Frankie & Benny's — Restaurant in Scotland

My advice is to avoid. An utterly disappointing dining experience. I was not expecting silver service or fine dining but the service was shocking. Firstly to set the scene there was less than 12 people in the restaurant at the time. We ordered drinks. My glass it appeared hadn't been washed since the mid 90's. I had poured a 3rd of my drink before noticing the bits in the glass. We raised the issue. The staff member said would change the glass. 10 minutes later still no sign. So went to the bar to request the fresh glass to find staff member on her mobile phone. Glass replaced but no offer of replacing the drink. My other half went to use the facilities. Out of four toilet cubicles in the ladies none of them had any toilet roll in them. At that point she needed to make decisive action. Did she go to the loo then do a handstand underneath the hand dryer and risk getting 3rd degree burns to a sensitive area or steal loo roll from the disabled toilets. She took the latter decision. So apologies to anyone using that toilet who is left stranded as a result. When it came to the bill we had to ask for the cost of the drink to be removed. The body language of the waitress was such you would have thought the cost was being taken out of her wages. Food was edible. Couldn't have the garlic bread as the dough was too cold apparently. But pizza dough was fine. Save your money and your time and avoid it. Unless you need to buy a gift for someone you don't like then buy...

I’ve been fairly critical of F&B’s food in the past, but it felt like enough time had passed for another roll of the dice. Since my last visit the menu has had a bit of a revamp, with new burgers, pizzas and pasta options now available, as well as various milkshakes and desserts. Everything looks a little bigger, more deluxe, but not in a pretentious way, just keeping up with the current trend of stacked, over-indulgent burgers and everything “loaded”. I must admit, it looks good…but the prices do not. Thankfully I had a Wowcher deal to use (2 courses for 2 for £20). However, if these are the prices going forward from Frankie and Benny’s, then I highly doubt they’ll survive much longer. £17 for a bowl of pasta?? Get real. This is Falkirk, not London.

The food, although pricey, was actually better than the last time I was here. The ingredients did feel like they’ve had an upgrade, and the quantity was decent. The half calzone (filled with mac n cheese), half pizza was definitely filling, but so it should be at £18. The Chicken Piccante pasta (£17.25) also sparked a few happy faces around the table and the Hot Cookie Dough (£8.35) will definitely satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth.

Service was great, and we didn’t wait long for the meals, but to be honest the place was pretty deserted.

Would I return with another voucher? Absolutely, it’s a fantastic deal for the amount of food you get. Would I return and pay full price?...

5 weeks ago I took my wife to Frankie & Bennys. We had been going through a bad patch so this was an attempt to get things back on track.

We were greeted by a kind gentleman named Martin that reminded me of something and I couldn’t quite work out what or who it was.

Everything was going well, the food was great, chat wasn’t bad and the service was on point.

When Martin was collecting the plates my wife made a comment about how much she had eaten. Martin made a joke about how fat she was. She was 30 weeks pregnant at the time.

Of course I stepped up and gave Martin a right dressing down, verbally of course. It was at this point that I realised what he reminded me of. With his really small beady little eyes and pink skin complexion. It was of course a shrimp.

It would be my advice that Martin needs schooled in what is appropriate conversation while serving the public.

However, 5 weeks on my wife and I are in a much better place. My wife said that she didn’t realise I cared as much after my outburst at Martin and our relationship has become much stronger as a result. For this i thank Martin. Without his comment I fear we wouldn’t have lasted.

Food was a solid 5/5 and Martin saved my marriage which exceeded all expectations. I will be attending again in the...