Frankie & Benny's — Restaurant in England

Absolutely devastated after our visit to Frankie & Benny’s (Riverside, Northampton) on Saturday, 5th July 2025 at 6:30 PM. What was meant to be a simple dinner out with my wife and 3-year-old daughter turned into one of the most humiliating and distressing experiences we’ve ever had.

My wife found a long strand of hair tangled in her BBQ chicken stack. We raised it calmly with the waitress, hoping for a basic apology or some decency. Instead, we were met with a cold, dismissive remark: “No one in the kitchen has long hair.” No apology. No concern. Just complete denial. I then pointed to the CCTV camera right in front of us and asked her to review it. Only then did she offer to remake the dish, but by that point, my wife had completely lost her appetite and asked for it to be packed up instead.

That’s when the real nightmare began.

The manager arrived at our table with an attitude that can only be described as aggressive, rude, and completely unfit for someone in a customer-facing role. She told us we weren’t allowed to take the meal away because we were using a Tastecard, fair enough if explained politely. But when my wife, visibly upset, tried to explain why she didn’t want to eat anymore, the manager abruptly cut her off, told her to “shut up,” and said “get lost.”

Shocked, my wife stood up and said she was leaving. The manager looked her in the eye and repeated: “Yes, get lost.” My daughter, who was still nibbling on her chips, was left frightened and in tears. I tried to calmly reason with the manager, I explained that our child was terrified and crying, but she turned to me and said, “You can leave as well.”

When I mentioned that I would be sharing my experience and the photo of the hair online, she threatened me. “I’ll report you to the police,” she said, “and I’ll make sure you’re banned from every Frankie & Benny’s.” For what exactly? For being a father trying to protect his wife and child after they were treated so disgustingly?

I called the police as soon as we got to the car. The officer I spoke to was incredibly understanding and supportive. She told me I had every right to share my experience and even encouraged me to report the incident to head office.

To Frankie & Benny’s senior management: I’m pleading with you to review the footage from that evening, both inside the restaurant and outside in the car park. You’ll see how we were treated. You’ll see the moment my wife found the hair. And most importantly, you’ll see the look on my daughter’s face. confused, frightened, and in tears, all because we were thrown out in the most disrespectful manner while she was still eating.

We’ve been loyal customers for years. We live locally. We’ve brought friends, family, even guests from Virgin Active gym nearby. But after this, I don’t think we’ll ever be able to walk into one of your restaurants again.

This ruined our weekend. It left my wife disgusted and my little girl traumatised. I hope someone in your team takes this seriously, because no family should ever be made to feel...

Went there last night when there were a table of 22 of us for my brother in laws birthday. Seemed to have been ignored most of the night as it took ages for someone to start to take all our orders. All it took was a waitress to go round asking every now and again if we were ready but we had to flag down service. The quickness of the meal coming out was fantastic though, so can’t fault that. Wasn’t happy that the waitress took the order all as one though as it proved difficult to leave towards the end as my two children who came we’re falling asleep and were ready to go so after a few calculations we were able to sort out payment and leave but we had to jump through hoops to get an answer to sort it. Even had to flag down dessert for my kids too but go a snotty answer back that they were waiting for others to finish eating in the group but as far as we were all aware everyone had finished eating about 20mins before I asked. Waitress was rude to my sister in law who arranged the meal and she put a formal complaint in so I’ve yet to hear of the outcome of all that. I fully understand the pressures these waitresses are under but seeing as people were saving themselves for a night out tonight for New Years Eve it seemed to be rather quiet yesterday so it’s not like the staff was rushed off their feet. I’ve had better service at other establishments but it wasn’t the worst I’ve experienced but feel like more needs to be done regarding service...

Having not been to a Frankie & Benny’s for years, we thought that it would be nice to go again. I can say for certain that it’s the last time we’ll ever go.

Two of our mains came out missing basic things like cheese, bacon, ribs, sweetcorn. Presentation was incredibly poor, flat chicken and a plain jacket potato slapped on a plate. The other meals had no issues, although they were very average for the price!

Wetherspoons offer better quality food at a much cheaper price, that’s not a joke.

Service wise, our server was lovely, very friendly and approachable, but unfortunately management were not. Not only were we not able to speak with them as they communicated with staff via text message, they were actively looking for ways to deny us using student discount for 5 people, as they claimed the terms stated it was up to 4 people. Their official website states 6 people.

Despite the poor food, they argued about the discount of one main even after seeing their own terms on their own website.

Overall, the prices are very high, the food is decidedly average at best, and the management would rather argue back and forth than provide what amounted to around £5 discount on a main.

Needless to say, none of us will return. Even taking away from the issues mentioned, the prices are so high for the quality and taste of the food, it’s simply...