Francescas Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in England

Figuratively and literally left a bad taste in my mouth.

We had a very upsetting experience yesterday evening in Francesca’s.

We have been regular customers, visiting typically 2 to 3 times per month. My wife and I generally finish the meal by sharing a Tiramisu (as the portion sizes are quite large, we get one between us). The Tiramisu is always very good, and we always really enjoy it.

However, yesterday evening we ordered one and it was off. It had a sour and unpleasant taste, like spoiled milk. It wasn’t a big issue, the food is generally good and so I just asked the waitress to take it away and, as it was getting late, I asked her for the bill rather than get a replacement. She said she would get the bill but would have to speak to a manager to get the Tiramisu taken off the bill.

A few minutes later she gave me the bill and walked away, and I saw the Tiramisu was still on the bill, and so I pointed this out when she returned for payment. She told me that the manager, Pedro Cipriano, said nobody else had complained and so we have to pay for the Tiramisu. I told her that I would not pay for the Tiramisu as we did not eat it and had returned it as it was off. The waitress then went to get Pedro. Pedro then confronted me and very rudely told that he serves good food and that I have to pay. I explained it was off and that I would not pay as I had returned it and not eaten it. Pedro continued to insist that nobody else had complained and that it was good. I explained that both my wife and I took a bite at the same time and both immediately said ‘this is off’ and stopped eating.

Pedro continued in his angry and rude attitude insisting that I pay for the Tiramisu, with me saying that I would not. Eventually Pedro gave in, and agreed to take the Tiramisu off of the bill, but he then said “I’ll be watching for you when you come back”. I did not know how to interpret this. Was it a threat of some kind? I took it as meaning he thought I was trying to scam him for the cost of the Tiramisu by refusing to pay for it. However, that’s daft because I had sent it back uneaten.

This ruined not only what had been a pleasant meal, but it also means that as a long-standing regular customer I won't ever go back because of his closing comment about “watching for me when I come back”.

I was left shocked and upset by his immediately rude and angry response to a simple matter. He seemed to take it as a personal insult that I would send food back and say it tasted off.

Up until last night we had always enjoyed going, but the customer service last night was absolutely appalling. I have never before seen, or heard of, a restaurant manager shouting at a customer for sending a dish back. He needs a course in customer service and anger management.

The whole thing left a nasty taste in my mouth, mainly due to his attitude but also because the Tiramisu was off and tasted...

I’ve just returned home from Francesca’s and I’m disgusted to have witnessed such rude behaviour from the so called “manager” towards two gentleman sat on a table next to us.

I was unhappy with my pasta which was seemingly very overcooked but I felt uncomfortable addressing this to the waiter and so I stomached as much as I could to get my moneys worth. The plate was red hot but the pasta was lukewarm which I found very strange at the time but didn’t think much of it. That was until the gentlemen on the next table received his food and unfortunately burnt his arm on the plate set down in front of him. He was in clear distress and as a medical worker I offered my assistance to which he politely declined.

He shortly after raised his concerns to the Francesca’s staff who were nothing but dismissive of the entire incident and did not even ask the poor man if he was ok. His arm was all blistered and he was clearly uncomfortable, yet the waiter was extremely arrogant towards him. At this point the “manager” came to deal with the situation. The gentleman expressed his disappointment with the food to which he was belittled by the manager which I found astonishing. For the prices they charge you expect edible food & service with a smile which isn’t a big ask.

This restaurant should take health and safety seriously before a more serious burn is the result of their negligence to inform customers of hot plates.

RUDE STAFF, DISGUSTING FOOD & AN ACCIDENT WAITING...

Ate at francescas after a long hike so needed to have some carbs to get some energy. We ordered pasta and a margarita pizza. The pizza was good, but I have to say the restaurant let us down. We specified we don't want no sort of meat in our food, and ordered the vegetarian options. When we were served our food, took a bite from the pasta and it tasted like it had some sort of meat, so we called someone over and they confirmed it was bacon which a very big shock for us as we are not allowed to bacon. Waiter apologised and took out plate away, our appetite had gone in that moment and felt very sick so we told him not to replace the pasta. When we tried mentioning it again about the bacon when asked how our the food was, the waiter didn't seem to want to hear anything about it and just simply said sorry, to be fair that kind of mistake isn't just a small one, people have beliefs whether religious ones or preference such as being a vegetarian. The restaurant didn't seem to think the bacon mishap was a big deal but it was. Being too tired from the hike my partner and I left the restaurant, I don't think we'll be visiting again, just the thought of the place makes me...