Franco Manca Brixton — Restaurant in London

0/5 Once bitten, twice - my bad for giving the benefit of the doubt. Brixton has an eclectic abundance of ever evolving eateries. Try somewhere else.

IN A NUTSHELL: the service is TERRIBLE. You may experience the sensation of feeling invisible, whilst you wait for your existence to be acknowledged on any level and begin to ask yourself questions that shouldn’t be relevant when just trying to grab a simple dinner.

My last two experiences have led to me posting my first review. I’ve frequented this branch over the years and the pizza itself has been pretty consistent. You know what you’re going to get and any reliable restaurant is a comfort to a hungry consumer

I went with a friend in the tail end of last year. We arrived, perused the menu, waited to be seated. It was on the busier side, but not rammed. There were a couple of tables available and one party leaving. We could have been seated before the table was cleared, but gave the waiter grace - tbh we preferred the table he was setting anyway. Waited a good while to receive any level of acknowledgement and communication. Another pair arrived after us, had a look at the menu and were greeted swiftly with a friendliness and professionalism that confused me. They were sat at said table.

Being seated on a wobbly table that had been added onto the end of the row, beyond the width of the shopfront, so therefore wasn’t under the warmth of a heater (on the end closest to the outside entrance btw), just didn’t feel nice or even okay and really got the skepticism on a steady simmer. We felt like outcasts.

We simply watched the other couple receive their complimentary water with a smile and have their order taken, still before we received a modicum of professionalism. We knew that it was time to leave.

It’s enough to turn a healthy appetite. Enough to make me wonder if there’s some reason on my own part as to why I was on the opposing side to favouritism… They got seen to as though they were part of a rewards loyalty scheme and had the black card. Us mere mortals took our unwanted patronage elsewhere.

It left a bad taste, despite tasting nothing at all.

Fast forward to today though. A very similar situation. Six of us this time. No eye contact. No communication. No friendliness. No professionalism. Ridiculous wait to be acknowledged, particularly when not busy. Had to go and approach a waiter as he stopped inside and didn’t bother coming back out.

The worst part is that I against my better judgement I actually ordered one to take away for my Daughter, the one of our party of 6 who just wanted and arguably needed to eat asap. Even the way he took the order made me wonder if the food was going to be unscathed. Did he have a problem with me? Well all I can say is I tried not to give him reason to and was cordial.

Let me tell you, the quickest thing that man did was bring the card reader and hold it in front of me! Rude. I was finishing sending a text on my phone, whilst he impatiently prompted me to pay a few times in quick succession. Clearly there is no expectation that the patience they slowly draw out of you should be reciprocated. This further irritated me.

I do question if they would have preferred us to not want or choose to try to eat there. I’m leaning towards thinking that they would rather you don’t bother trying to go if you aren’t whatever type of customer they prefer. The patience and benefit of the doubt we extended were not valued in the slightest. There was no apology for the wait or being overlooked, nor an effort to have a standard and reasonable human exchange. The digital coins were collected with too much impatience and entitlement encroaching on my personal space. If only I could put my finger on why...

The pizza at Franco Manca is great, but Giovanni makes this particular location my favourite! Giovanni is an exceptional employee who truly goes above and beyond to make every customer feel welcome and valued. His ability to connect with people and show genuine empathy is extraordinary.

On one occasion, I ordered a takeaway pizza through the app but accidentally placed it at a location hours away. When I arrived to pick it up, Giovanni immediately knew there was no order placed with his location. That’s when I checked my app and realized my mistake. I assumed I’d have to forfeit that order and pay for another one at the correct location, but Giovanni sprang into action. He called the incorrect location right away and was able to cancel the order just in time—thankfully, I had arrived about ten minutes before the scheduled pickup, and the other location hadn’t started making it yet. His quick thinking saved the day!

Giovanni is incredibly competent, kind, and an all-around lovely person. The company is lucky...

I LOVE Brixton Market. They have a ton of different food stalls and it was very hard to not stop at these because we specifically went there for Franco Manca. We came when it was just starting to get cold so the wait was a bit annoying, even though they did have outdoor heating. 45 minutes to an hour... for pizza. We stood right next to the people who were seated outside eating, so we were starving when we finally got seated. My expectations were much higher after the long wait, but the pizza did just meet my expectations. Fresh toppings and a great combination of ingredients on a thin layer of pizza dough, but I thought they could have added more because having a pizza each, we were all still hungry. We shared a bottle of wine and watched uncomfortably at the people who were waiting right in front of us, which was where we were just standing earlier before. If it wasn't for this I did really like this place... it's a cute, homey mini-restaurant that serves delicious...