ice cream! I could not eat any of it. We ate there during restaurant week and were pleased. Sadly we will not be back read more

My bosses bought me lunch here on my first day of work. My coworker goes her often and thought it would a great first experience for me. It was awesome! The service was amazing, by far the best service I have had in a very long time. The hostess that sat us must have been a manager or something, she was totally running the show. She even called us "pretty ladies." - how flattering. We were sat at the front at a 4 Top, the table setting was paper, but it wasn't like "its okay to draw on paper." It was nice clean, thick, crisp paper, with the typical setting of water glasses. A food runner quickly filled our water glasses and brought us bread and olive oil. The bread was fresh and warm. The olive oil was good quality and tasty. The menu is hand written daily, which shows you that they always use fresh ingredients. For an entree I had rigatoni pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and spinach. It was awesome. The pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce was light, but had a perfect salt and tomato ratio. It was so good. I ate the entire plate. My coworker had pasta with shrimp, I honestly can't remember what was in it exactly but she loved it. The food runners were so great, they were constantly filling our water glasses, and asking if we wanted more bread. Our server was attentive but not overly attentive since the she had the runners to help her. The place was pact for lunch on a Wednesday. Our meal lasted a little less than an our which was good since we only had an hour for lunch. Our bill couldn't have been over $30 including tip. For Christmas my boyfriend and his brother bought their parents a gift certificate here. When I went to purchase it the same hostess was there and just as pleasant as ever. I would 100% eat here again and recommend it to anyone! read more

Francesca's is one of the things I miss most from my current displacement from the Midwest. A beautiful building tastefully decorated, Francesca's is perfect for a date night. It can be a bit loud as they can get very busy, so maybe not the best place for a first date. Food is always delicious. The Bruschetta Tre Colore is by far the best bruschetta I have ever eaten- and it is consistently that good. Their menu is handwritten and changes often. Their descriptions are very thorough which makes trying something new less scary. Stay for desert! The flourless chocolate cake is wonderful paired with a cappuccino. Definitely one of my favorite places in the suburbs. read more

It was a first time experience at Francesca's for me and it was a good one. It was National Pasta Day, and the restaurant was having a $6 pasta deal so I had to make use out of that. I ordered the pasta with ricotta. Oh my goodness. It was one of the best pasta dishes I've had. The portion was great for the price. The sauce had so much flavor, and looked amazing. Also, the service was slow at first but after we ordered, the service got faster. All in all, I would definitely return and try the other dishes. read more

I went their with my girlfriend at the recommendation of a St. Charles local. We loved it! Staff was friendly and prompt. Food was great and the portions were huge. Bruschetta with garlic, roast sweet onions, goat cheese and asparagus was amazing! Their wine list i sok - prices for wine were a bit high but not crazy. To other reviewwers points - yes it isn't on the river. The place is relatively small but i did not find it too crowded like others had - i did not feel ontop of other customers nor did I hear their conversations (unless I was trying :) ). Our server was great - friendly and so ontop of things. I will definitely return to this establishment - most likely frequently. read more

So it's not on the river. Big deal. Francesca's is a fairly nicely decorated place in St. Charles, two blocks away from the town's main drag. However, it was a packed house when we came in for dinner. And it was the "crowded" kind of full. If it's busy in there, it's really, really difficult to hear anyone in your party speak. It's obvious that they try to come as close to legal capacity as possible -- the tables are all very, very close to each other. The service is attentive, although they seemed to back off their politeness when no one in my party ordered wine off the bat. Francesca's menu is a bit limited. Most of the items are run-of-the-mill, which strikes me as odd seeing as they print the menu in-house. This perk doesn't have the customized feel of other places. Their menu looks hurried, with scrunched edits or additions near the demarcations. I ordered their variation of Lemon Chicken, and my mouth frothed at the thought of it. I felt more like a rabid teenager, eager to sink my teeth into Robert Pattinson gossip. And that's how it ended up: an eagerness for ordering rather than for the meal itself, which disappointed. The chicken was piercingly bland. Continually ordering wine helped blunt my Twilight-like food angst which, luckily, made the waitress happier. All-in-all, it's a nice place to go if you're looking for a busy spot to have common appetizers and some wine. There are better places to have an Italian entree though. read more

It's definitely our favorite in St Charles!! We love the hustle and the ambiance of this restaurant! Service.... Always on spot. Drinks...... Yum Food...... Fresh, flavorful and truly can say have never had a bad meal here!!! Fish is one of our favorites and my husband craves their half roasted chicken .... Make reservations and come see what we love, over and over!! read more

