Francis Burger Joint — Restaurant in Minneapolis

My friends are vegan and rave about this place, and a friend's wife is part-owner. I have been eager to visit Francis! Pretty darn disappointed.

Food -- Honestly, the food was pretty average. And, for the prices they charge, the food was below average. The seasoning was pretty "delicate" on all the food I tried. Waffle fries, waffle fry sauce, waffles, chicken, and bacon.

The waffle fries had almost no seasoning. Maybe they're afraid too much seasoning will harm their customer base. IDK.

Waffle fry sauce was... VERY vinegar forward. Not good. Hardly edible.

Chicken -- the breading slid right off. the chicken was just plant based out of a package so maybe not their fault? The fake chicken itself was okay, though.

Waffles -- reallyyyy soft, no flavor. Maybe the worst waffle I have ever had. This was the waffle on the waffle chicken sandwich.

Bacon -- I did actually enjoy the bacon. Probably the best part of my experience there.

Service -- For the first 25 minutes I was there, literally not a single server/waiter/waitress came to our table. I arrived at 12:55, and until 1:20, not a single staffperson came to our table. And it wasn't that they didn't see us. It was like they actively attempted to avoid eye contact from across the room. It was pretty strange.

The "neat" thing about Francis is that they have a food menu you can order through via a QR code. However, our tablemates had requested menus before our arrival, indicating we would prefer in-person ordering. We had questions about some of the menu items. Unfortunately, because nobody came to our table, we had to order without being able to ask questions or make any amendments to the menu items prior to ordering.

Because of the absolutely 0/10 service, I was going to tip on my order accordingly. To my surprise, when you order at Francis, they add a required 20% livable wage service charge. Okay, that was when I went from just being annoyed, to really not enjoying my experience.

Let me repeat: the menu prices are already pretty ridiculously high at Francis. However, I don't have an issue with that. The price is the price, and I'm sure they have that figured out the way they do for a reason. No problem, and I'm happy to pay that. However, being forced to then pay a required 20% line item as a "livable wage service charge" is completely absurd. And it wasn't for a large group order, either. So, there is zero discretion or incentive for whether or not the staff perform their jobs to even the lowest. You as the customer will get what you get, and be served how you are served, and it is as simple as that. There is no incentive for the staff to even come around and check on things. Which, the staff never did, except when we finished our meals to grab our dishes. Francis: why not just add 20% to the menu item prices, instead of tricking people with a 20% charge after they order?

Atmosphere: The vibe is fine. It's clean. They play music. However, the tables were really close together so it was kind of tight in there. No big deal.

Overall, I would rate it a 2/5 based on my experience during a Sunday brunch. Wish I could have had a better experience, but it was very...

We decided to check out Francis after discovering it on IG. This was our first visit. The staff was very friendly and willing to help. I enjoyed the music & atmosphere of the restaurant. Everything was fresh & food was served quickly. We were grateful they had house made patty/bacon options.

I was a bit taken aback by a few things. Their pricing format & the way of which you order your food mostly. Most items are roughly $15 but anything that sounds interesting (burger/sandwich wise) is $18. I didn’t feel the price justified the portions personally, let alone the quality. Especially when one of the options for burgers is an Impossible Patty. As a 5+ year vegan, Impossible is the last thing I’m tryna eat or pay up for. Everything was fine, but that’s about it, fine. Nothing was spectacular to warrant a $41 bill at the end of it all. Not to mention that 20% gratuity is automatically charged, which I wasn’t a fan personally. After working in the restaurant field for nearly 4 years, I tip heavy anyway. I didn’t like the idea of sharing the tip with more people than who actually serviced us, personally. Not all employees work as hard as one another and I don’t care to help people coast while other employees double down to hold things together. The tipping format of the service industry in the states is jacked anyway, but yeah.

They give you the option to order food conventionally…which was their terminology. I hadn’t realized so many restaurants adopted this QR Code menu/food order format. I gave it a try since it’s clearly the format they prefer you to use, as the menus are tucked away behind the bar and there didn’t seem to be any signage mentioning it as an option. I wouldn’t of discovered it had I not asked questions about the QR format. Idk man…part of being served is not having to punch in a bunch of info for my meal. I’d like to just tell you, and you handle that. Like…that’s what I’m paying so much for right??

All in all, it wasn’t the spot for me. My wife enjoyed it more than I did but agreed the food was too costly for the quantity and quality. If you go as a couple, you can nix the fries from one order to save $3. And you may as well bc they give you way, way, WAY more fries than you could ever need. One serving is enough for two, definitely. The portion of fries was larger than the sandwich…neither of us liked that.

P.S. They do offer a $12 basic burger option, but we wanted to try something more unique to...

Don’t get me wrong, the food is great, that gets 5 stars. But our customer service experience was horrible which is why I’m writing this. This was me and my family’s 3rd time there and our customer service was not only slow but rude which why our experience was horrible this time around. We sat ourselves per usual but it took forevever for someone to come to us. Then I heard 2 employees over speaking about who was going to take our table. It was irritating. Someone took us and my husband ordered right away because that’s how long it took. Meanwhile when an employee was taking our order my daughter was eating food from outside (PURALIMA is what she was eating. Definitely a good place to eat, you all should check it out). Anyways we bought that in so she could eat it and she ate it right away. All the times the server came to us to check on us, bring us food, put an order for us for a shake, put an order for us for a cocktail, she delivered our food, then decided to come back while we were eating and told us we couldn’t bring outside food in. Mind you she has been coming back and fourth to us watching my daughter eat. Not only does she tell us “sorry we can’t have that food in here” but she says “you guys would either have to put it away or GO OUTSIDE and eat” that was extremely rude to tell someone who comes often and it’s winter out, so why would I go outside and eat? She said that all wrong. Then told me she had to sit and watch me cover up my food. I told her I’m not a child and I will cover up my food, so she walked off. Then she came back and told me to “hurry up and cover it” she was so rude I couldn’t believe it. I even told her your being rude about this and she shrugged her shoulders. I returned my shake and my cocktail and she still put it on our receipt. It was just an over ridiculous situation when it comes to that employee and her customer service. If no outside food is not allowed they should have a sign. And like I said the waiter came to us multiple times and seen my daughter eating and choose not to say something until me and my husband got our food. I could have been so rude back and asked for a manager and made it a big deal but peace is what I’m about and not making no one cry in the back. I decided to write this review instead. I will be back...