Francesca’s Wine Bar and Bistro

Good place. Nice bar. The food was pricey for the portion sizes. Great bartender and friendly staff. The food was good but you just don’t get a lot of it. Not my first choice when bar hopping in collinsville

Atrocious.
We had a reservation here for my friend’s birthday. The night we show up was a big Christmas Champagne stroll night. I went in half an hour before our reservation to find that they «lost» our reservation.
They took our name down again. When we showed up for our reservation on time, the older waitress with blond hair and dark glasses had just sat someone at our table reserved for us. The other service staff scrambled to alleviate her mistake and we had to stand around another 5 – 10 minutes while they moved people around.
When we went to sit, my friend was about to sit down in a chair and the waiter swept the chair away as she was about to sit. I literally had to yell at them to return the chair.
The night of horrid service dragged on
The restaurant has no room for waiting people to be seated. I sat on the side of the table so that I would be constantly mobbed and bumped by waiting people and the wait staff trying to pass. This apparently didn’t matter to the older blond waitress with the dark glasses. The path of the wait staff was more important than an actually seated customer not being crowded and bumped by mobs of waiting people.
We went on to wait for 40 minutes for a glass of wine and a mixed cocktail. We sat there totally ignored by the wait staff while we watched the staff have time to hang out, chat with friends, and high five people sitting at the bar.
When the drinks finally came the salad and the main dish came out. To be fair the mixed drink and food was good.
We were eating when the blond older waitress and the dark glasses came over and asked me to move my seat. Apparently they were sitting someone behind me and she wanted me to move to the side of the table where I would get crowded and bumped by wait staff and waiting diners. I refused. She started to pull the table forward while we sat there trying to eat. No communication. Just a demand that you will move and you will sit where we tell you no matter your comfort.
Then she proceeded to take the third chair at our table that had my purse and my scarf on it, dumped my personal belongings onto the floor and walked away with the extra chair.
I sat there shocked with the atrocious behavior of this waitress’ behavior. No communication. No ten seconds of hi, I’m sorry we need this chair. Can you remove your items?
A simple polite conversation and I would have gladly moved my items.
I stood up and confronted her at the bar that she dumped my personal items in the floor and walked away with the chair.
«I’m sorry» she said while she had this poop eating grin on her face.
Totally inauthentic passive aggressive witch.
No one believes a verbal apology when your body language says you’re anything but.
When I confronted the person who seemed to be the head of the waitstaff, I got a «that’s just her personality» and I got another inauthentic «I’m sorry» with a grin from the older blond server again.
What place allows a server to act this way to customers with no repercussions to the offending staff? She must be an owner or related to the owner where such horrid behavior doesn’t have repercussions.
This place is a taint in what a great town Collinsville usually can be. But the staggeringly disgusting service we received and the combination of the staff from the lost reservation, sitting ignored for 40 minutes once seated to having a gestapo like old blond waitress passive aggressively dumping my personal property on the ground and walking away with the chair they were on was too much.
I have never walked out of a restaurant before. I have never met someone who works at a restaurant with a total lack of respect or common sense like I have this place.
Do not pay attention to all the five stars reviews left by restaurant friends and family.
Pay attention to the one, two, and three stars when they tell you that the service is awful. AWFUL.
I wish I had. Because my friend would not have had this awful experience for her birthday.
Go only if you want to suffer horrible service, being ignored, and disrespected by the passive aggressive blond waitress.
There are too many other places where you may spend your money.

I don’t like to write negative reviews, but I decided to write this in hopes that Francesca’s takes action. I have been here twice for dinner during the week. Both times, we waited a ridiculously long amount of time just to be seated. Both times, there was one waiter working, and one bartender who also acted as a waiter (but paid much more attention to the bar). The first time we came, service was just very slow. Food is very good, but the portions are extremely small for the entrees (I had the lobster ravioli, which consisted of 4 *small* ravioli’s) and NOT WORTH THE PRICE. I would classify the entrees as appetizers on any other menu. The wine list offers a great selection at a good price.
The second time we went here for dinner, the restaurant was about half full, and once again, one waiter and one bartender/​waiter. We waited about 5 minutes standing at the front of the room to be seated, and then waited 15 minutes at our table. The waited never came to us, as we had the «bartender/​waiter» who proceeded to serve guests at the bar after seating us, and never came by to help us. THIS IS A PROBLEM. HIRE MORE STAFF.
Until something happens, we will not return. I would not go here for dinner unless you see more than one actual waiter. It is a shame, because the food is good (when portions are appropriate) and it’s a great location.

We had a lot of fun here. From the menu to the service everything was low key and fun. There are tables outside but we chose to sit inside. The restaurant size is just big enough not to feel claustrophobic but small enough to feel cozy.
The highlight was the meringue s’mores! I usually find dessert menus boring and monotonous, but this was one of the most creative and tasty desserts I’ve ever had.

