The Franklin Inn

Great waitress, great food except Taco’s, service outstanding, price just okay. Noise with groups. But we will return, and soon!

Julie, our server, told us what to order and we listened. The Chorizo and Bean Dip starters set the pace. Julie will get you to the finish line. Trust in Julie.

Dang I really wanted to write a great review. I am so disappointed in the food and service. We were there an hour before we ate. Chips came 15 min after half the drinks came. Slow slow slow. Husband ordered a shredded beef chimichanga that was like pot roast in a soggy tortilla with raw onions. My cheese and Raw onion enchilada was unappetizing. Wrong dressing delivered with side salad. Just really a disappointment.

We went for dinner and were greeted by the hostess who sat us immediately. Waitress was patient as 2 in our party had gluten allergy. Food was outstanding and we had the shrimp and chicken fajitas. Try the roasted jalapeños they are great.

We have been to this place a few times and the quality depends on the server and cook that evening. Some experiences have been really good & some not so good.
I’m going to describe my latest trip there two weeks ago since it is most current. We used the no wait app, which malfunctioned that day yet Franklin Inn still had a table waiting for us. For that we were really grateful since it was a busy evening. That’s where the enjoyment ended.
We waited a really long time for anyone to come to the table. She finally did & took our drink order. Then we waited a long time again. I nicely told her we were ready to order when she was. She turned around really angry and said that she was waiting on our drinks and couldn’t wait on us until they were ready which made no sense especially since she kept going to all the tables around us. She finally brought our drinks and took our order 20 minutes after sitting down.
The drinks were not good. I had a classic blue margarita that had an awful flavor. My husband had a Moscow Mule that also was horrible.
I had the chorizo burrito, which I had in the past and was good. This time the chorizo was way overdone and had too much filler in it. Not good at all. The fajita veggies were underdone and disgusting. My husband had an enchilada that was also awful. We didn’t bother to tell the waitress because she was mad I asked her to take our order and ignored us all night because of it.
There are too many good places in Pittsburgh that have good food and service to go back here.

Had a wonder dinner here on a Tuesday night. The hostess said there was a 20 minute wait but it actually turned out to be only 5 minutes. Killed those 5 minutes with a Green Flash single hop pale ale. Ordered the mole chicken enchiladas for my main which was great with a side order of the fresh roasted jalapeños!!! The advertised ghost chilis fresh salsa was did not include ghost chilis but I’ll give them a pass as it was fairly late in the evening. All in all, a very solid Mexican dinner…

Amazing local spot in Franklin Park. Best wings you’ll ever eat. Margaritas are served in mason jars and are delicious! Happy hour is a MUST here. They have really great enchiladas, taco salads, tacos, and more. Really can’t go wrong.

We have been here several times in the past with no problems, however yesterday was terrible. Chicken burrito with no spices or real taste. Very dry. My sons beef burrito was almost as bland. Also we had to listen to staff complain about new servers, and make inappropriate comments in regards to females. The bathroom was filthy as well. Our server was pleasant and attentive, but that was overshadowed by the above. My family will not return which is a real shame since they used to be the best Mexican food in the North hills.

After hearing so many good things about this restaurant we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately it didn’t work out as expected. We never got seated. The line is long on Saturday which is not unusual for a popular restaurant. What was unusual was the way their wait list was managed. Our party was passed over a dozen times during a 2 hour period by groups of similar size. The only difference was the groups being seated seemed to know the greeters. The conclusion we reached was that newcomers are not welcome. Don’t even try this place on a busy night if you aren’t a regular. It was terribly frustrating to be passed over. No matter how good the food may be, it isn’t worth it. The disrespect we experienced tonight was unprecedented. Just awful!

Best Mex in Pittsburgh. Margaritas are phenomenal. Staff and mgmt are great. Food is fantastic.

Ate dinner last night at Franklin Inn with my cousin. It was great to have a local restaurant and not a chain to eat at. Quick and friendly service allowed us to visit and chat. We started our meal with cold beers with the happy hour discount. Chips and their salsa were enjoyed while waiting for our main courses, loved the fresh taste of the salsa. Chips were thin and crisp. We bother enjoy their enchiladas with rice and refried beans. I had the Aztec winter special enchiladas and love the bits of onion through out them and they were covered with gooey cheddar cheese. My cousin had the shredded beef. Atmosphere was great and not too loud, so allowed for great conversation.

WTF!!!
The menu claims everything is prepared fresh, which I’m sure it is, back at the restaurant supply distributor where they order from. If that’s not bulk GFS or Sam’s Club Salsa, then I’m Donald Trump and you should elect me for president.
Then came the entrée. I ordered a beef burrito with refried beans and rice. The rice was cold to the touch, the refried beans were the consistency of spackle with a crust of paint chips (and also cold). The burrito shell was doughy and elastic, and the shredded beef filling inside was lukewarm to the touch, and had zero seasoning. There was also a little container of black liquidy stuff on my plate which looked like it was wrung out of a dirt mop in the deep sink of the janitor closet. There were some chunks of stuff in it, but I don’t know wtf it was, and I didn’t want to find out. Since I was starving, I dug out my bland shredded beef from the cold husk of dough that resembled a burrito shell and picked at that while I watched my table companions politely nibble at their equally cold and bland entrees. Someone at the table ordered a «sangria», which we determined must have been cranberry and apple juice with a splash of maybe Boone’s Farm wine. I had a Dos Equiis Amber, which came with a little lime wedge, which was by far the most flavorful food item I received all evening.
It was crowded and loud in there, so I guess the locals must come here just to get sloshed on margaritas before heading out to Taco Bell for a superior Mexican dining experience. This must be what prison food is like. If that’s the case, it should be enough of a deterrent to scare anyone straight.
Bleh.

