Frankie & Benny's

drjohnson

... Okish 23rd August 2008

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We've eaten there 3 times...3 strikes they're out. Meals were expensive and not too tasty. I could've made my own pasta at home for cheaper and better. As far as American chain restaurants go, I was disappointed, T.G.I Fridays is so much better, I recommend that even though this is the only real American place in Oxford. The milk shakes are good and some people swear by the place but I’ve seen better. Still though, it’s decent enough and if it’s your birthday depending on how many friends come you can get a free meal and cocktail! Woohoo! That’s is cool.

dhillcrest

Frankly its pennies 22nd August 2008

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F&B's is the well known American-Italian 'restaurant'/diner. There'll be one near you somewhere. They have the usual Italian restaurant chain story. Papa Luigi arriving in the states with just 20 Lira and a goat. Had to cook the goat with a pinch of dried Italian seasoning to feed knife-toting steel workers and on that a reputation was built. Well, not quite, the real story is on the same lines but the steel workers didn't have knives. And it wasn't a goat. It was a squirrel.

From humble beginnings they have expanded to one of the largest chains in the UK and I'd love to tell you how many outlets they had but the website won't tell me. Instead, I shall guess er....163. Accuracy isn't my strong point.

We went today for a joint stepson and real daughter birthday lunch. We have 5 children between us and my sister brought 3 more. The cow. Anyway, I would find it hard to find any positives in anything from the ensuing chaos that only a 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14 and 16 year-old can bring. Oh, and my mother came so I can tackle the restaurant through the eyes of an OAP amoeba.

The branch was the Cheshire Oaks branch in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire or maybe it's Merseyside.

Booking
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I rang today at 10 O'clock for 1:30 lunch. No problem at all. When we arrived, we were glad we booked because it was VERY busy. The restaurant is right next to a cinema, a cunning business strategy methinks and it was full of kids. It was like a soft play area without any soft things. Or tunnels. No problem as the kids crawled through the tables for 2 hours like feral animals anyway. The stuff of nightmares.

The menu
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We plumped for the lunchtime menu due to the lunchtime-like time of arrival and the rather good deal they seemed to have. For adults, this was £4.95 for a main, £6.45 for 2 courses and £7.95 for 3. Given a starter by itself from the main menu was around £4, this seemed a good buy! The kids had a choice of 2 menus at £3.95 for kids and £6.25 for Juniors. If my prices are out then it is due to memory of goldfish syndrome but they are good to around 20p. The kids get a main, drink and pudding for that price and from both menus, the soft drinks get unlimited refills which I think is the sign of generosity, even if they do make a massive mark-up on them anyway.

The adult lunch menu has a choice of about 6 starters, 15 main courses and 3 puddings. It caters for a wide range of tastes - pasta, pizza, burger, salad for herbivores etc etc. The puddings were limited but no-one wanted one anyway.

Decor
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Every Frankie and Bennys looks the same. Pretend Italian from a catalogue. Not unattractive, just well cheesy. Toilet wallpaper made of newspaper clippings from New York newspapers and 1950's music in the background. Diner style furnishings.

The food
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Arrived hot and was tasty and the portions were very generous. We all struggled to finish, apart from me who ate everyone else's left-overs until I felt sick. My wifes bowl of Pasta could have fed Rome and she was a bit disappointed because she felt she was wasting it and starts sobbing about the starving of the world etc etc.

I had Calamari, which was good if not obviously frozen in a former life. Former as in 10 minutes previous. My cheese burger had lots of trimmings and the chips were crisp and tasty. They too were obviously sitting next to the squid not long before.

Fellow diners also commented on everything being A-OK. The amoeba enjoyed her beer-battered cod thank God. There would have been trouble.

Really - no complaints about the food, the coke kept coming , value for money was a dead cert.

The service
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Hmmmmmm. They weren't chirpy Italians. They looked like they were locked in a room with 50 demanding children and their distraught parents. They were busy but to be fair, as attentive as you could probably expect. We hadn't planned on the Ritz. They kept checking if we wanted drinks and didn't forget about us when we were ready to order so I can't moan.

However - somebody explain this.
There were 4 adults and 8 children in our party. Who do you feed first? Yes, the kids. Until they are fed they are bored. When they are bored they get on my proverbial tits. Instead, they bring the adults there starters so the kids can watch us eat. Only we can't eat because we are too busy sorting out the fights and dragging them from under tables and sorting out the 'who gets the red balloon' war.
And then they leave us for 25 minutes until the mains arrive with the kids. As such, I spent a lot of time outside with them all so they could run around without annoying everyone else. That's not fun.

You feed them at the same time as everyone else and you keep the food coming with no gaps - they must know this. The Italians love children. I have seen Dolmio adverts.

Overall
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The above is a big let down. I know it's my job to control my own children but I can't. A class of 25 - no problem. Just 2 of my own turn me into Victor Meldew or whatever his name is.

So, good marks for the food and portion size but nil point in having half a brain in how to cater for masses of kids.

All, and good info can be found at http://www.frankieandbennys.com/ including downloadable menus which were good for sorting the kids out beforehand.

Thanks for reading. May also be found on other review sites such as what Frankie might say to Benny when they say goodbye to each other in informal Italian.

Summary: Not a bad experience but they need to proioritise the kids when serving