Francis Winifred — Restaurant in Melbourne

I dined at Francis Winfred for breakfast over the weekend and can't express how disappointed I was with both the service and food. To start, we had to waive down a waitress in order to place an order, after sitting around for 20 or so minutes waiting for someone to check on our table or walk past. Upon ordering, we were told we could only order food as it would be faster, then the waitress would be back to take drink orders. We did so, as we weren't given much of a choice. Quite odd as most cafes would take drink orders in the hope you would order another. Approximately 45 minutes later, we followed up another waitress for our food and drinks as nothing had yet arrived and no word from anyone to check on the table. She went to check up on the orders and came back to say that their ordering machine had gone down and they would have to replace the orders. Throughout this we saw numerous takeaway coffees go out and delivery drivers pick up food. We finally got our drinks and it was quite clear the English breakfast tea had been sitting there for too long. It was stone cold and the tannin in the tea was far too strong (clear sign of it sitting for too long!). We had to ask for a new tea as the one provided was undrinkable. Once our food came out, over an hour after ordering, we were again disappointed. The baked eggs were swimming in oil and the pan was stone cold. Again, quite clear that it had been sitting around for too long. The scrambled eggs ordered were also not scrambled, more so swished around in a pan and put on some toast. After asking to speak to the manager, we were told he couldn't come out as he was making coffees and that was more important. We had to press for him to come out to speak to us about the poor quality and wait. It was quite clear the management couldn't care less about their dine in patrons, only focusing on takeaway coffee and delivery services such as Uber Eats. The manager didn't apologise for the experience at all, more so waiting for us to leave so he could get back to making coffees. We spoke to the manager again when paying and he was too focused on making coffees, not rectifying the experience we had. I won't be dining in or ordering from Francis Winifred again. It's clear that their business is run on coffee and delivery orders and take no care for dine in patrons.

Update: it’s quite clear Francis Winifred don’t care about a poor review. They have responded to a number of great reviews and flat out ignored mine. An opportunity for them to acknowledge the poor service has once again...

Rarely do I rate a dining experience the full 5 star food, service and atmosphere. Possibly a case of rose coloured glasses, however highly unlikely, as spade, is a spade. (for reference, sample a couple of my historic reviews & if truth buried in sarcasm is ur thing!) We sat outdoors for our fancy waffle brunch. The day was gorgeous, the breeze was perfect and my company was equally uplifting. Service?... perfecto!! Lovely people passionate about their work. My opinion: atmosphere is sooo reliant upon the pre-requisite of good service, it is created from the moment you walk in the door and are warmly greeted, sat, and promptly served. To me the rest is just decor. Food? refer to the photo provided... empty plates are the best advertisement & absolute proof of appreciation. I could have ordered every item on the menu, just a great mix of cafe favourites, even their toasted sangas looked awesome. We woke up with waffles on our mind and weren't let down ,or disappointed. Almost wish I took a pic as the plates landed, because they looked as good as they tasted hence taking a photo was the last thing on my mind... Coffee (snob) was excellent!! A big thumbs up from my 11yo "burger machine" too!!...

Service is shocking and owners are rude! We ordered a vanilla thickshake, which came out as a milkshake and tasted like plain milk and an iced matcha in a take away cup which was served to us in a glass. Our food had arrived at the table without cutlery or sharing plates. We politely attempted to ask one of the FOH staff (potentially a relative of the owners) for a plate and some cutlery. Before we were even able to finish our sentence she walked past us and said “Im getting it.” She dropped the cutlery on our table and we said a smile wouldn’t hurt and she replied “I don’t want to smile.” If you are having a bad day, simply tell your boss and don’t go to work. She walked over to the owner and told him what we had said to her, without telling him how she had treated us- this was right in front of our table. I’ve worked in hospo for over a decade and managed multiple cafes, if my boss knew that I had treated a paying customer like this, screwed my face up and spoke badly about them right in front of their faces I would be fired. When we got up to leave, the owner was more concerned about what happened rather than offering an apology. Simply not acceptable! Don’t...