A charming gem in a timeless, historic town. The food was excellent and completely exceeded expectations. We ordered an orange fennel salad that contrasted bright and subtle favors beautifully. Our main dish was tiny polenta squares each topped with a protein (shrimp, smoked salmon) and garnished with delicious roasted mushrooms and shaved hard cheese that may have been Parmesan. We capped off our meal with a spectacular chocolate lava cake. Every dish was delicious, and i am still craving that polenta! Definitely worth a trip to Collinsville!

Came here the other day for lunch. Wanted to try their lamb gnocchi, but wasn’t available for the summer menu. :-(But I had a really refreshing mushroom soup, excellent. The artichokes salad could have a bit more «char» to them, just to give that extra layer of flavor to balanced out the acidity. Overall great attentive service by the owner. Will definitely come back to try out more of their dishes.

Love this cute place! It’s the perfect spot to meet another couple for a small bite, or a few of them to make it a true dinner, and some great wines.
Their St. Germaine cocktail became my obsession last summer. It’s equal parts St. Germaine liqueur, sauvignon blanc, seltzer/​club soda. The most delicious drink EVER. I now make it at home all summer long.
I met a friend there this past week for drinks and dinner and had a fantastic special: broccoli rabe ravioli with a fantastic plum tomato sauce. Delicious. Reasonably priced, and plenty for dinner. The meals aren’t HUGE. They’re reasonable. I like it, because I don’t overstuff myself and they have terrific dessert options.
The atmosphere is casual, warm, very friendly. Waitstaff is always very attentive and they seem very happy to be there. Collinsville has a gem in this place.

Had a great cocktail (Hendricks Martini) and Scallop entrée at Francesca’s tonight. Fran, Don and their crew are always fun and take excellent care of me. I love their wine selection and bar. I always enjoy their ravioli dishes, the meet platter and the scallop entrée.
Collinsville is a great little village to visit for an evening or the whole day. Lots to do for fun.

Came here for lunch. The food was delicious but the menu was a bit limited, especially for those who could not eat gluten and breaded meals but wanted more than a salad. The staff was accommodating, when asked, and the food was deliciously prepared! They made grilled shrimp for a goat cheese salad which was delicious. The scallop entrée was also amazing! However, very pricey for small lunch portions. I’m not sure if the dinner portions are the same size (but hope not for the price!) Loved the bar area and would come back for a drink and an app.

Great wine, great food, great people.
Small plates, which we like because we get to try more.
The wine prices are very reasonable and the selection is great. Also offer limited but cool beer and drink menu
Limited outdoor seating available.

Up a star on tonight’s Thursday night visit. Ordered a combo meat and cheese platter — had to wait For toasted bread to show up — as I recall toast is an after thought here as this has happened before. Get some crackers guys or something else to spread the topping on to add to the platter. Still a nice selection on cheese and meats but could be kicked up a notch. The standout was the lamb ragu and homemade gnocchi. Very well done but a small portion for what’s listed as a bigger bite. After sharing my daughters meatballs and sausage ragu in a bread bowl it was plenty. A few glasses of wine for my wife and I and it was a great meal. Pricey at $ 140 including tip but the quality is good. Great as a once in while treat. Wish I could justify eating here more often because the food is really quite good.

Perfect fall drive thru the country food. We stumbled upon this place without knowing it existed. Food was warm and homey comfortable food.
I loved the atmosphere because it was relaxed and warm.
I suggest you give this place a try the wine list is simple yet deep
Food is flavorful and perfect portions.
I will be back

Went here recently on a beautiful fall Sat afternoon and was the perfect place for a nice lunch and glass of wine… new change– the restaurant now serves mixed drinks and beers. but I do love the wine selection – the Seeker Rose from Provence is a favorite of mine. I do love the interesting wine selection. a great variety! We shared an appetizer special – fresh mozzarella, tomato, crunchy bread, some olive oil and balsamic – the mozzarella was some of the freshest I ever had, so creamy good! I had a shrimp bisque soup, so good, and polenta cakes with shrimp, mushrooms, shaved Parmesan and smoked salmon – filling and delicious! We topped the lunch off with a s’mores type of dessert which was not too sweet – just perfect! Oh, and the waitress was attentive and top-​notch!
This is a great place to go for a date or a small group of friends. I’ll be back :-)

This place was a lot of fun. Great for a couples night out or a small group of four people for a chill evening.
It mainly consists of Wine and Tapas.
I ordered the soup of the day, (french onion). It was awesome! Then the Fontina Stuffed Veal Meatballs. These were a great find. They are pretty filling and the presentation is with them stuck on a stick. There is three different sauces for dipping and were oozing with Fontina. Really good!
Laurent had one of the salads and then could not help herself from ordering the Lobster Mac and Cheese. She was very happy.
Over all, cool little place, service was great and obviously the staff was very knowledgeable about wine and their menu.
I look forward to returning with another couple to share the joys.