Franco's Italian Carlisle — Restaurant in Carlisle

A unique Italian restaurant that’s both impressive in some ways but lacklustre in others…

My partner and I entered at around 2:15pm on a Saturday and despite the place being busy we were able to get a table (I would recommend booking a table just in case)

The place is cosy to say the least, there’s not much space between the tables and it could leave you feeling a little claustrophobic.

The decor is rustic but definitely Italian inspired, I actually really enjoyed the decor, it felt unique and a new experience for this area which was nice.

For food, my partner opted for the spaghetti bolognese from the lunch menu while I went for the Quattro Stagioni pizza (I swapped the peppers for mushrooms) and we got a bowl of chips to share.

For drinks, I went for the Irn Bru while my partner chose Coca Cola.

Our drinks arrived in a surprisingly small half pint glass, surprising as there was no indication of drink size on the menu and they cost £2.30 each…

The food arrived pretty quickly and we tucked in, my pizza was absolutely amazing, full of flavour and very generous with the toppings (except pepperoni, I would’ve appreciated a few more slices). My partner had Parmesan added to her spaghetti bolognese but unfortunately didn’t enjoy it, she said it tasted like watery tomatoes - I gave it a try and have to agree unfortunately. The chips were also disappointing, for £4.50 I expected something better than frozen theme park chips.

After we had finished, we asked for the bill and it took rather a long time to firstly get the bill and secondly get someone to bring the card machine over, there’s a big sign saying “please do not come to the till to pay” but I feel this would’ve made things a lot quicker.

Overall, if you’re looking for a quality pizza in a unique environment then this is really hard to beat - as for pasta, the spaghetti bolognese...

We recently stayed a few days in Carlisle and travelled around the area. Franco's was literally a stone's throw from the Hotel where we stayed. We were warmly welcomed...it was a quieter evening, but the friendliness was genuine. Immediately attractive was the smaller portion option. Mrs D (not having a huge appetite) was drawn to this option whilst I viewed the normal mains. Our first night we went for lasagne in both portion sizes...delicious with garlic pizza bread washed down with a large cold Moretti. Our second evening we parted company on the dish. My wife enjoyed the small portion of meatballs with a fresh side salad, and I really enjoyed the Penne Imperiali and another Moretti Mrs D was tempted by the enthusiastic telling about the home made Tiramisu and duly gave in and was delighted. I enjoyed a pleasant cappuccino...well...one of us has got to watch the calories. On our final night Mrs D returned to the lasagne and salad....whilst I went for the 10 oz sirloin steak with a bespoke mushroom sauce. Cooked to perfection, with the wonderful sauce and fresh vegetables. What's not to like. So ended our 3 day visit to the area, and we have no regrets about our choice of restaurant, nor the consecutive evening visits. Really good food, lovely friendly service (who took a growing interest in our successful family research)...fantastically convenient for our hotel. We shall return...

Came for a little taste of Italy, got a taste of back street Birmingham. Ordered Spaghetti carbonara, pizza, garlic pizza bread and chips between 2. Pint of Peroni £7.95 is daylight robbery! Carbonara was poor, I've had better quality from a ready meal, crispy bacon was more boiled bacon and sauce was bland, luckily I was hungry so just ate it, missus pizza was crap, dough was very old, no crispy base and cheese was barely cooked on top, making pizza a floppy mess! We'd have told the waiter had he checked back on us, but after dropping food at the table we weren't seen to till they came to clear. I said mine was fine and missus explained hers was poor, she had eaten a slice, he apologised and brought us the bill explaining he had changed pizza to a child's price. I passed it back and told him to remove it which he did. Then there was a lot of whispering and staring over, luckily we're not intimidated. Also to the manager/ owner that was working 2pm on Saturday 3rd may, I was pretty shocked to see you pouring yourself peronis and drinking in full view of everyone, seems to be the norm as none of your staff seemed shocked!...