Franco Manca Russell Square — Restaurant in London

I recently visited the Franco Manca branch at Russell Square in London, and I must say, it was a thoroughly disappointing experience. Having loved this chain in the past, I hope my experience was just an off day for this particular location, as almost everything about the visit left a sour taste - and not just from the dough.

First and foremost, the service was abysmal. From the moment we walked in, the staff were borderline rude and seemed utterly disaffected. It felt as though serving customers was a burden rather than their job. We waited an unreasonably long time just to be acknowledged, and when we finally were, the lack of enthusiasm and basic courtesy was glaringly evident. The seating arrangement was another letdown. The place was cramped, and we were seated in a poorly chosen spot, making the entire meal uncomfortable. It felt like an afterthought, with no consideration for the dining experience of their patrons.

As for the pizza, it was a far cry from the delicious pies I remembered from other Franco Manca locations. The dough, usually so light and airy, was undercooked and doughy. The toppings lacked the fresh, vibrant flavors that typically characterise their pizzas. It was clear that little care or attention had gone into the preparation. To be fair, my food looked good. Still, to make matters worse, the waiting time for our food was excessively long. It seemed like an eternity before our pizzas finally arrived, and the disappointing quality of the food only added to our frustration.

My visit to the Franco Manca Russell Square branch was an unfortunate departure from the positive experiences I've had at other locations. From the rude and disinterested staff to the subpar food and poor seating, it was a thoroughly unenjoyable experience. I can only hope that this was an isolated incident and not indicative of a broader decline in quality. It might also just be me, having an off day. Whatever the case, I'll be thinking twice before returning to...

Seating for persons who want to dine in without a booking is tight and uncomfortable. Interestingly, there seem to be spaces available but we were told booking was needed. Two large men came in without a booking but the table was so small that one of them even toppled the items on the table. They spoke to the wait person and was told the same thing that we were told but they got the opportunity to move to the booking area and thus access more space. Good for them. In the smaller non booking area there isn't even a space you can put your coats. As customers sit on a stool, coats are either kept on, on your lap or on the ground. I'm not in the habit of having my clothes on the bare floor. Thus very uncomfortable to enjoy the dining experience. The place was not very busy and we got our pizzas quickly. The pizzas were good and the tomato sauce was really nice and refreshing. We ordered drink and there were four glasses on the table. At no time did we have a bottle of water and two glasses remained empty. I am not sure if we had to request the water. However, why put two empty glasses and not fill with typical tap water? Perhaps they forgot or we had to ask. I do not know what is the norm as it was my first time at a franco manca. I was not super impressed. I can say the pizza was not bad. It came quickly and I had olive and chilli oils and pepper. Again, not sure if I had to ask for parmesan cheese or not. I did not ask for it perhaps they don't allow pamersan on their fancy gourmet pizzas. I did not find the items on the menu were too much to my liking. The meats offered as toppings were not my first choices. I had a simple magherita with mushrooms. The mushrooms were nice and had a meaty texture. I've been told the menus change and maybe in the future I may check out the menu to see if they have more interesting pizza selections. Staff...

Wow. How complicated can pizza be?

After a fabulous outing at the British museum, we took our extended family of 8 to get something to eat.

We sat down and decided what we wanted to order. After a considerable amount of time, someone came to take our order.

We ordered two shared starters, 6 pizzas and 2 main salads, 1 side salad, water and two lemonades.

The waiter brought small plates for the starters and I noticed that mine had a piece of dried onion stuck to it. Since I wasn’t going to take a starter anyway I decided not to say anything.

After about a 15 minute wait, the garlic bread and charcuterie sharing platter arrived. This was shortly followed by two pizzas and a salad for part of our group.

Then the waiting began... it took about 45 minutes, multiple questions to the waiters, who kept on saying it was coming, and the rest of the group to finish their meal and have time to get very bored for the remaining 4 pizzas and the last salad (identical to the other main salad).

Once arrived, the food was a mixture of ingredients and soggy pizza dough that must go down in the book of culinary horrors... the salad was a pretty sad affair and looked like they had dumped a cos lettuce and some other stuff on the plate. Some of the lettuce leaves were about the size of the plate itself.

The side salad never actually arrived but we think we were charged for it... no form of apology for the tremendously awful service, the mediocre food or anything else.

We have eaten multiple times at the Kilburn franchise of this chain and it’s usually quite good but this one is to avoid...