Francescos Ristorante & Pizzeria

Reviews 3

JU

Julie Roman

Seeing all of these wonderful reviews makes me even more frustrated with the service we received last night. I dont generally review things, but our experience was so exceptionally terrible that I felt I needed to share. I went to Francescos last night with a group of five adults, myself included, and our friends 5 year old daughter. The host told us it would be about a 15 minute wait, as there was a table of 6 whod nearly finished their meal and had already received their check. None of that was true; the table was actually in the process of ordering dessert, they hadnt been given their check, and it was closer to an hour when we were finally seated. That was frustrating, but obviously not a dealbreaker, as we stuck around anyway. After being seated, though, it was still another 10 minutes before the server finally came to our table. We put our orders in immediately, but it still took another HOUR before our food arrived. One of my friends had ordered spaghetti and meatballs, which youd think would be a staple impossible to mess up, but she sent it back after two bites because it was brutally over-salted. The server offered to get her something else, but my friend - the mother of the 5 year old, who was by now starting to get sleepy from the long night - didnt want to spend the extra time waiting. Our server had apologised more than once for our wait, and assured us he would "take care" of us when the meal was finished. I know that as a server his power is somewhat limited in terms of offering compensation, but there was, so far as we could tell, no effort made whatsoever. No offers of a complimentary dessert, glass of wine, anything. We ended up asking for the manager ourselves, and his arrival was really what pushed the evening over the edge and drove me to leave this review. The "manager" obviously had no idea of our situation, which seems unlikely as I would think any potential problem table wouldve been communicated to management much earlier in the evening. Again, at this point we had been in the restaurant nearly 3 hours. When my friend mentioned the saltiness of her dish, he expressed surprise, stating that there was not even salt in this dish, and asked if she had added any Parmesan. I hardly know where to start with that. Really, in your spaghetti and meatballs, you use NO salt? You dont salt the pasta water, use salt in your red sauce, or to flavour your meat? FORGIVE ME IF I SEEM SOMEWHAT SCEPTICAL. And then to ask if SHE had possibly been responsible for oversalting her OWN DISH is just adding insult to injury. For the record, no, none of us added any additional seasoning to our dishes. But thanks for asking. Essentially, his response to us was that he was sorry, that we definitely should have been offered some kind of compensation, and that he appreciated us bringing these problems to his attention. All of that is great lip service, but does absolutely nothing to resolve anything. Even an offer of some kind of gift certificate wouldve been something, although as I have no intentions of returning it wouldve been an empty gesture. But a gesture, at that point, wouldve been appreciated. ANYTHING wouldve been appreciated. I can only assume that the man we spoke to was, maybe, an assistant manager or shift leader, someone without the authority to offer us anything more than platitudes. Because otherwise, there is no excuse for the complete lack of care in his response to us. To be clear, since anyone who might be reading this doesnt know me: were not difficult customers. Were not hard-to-please people, and were not rude. We were polite to our server and every one of us tipped him his 20%, because our problems were not his doing and were not spiteful. But, that said, we still had an absolutely awful experience. What shouldve been a nice evening out with friends became a 3-hour ordeal, with the added complication of a young child who didnt understand why we were having to wait so long for everything. And unfortunately, none of us adults had an answer to that, either.

AR

ariz zizou

Worst service ever. Worst food ever. Your waiter calls you names and may steal your wallet when you are not satisfied with your service . I own two companies national and international. It was my sisters special birthday dinner the food was Awful. We complained about their over priced special that tasted terrible, grease on pasta doesnt go well with anything. they hated it.The food absolutely sucked. when you are not happy with your meal you are treated worst then anything you can imagine. You are called names. These are not restaurant owners they are bunch of jerks running a food company. You never know who owns, who cooks, or who manages especially if you have a problem with your meal. They charged me a meal I never ate anyhow half way on the way home I realized that my wallet was missing. I knew I left it on the table and I was sitting to a corner where only the restaurants server can see me big with the manager to whom we complained. I came back to the restaurant looking for my missing wallet. The manager, the owner and bunch of the servers stood outside and told me we have no idea what you are talking about. They refused to even check which made me earie. I called the cops just to hear the main manager shouting at me and yelling out loud get your drunken ass out of here. No wallet is here for you. Funny the only 2 drinks I had werethe two glasses of red wine at their restaurant.. I am a single mom. Most of you in WP and Maitland know me. I have been in business for years. The night I went there was the same night I ran a fundraiser in my company to support 92 families with their children. I got treated like a criminal and got called names. Got rubbed, had a bad meal, and on top of that bunch of men that manage and own the restaurant gathered to laugh and call me All kind of degrading words. Zero class to these men. I called my attorney and maybe I can get some justice back. I know for fact I cant get my wallet back. But, I dare anyone to complain at this restaurant at the quality of food or the service and I promise your beautiful evening will turn into an evening of hell and a nightmare . And the funny part it is our restaurant is so busy we dont care about your personal experience. Shame on you Franscescos A Yikes if a place.

MI

Mikrovision Unlimited

Appalling customer service! Ive had 2 lunches and 2 dinners here in the past year. Im afraid Francescos may have finally hit the bottom of a steady decline. Upon arriving at our reserved time of 8pm last Friday night, our party of 4 was shoehorned into a cramped table placed right next to the servers silverware/prep station. We began our dinner with 1 simple pasta, 1 Calzone, 1 plate of mussels and a salad. Our party sat at an empty table for an hour...waiting. Jenny, the General Manager, eventually arrived empty handed with no explanation or apology for the delay. Dissatisfied with the service, my brother headed to the open kitchen for further inquiry. From our perspective, Francesco was in the midst of a complete meltdown, his fellow chefs standing stunned and shell shocked. Jenny, the General Manager, was avoiding the scene, as were all the servers. Were we in an episode of Hells Kitchen? We were not entertained. Our plates arrive. The pasta was too salty, the mussels were bland, and the salad was limp and uninspired. My father really enjoyed the Calzone, lucky guy. Jenny, the General Manager, made a repeat visit to our table for no apparent reason, because we voiced our dissatisfaction once again and received nothing but a glazed look and a vapid smile. Did I mention, it was my parents 50th Anniversary dinner? The only real bright spot of the evening was our server, Brooke. She did the best she could with a hopeless scenario, and kept her cool throughout. Thank you for your service, Brooke. Our party left the restaurant hungry. My mothers back covered with the dander of bread crumbs and grated cheese, her temples aching from the sound of servers perilously banging and clanging dishes overhead for an hour and a half. We got out of there just in time to quickly grab a meal at another fine local pizzeria that evening and I suggest you do the same. I have attempted to contact Francescos through their website, and after 7 days...still not received a reply.