Francesco's Italian Restaurant, Deli, Bakery, and Pizzeria — Restaurant in Fort Myers Beach

Terrific established Italian deli/restaurant and pizzeria in the Santini shopping complex on Estero Blvd. on Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. They make just about any sandwich you can think of including corned beef, pastrami and Reuben sandwiches which are obviously not Italian, plus prosciutto, tuna, seafood salad, chicken salad, Italian subs, etc. Their hot appetizers and entree meals are plentiful too, and a mixed variety including pastas, chicken and veal parmagiana with choice of linguini or other pastas and salads, manicotti, you name it! I wanted items to go as I was making seafood dinner at our vacation condo for myself and partner. I ordered their stuffed mushroom caps with cheddar cheese and bacon, and linguine with red clam sauce dinner. It also included a small salad with dressing and a very nice fresh baked mini Italian bread roll with butter. The appetizer and pasta entree were both served in aluminum tin containers with the heat resistant metalized paper tops which you don't see too often anymore except as takeout for hot food restaurants. While there, the owner, an older fellow who was personable and professional tempted me with homemade Italian rice pudding with raisins for dessert, which was absolutely delicious with a sort of Amoretto flavor. A pleasant, busy woman was serving the few small tables inside the deli and assisting behind the counter. It appeared she is apparently either the owner's wife or other family member. I noticed they also have a small shelving area with mostly imported Italian products like De Lallo pastas, olives, sweet peppers and sauces. I asked her if that was the pasta brand they serve and she indicated it was usually Barilla, sometimes De Lallo. The owner said they were having supplier issues getting capellini spaghetti products so at present they're only offering linguini and and rigatoni with dinners. I didn't question it. He also indicated he has an Italian bakery from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, NYC send him Italian cookies which I saw included mixed berry and apple stuffed butter cookie "parcels" like little bags. Also sfogliatella pastries and canolis! They make their own pizelles and sell the waffle irons as well. Overall I was delighted with Francesco's which has been on Ft.Myers Beach for over 50 years per their menu. I need to go back and try other dishes while I'm still...

I ordered pizza from this restaurant at 6:00pm. They told me it would be delivered in an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. At 8:00pm (2 hours after ordering) I called them back just to check to see where the pizza was. They told me it had just gone out the door and that it should be arriving in a few minutes. (We live 5 minutes down the road) After waiting another 30 minutes which totaled to 2 1/2 hours after I called initially, I called them back again because I was sitting in the dark outside as I did not give them my condominium number. They proceeded to tell me that it was being boxed up right then and that I would receive it in 5 minutes. I asked them why they had initially told me it was on the way 30 minutes ago and the lady did not have an answer and said I should speak to the owner. After I told the owner what happened, she said, “That’s business, it’ll be there in five minutes.” I told her that was not really an acceptable answer. The owner then handed the phone to the delivery driver because she did not want to speak to me anymore….I have worked in the food industry for almost 10 years, so I know how food can get backed up, but there is never an excuse to be rude (especially as the owner of a business) to a customer who is voicing a legitimate concern. I will mention that the delivery driver was absolutely WONDERFUL, was so kind and apologetic even though she had nothing to do with any of it. This business has definitely just lost a frequent...

I generally only take the time to write positive reviews, but I felt compelled to inform other unsuspecting tourists of my experience here.

First, my delivery time was estimated at 40 minutes. I ordered at 4:30 in the afternoon (hardly peak hours) and my hotel was 5 minutes from the shop. One phone call, and one hour and thirty minutes later my pizza arrived. No apologies from the individual on the phone when I called to check on my order, and no apology from the driver. That's the customer service portion of the story.

More importantly, the pizza was by FAR the lowest quality product I have EVER eaten. The crust appeared to be made from the instant mix (a la Betty Crocker) you get at the grocery store. The sauce was completely bland. The pepperoni was extremely mediocre. The mushrooms weren't terrible, but if you enjoy mushrooms you know that virtually any canned mushroom can be decent. The cheese was of very low quality and wasn't even completely melted near the edges.

And when this assemblage of mediocre ingredients all came together, it created the most disappointing $20 meal I can remember. If you're craving pizza, you're better off getting a frozen pizza from the Publix a couple miles north...