Francesca's Famiglia — Restaurant in Barrington Township

This review is for a private graduation party for 33 in the far north room. After spotty communication with Victoria who acted on multiple occasions like she was too busy to answer a few simple inquiries and change the contact information on the party contract or let me know what I could or could not bring foodwise as a party favor, I was nervous about this dinner.

I'm going to give that a pass because when we showed up, Cerbando, in particular, David and the kitchen staff made this an absolutely amazing experience for myself as the host and the guests.

We had one vegetarian and one gluten free guest and they were handled spectacularly. The appetizers and presentation was beyond amazing, we got calamari, sausage and peppers and an extra tray of mixed vegetables. Everyone raved about the drinks and having the bar open in the back room was a bonus as we had so much room to congregate. Our guest who knows good italian food from Boston was even impressed. I truly believe Cerbando would have done anything we asked for to make it a good experience for us.

After viewing 8-10 other places in the Schaumburg/Hoffman/Barrington area, Francesca's had the largest room available for a party of this size. Other restaurants wanted to squeeze us into a very small room and claim it was for 50 people and some had ridiculous food and drink minimums. Francesca's did not do this to us. Being able to look out the huge windows onto the patio in the summer with the lights and festive atmosphere is what drew me to this room. I would also add that it was a 90 degree day in July and the temperature in the room was perfect. I'm so glad we chose Francesca's and the staff that night made it a truly memorable experience.

They also sent us home with a good amount of leftovers, particularly appetizers since I had ordered a third appetizer, they still cooked the full amount our party paid for. This was very much appreciated as I had most of these people at my house the next day and the food was so good, everyone wanted to...

The positives: Good cocktails and wine selection Staff is friendly Ambiance is cozy

The neutrals: . It was a busy night, so service was slow; we were in the restaurant for 2 hours; this is not ideal, but forgivable . It is LOUD inside

The negatives: My pasta was served ice cold and was clearly supposed to have come out about 20-30 minutes prior My dish was $28 and was 14 normal bites of food; my portion was underwhelming My girlfriend's food was so salty, you could kill half of the snail population in North America with the dish; she drank 5 glasses of water Cheese guy offered my girlfriend extra cheese, but not me, and ran away before I could ask, never to be seen again The bill was $93 dollars, which is way overpriced for the experience we had with the food and the slow service

Final thoughts: Maybe it was a busy and rough night for staff, but restaurants are a customer service business that should continually be seeking to put forth good food and pursuing excellence. It is my opinion that even on a restaurant's roughest nights, those feelings shouldn't be translated to the customer, yet that was passed on to me and my party by means of ice-cold, meager dishes and a gross oversalting, and while slow service can be forgivable, it is neither ideal or fun. At this price point, Francesca's Famiglia is far from excellent, and hard to even say competent, for they failed in a restaurant's main draw: the food. Finally, the man that was going around and pouring everybody's water should get recognition; he is clearly the person in the restaurant who is most attentive to the needs of patrons, and he has the eye for quality that this restaurant needs to...

OK, so previous to Friday, March 15, 2024, one of the best experiences I have had from a service point of view at a restaurant was Shawn’s Crab House in Schaumburg and that was like eight years ago. Well now I have another great experience to rave about from a service point of view at a restaurant. That would be on March 15, 2024 for lunch at Francesca‘s in Barrington. There were many people that took care of us, but the three main ones were Virginia, Ivan and Cerbabdo. These people were watching your eyes for what you might need next. It was uncanny how into they were with what we might be wanting. Whether it’s a filled water glass or some more wine or some butter or plates being taken away or whatever, they were there before I could even finish the thought in my head. Awesome service. And all with a smile on their face. Not like Argh!! I have to be here on a Friday afternoon. I know that typical Americans can be a little bit on the demanding side and some of us can be a bit ungrateful when we get great service without without recognizing it. I want to be neither of those Americans and call out this fine service we got at Francesca‘s. This business will continue to thrive if all of their servers are like these three people. And on top of it all we got to try their wonderful homemade lemon cello with a rimmed glass of sugar and espresso. Attention to details and all with a smile on their face. I will definitely go back. Oh and by the way, the food was incredible too, but when you have a combination of good food and excellent service, it makes for a very...