I have been to two of the Francesca's franchises around Chicagoland (the other being in West Dundee), and this place is truly a treasure. I have never been disappointed by a meal or by the service I receive here, and I am continually impressed at the relative affordability of Francesca's. It's remarkable that for roughly the same price as you might pay at Olive Garden (gags uncontrollably for several minutes), you can get Italian food of considerably higher caliber. I made my first trip here about 12 years ago, and have been making regular visits a point ever since. read more

I came here for a date night with my boyfriend the day after Thanksgiving. We made reservations but the place was empty so we didn't really need them. I had the ravioli and he had chicken. I thought it was good but it didn't really blow me away. Service was good. We had a gift card so that helped of set the price of the meal. I did enjoy the dessert but unless we had a gift card I probably wouldn't go back. read more

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Looking for nice date spot on a Monday night, we happened upon Francesca's. The space in the restaurant is warm and inviting- dim lighting, white table clothes, brick walls, and a wood-beam roof. We started with the mushroom polenta and it was absolutely delicious (and also my favorite dish of the night). Next we had the pollo arrosto- a roasted half chicken. It was also very nice. The skin was a little crunchy and the inside was moist. We also had the spinach ravioli, which definitely fell short. Boring. The dinner was finished with apple tart served warm and with ice cream. Mmmm. Also, just an FYI- do not park in the lot next door or you may be towed! read more

5 of us came here for dinner on a Sunday evening before a concert in St. Charles. The restaurant was maybe 1/4 full. Our server was attentive, although if I had to complain it took a while before she initially approached us for drinks. We had Bruschetta, which was amazing, and the Carpaccio with Asparagus was simply divine. I could've eaten either of those for my main course and been totally happy. I selected the evening special of Pork Tenderloin medallions with sun dried tomato, mushrooms, and asparagus. It was superb. I was a bit disappointed that there was no starch served with this, just meat and veggies. So, my mom gave me a couple of her potatoes from the baked chicken dish she was eating. My wife's salmon was woefully undercooked, and she had to send it back. 5 minutes later, it was returned to her liking. read more

Had the greatest time last night....the bar area was definitely the place to be! This place has become our regular hangout because the staff as well as the regulars make it such a fun place to be. Food is always on point...service can't be beat...and even when it's packed...they still make us feel so important. It's packed for a reason!!! read more

Mio Modo - Burrata salad...tasted as great as it looks!!! - Italian Near Me - St. Charles, Illinois

This Francesca's remake left us quite disappointed. Nice job on the reno-love the bar relocation to center of main room, and nice upbeat vibe. Unfortunately we were seated in the far back corner of the back room(reserved table at noon on Saturday) Menu is pretentious: 'No Italian bread' brought to table, instead a tiny plate of olives and a hunk of solid Parmesan. When asked the waiter for bread he said "oh we don't serve bread anymore'. Umm if I wanted a keto dinner I wouldn't have chosen Italian.. Francesca's is known for its homemade Italian bread and fresh herbed olive oil, how ridiculous to take that away.. My group of 4 adults found the menu was lacking and over-priced. Most of the pastas were without protein or any type of side, forcing you to order everything ala' carte. Linguine w/clams had the smallest clam shells I've ever seen, a lot of work. The dish was so-so. Disappointing meal, pretentious menu. If you're going strictly to see & be seen, and decor is more important than food then this is for you.. read more

Have been going here for some time. Great service, friendly staff, and most importantly excellent food. They will try to accomodate any request. Gluten free options available. Seafood and pasta are always cooked perfectly. Pasta is served al dente. We will be back read more

I should have reviewed Francesca's right away. Yet again...I was busy. Happily busy, but CrAzY busy. So now, it's time for the highlights. We visited for my Uncle's surprise birthday party, so I only have experience or even saw the large room at the back of the restaurant. Come to think of it, we walked in through a back door, so I don't even know what the front of the restaurant looks like. The room was very clean with plenty of windows. So much so that we had to cover one of the windows at one point to turn down the 'bright' a notch. The food was predetermined by someone else in the family. My thoughts? The quality was a-ok. I wouldn't have necessarily ordered what we ate, so I didn't try everything. The bread was nice and crusty. Read: There were crumbs all over the table in front of me. The pasta was al dente. These are both good things to me. The not so great was the service. It was inconsistent. Some of the staff seemed pleasant and helpful. Some...not so much. Also, the music was just too loud for carrying on a conversation. We tried to get that fixed and succeeded and eventually it changed again. Finally, I don't think they have any parking of their own. If they do, it's limited. We parked in the large lot set back behind the building. It worked. I would definitely give then another whirl with an opportunity to order directly from the menu. Perhaps I'll have something different to report soon. read more