Franco Manca Bristol — Restaurant in Bristol

My friends and I went there for a celebratory meal. The service was more than lacking and we ended up getting overcharged. Before we were going to leave after we had already paid we double checked our bill and we realized had been charged for 2 pizzas extra. After we brought this up to the attention of our waiter the manager came to the rescue. Her name was Lauren G. and she was not helpful at all. She said that she would fix this for us. She advised us that she can give us our refund through filing in a form that would have to be sent to headquarters rather than giving us a refund straightaway as part of the restaurants policy. Simultaneously, the manager had a standoffish and short behaviour towards us and we felt as she was not being genuine and that were were inconveniencing her. The service was appalling throughout. I appreciate that it was a busy night but we were not attended to at all. We had to ask for cutlery four times until we eventually got them. Its important to note that we already had half of our starters by that time. We had to wait 15 minutes to get our cutlery before we could have our starters. We had to ask for more water and drinks twice until we had our order taken. We had to ask for salt and pepper twice before we eventually stood up and took it to the table ourselves from the salt and pepper stand across the bar. Despite all that we did not get a SINGLE apology from the waiting staff or the manager. The only time the manager apologised was for the fact that we had to fill in a form for the refund.

Moreover, we had found out that our waiter was in training and it was only his second day on the job. He was polite despite making mistakes for someone that would be new on the job, I did find it however horrible for him that he did not have someone looking out for him i.e. an experienced member of staff or the manager herself.

Overall this really ruined our dining experience and has made me and my friends reluctant to visit Franco Manca Bristol again. Horrible customer service and not a single apology,...

So, having been to Franco Manca twice now I feel I've gotten a feel for the place.

First of all, the pizza truly is fantastic. The sourdough base is always perfectly cooked, toppings are out of this world and the price point is incredibly reasonable. If you're looking for a top-tier pizza in Bristol, Franco Manca is definitely one of the first places you'll want to go.

However, on to the not so good things. Having been there twice now (both on very quiet Mondays), I have experienced possibly the worst service I've ever had in a Bristol restaurant. The servers spend a lot of time talking in the corner by the kitchen and not seemingly paying much attention to the diners.

We ordered a starter to share and two pizzas for the main, this was read back and confirmed. No less than 3-4 minutes later our pizzas turned up without so much as a word from the waitress with no starter to be seen. We continued to eat our food as we just wanted food and not make a fuss, during which time the server didn't speak to us once. No asking if the food was okay, no asking if we needed more drinks/water, no checking in on us just to make sure all was well. Instead the server sat in the back talking.

Once we were finished with our meals, the server came over, grunted "Done?" to which I nodded, plates were hurriedly taken away to be replaced by a bill. When payment time came the starter we had asked for and confirmed wasn't even on the bill but at this point the service was so poor we just wanted to leave despite the good food. The server typed in the cost, handed us the receipt after we paid and walked away.

There was no goodbye, thanks for coming, see you again or anything as we left. And this can only make me think of how if the service is this terrible during an absolutely dead Monday lunchtime, what would it be like if the restaurant was actually busy?

If you want good pizza, it's a fantastic place to go, but don't expect any...

Visited this restaurant on the recommendation of a friend.

The service was probably the most disappointing part. It was not communicated that my starter wouldn't come as a starter without me instructing them to (despite it being on the starters side of the menu) leading my friend to have his starter and finish it before mine even came. It felt like we were an inconvenience for visiting on multiple occasions and the icing on the cake wAs the "optional" tip that was automatically put onto my bill and the card payment. I'm sorry but we are the UK not the states. You have to actually earn a tip which you did not in the slightest. The staff barely communicated with us and acted afronted by some of our requests such as a box for food or to even cut our pizzas into slices

Food was nothing to write home about. It was not bad but it was really not impressive. A few leaves of basil doesn't make up for mostly bland meat and sauce. And drenching a pizza in cheese sauce doesn't hide the underwhelming palette of the pizza. It was edible and we're the price lower I'd have been quite satisfied. The bruschetta sizing was extremely disappointing for the cost too.

Unfortunately I don't reward poor service and high prices so I shan't be visiting again .

I'd also note that Automatically adding a tip comes across a little tacky and puts a sour taste as it presumes a level of service has been received or presumes that there is any inherent right to a tip which there is not in our country.

With the wealth of good quality and welcoming Italians in Bristol I'm glad that I can choose to avoid this...