Franco Manca Blackheath — Restaurant in London

We visited Franco Manca for a family dinner. We had called the restaurant beforehand and asked if a table for 5 was available. We were told that they only had 1 table for 5 which was currently unavailable, but if we made our way there within 30 mins it was probably going to become available. We arrived at the restaurant and explained we had called beforehand and asked if they had the table for 5. The girl at the front desk left without saying anything to call who was presumably the manager, who came over and looked at us unwelcomingly and without saying a word. We explained again and were shown to a table. When we sat down, the waitress came over and seemed impatient to take our order. We asked what the specials were as from where we were sat we were not able to see the board. She replied the specials were on the board, she did not know what they were and she could not see the board either and totally seemed disinterested in helping us. Eventually, one of us had to get up and walked to the board to read the specials. Another waiter then came over to bring our drinks, slammed them on the table without saying anything and loudly chewing gum.

After we finished our pizza, the first waitress came over to take our plates and we tried to order dessert and coffee. She said in a rather rude way 'these are heavy' referring to the plates and left. She then came back to the table and we ordered tiramisù but this wasn't available. So we ordered a coffee and affogato, but we were told the coffee machine had already been cleaned and was turned off so we could not have it. At this point, it was only 9.30 pm.

We then asked for the bill, which came over with a discretionary 10% service charge applied. We asked to pay for the bill without the service charge and service charge was applied anyway. We raised this with one of the staff who said 'I did not charge you', meaning she was not the one who took our payment and did not attempt to assist us. We finally spoke to the manager who refunded us for the service charge.

Overall, this was a very poor quality service and the staff were incompetent, rude and unhelpful. We will not...

We came for a quick dinner tonight and ordered straight away as it was 9:25pm . I ordered The veggie special but well done and my boyfriend ordered the number six with fresh rocket but well done. To be honest I was to hungry to moan but my pizza was doughy it wasn’t crispy my partner however politely asked for the pizza to go back in the oven to be crisper because it was doughy …. They put the pizza with the rocket in the oven…. And presented it back to us with burnt rocket. My partner then was like I’m not being that guy but please can I have some fresh rocket as it’s just been put in the oven and is burnt and one of the waiting staff had the audacity to say you are being that guy in a patronising manner. If you pay for a service and that service is taking the Micky out of you please don’t expect someone not to say anything. My boyfriend asked for fresh rocket on his number 6 and olives (which never came and they tried to charge us for) please don’t put the rocket back in your oven because you can’t be bothered to take it off. Poor service come on guys this shouldn’t even need to be a complaint it’s absolutely ridiculous. If you can’t be bothered to accept customers 35 minutes before you close they close earlier… poor customer service...

We went because it was recommended, but it wasn't great. We waited a ridiculously long time for our pizzas, while delivery drivers kept rushing in and out all the time and of course they take precedence over anyone who's physically there. Once we got our pizzas they were very tasty and delicious although I think rather overpriced, specially as some were very burnt. I've definitely gone to pizzerias with just as good if not better pizzas for a lot less money. The poor service was in enormous need of backup. There were only two ladies, so stressed out they began to get a little snappy when talking to them, and they definitely could've used more colleagues to help out. We made the mistake not to book in advance, so we had to sit outside because our group was large: they won't put tables together inside to make room for groups. And the outdoor picnic tables were rather dirty, with ants, cobwebs and food from previous people staining the surfaces, not to mention not very comfortable to sit on and rather cold even in summer. So I recommend ordering from here rather than going, and if you do go, always book in advance and be prepared...