My favorite watering hole! They make the BEST margarita in town! I am also a big fan of their Green Chile Enchilada and fajitas. Their potato pepper soup is delicious also.

I could probably eat Mexican food every day of the week because I love it so much, but I would never go back here! There’s a reason why it’s called Franklin inn and they serve Mexican food– worst Mexican I’ve had in my life. The food was bland, the salsa was sour. My husband asked if they can make this meal spicy and the waitress brought over Chula sauce. Service was okay. All the workers there seem to hang out in the back of the restaurant and drink. Thought I would try this place because co workers said it was good but I Would never go back.

Pretty much the furthest thing you can get from Mexican food. Also, it is clear that meals are either purchased frozen or made and then frozen, because mine was frozen in the center. The staff was not at all alarmed or apologetic when I informed them, I’m pretty certain they took it, popped it in the microwave, and then brought it back to the table. Those are the main reasons not to go here.
Besides that, staff was rude, not at all friendly. You know there are no actual Mexicans involved when Spanish is misspelled everywhere, even on the bathroom door! «señors» does not mean anything in Spanish, what the hell is that?!
It just all goes to show that there is 0 effort put forth anywhere in this establishment. Save your money and your time.
If you are looking for a good Mexican restaurant in the Pittsburgh area, Emiliano’s is pretty good and pretty authentic. They of course «Americanize» some dishes and add some things to the menu, but they have authentic dishes and actual Mexicans.

Pretty gross. Works if you are in a pinch but you can do better. Good chips and salsa though.

The locals rave about this place, so we went in on a saturday around 2pm. The place wasn’t crowded, only two tables with people dining. We ordered our food; black bean burger and fish tacos. After two drinks, the waitress assuring us we would get our food soon and 40 minutes later, we get our fare. Cold.
Of course we only paid for our drinks and asked the waitress to remove the untouched meals back to the kitchen.

Can’t say enough good things about Franklin Inn Mexican Restaurant! They catered our wedding reception Saturday and the food was delicious. All of our guests loved it! Chris was extremely professional and easy to work with and prices were very reasonable. I’d definitely recommend them for your next event!
Also an awesome place to go sit down and eat. I recommend the mole.

I’m not sure what’s more telling; the fact that I’m usually willing to return to The Franklin Inn if suggested or invited, or the fact that I’m never the one making the suggestion to return.
Overall, I feel like The Franklin Inn is a neighborhood restaurant for the surrounding neighborhood more than a destination restaurant for those living further away, say, in the city. The food is average, but probably tastes a lot better if you’re local and it’s the closest Mexican-​inspired food nearby, and the service is spotty unless you sit at the bar. Our latest server was decent, but only after she noticed us sitting at our table for what felt like ten minutes. She then forgot the little requests, like «no sour cream and no guac, but add lettuce.» It wasn’t the biggest error, but one which meant that the restaurant just wasted food that we didn’t eat, and showed that she didn’t pay close attention. It’s not the first time that’s happened there, but at least the servers are always quick to fix forgotten requests.
The margaritas are pretty decent, and I enjoy the touch of the mason jars they’re served in, but they’re a little too sweet for me. Of course, I’m typically more of an eater than a drinker, so the food usually needs to be the high point of an experience. Sadly, that’s where The Franklin Inn has always left me underwhelmed. The one thing I do enjoy is their queso. It’s so incredibly thick and rich that you better REALLY like cheese if you order it. Of course, that also means that it’s so heavy that I feel like I should’ve run a marathon before ordering such an appetizer.
I’ve tried the wings, quesadillas, and tacos. Some of my friends really enjoy their chorizo, but I’ve always felt like it was incredibly dry and overcooked. The shrimp fajitas we had, while having good flavor, seemed like they were shrimp out of bag of precooked and frozen shrimp. They came out waaaaaaay overcooked. You also only get 8 little shrimp on a giant skillet of peppers and onions. Don’t be surprised if you run out of shrimp by the third tortilla shell and enjoy a third tortilla of just peppers and onions.
As far as vibe, it’s okay. If you’re not from the area, it’s easy to feel like an outsider. It seemed like many of the patrons were regulars based on the interactions between them and the hosts, bartenders, and waitstaff. That’s not a bad thing, but adds to the neighborhood feel. At one point I said to my wife that it felt like the Mexican version of Breadsticks from Glee. The bar is small, but there are some nice TV’s if you want to stop in and watch a game. It’s a small space, but if you can get a seat, i’d always recommend the bar over the dining room.
Ultimately, I’m still willing to go back, but it’ll likely always remain in the easy-​to-​ignore category for us since it lacks crave-​worthy items.

Since I did theater in Wexford in the early 80’s, I’d heard talk of ‘Franklin Inn’, and ‘Mexican Food’, but had never gone until this week. I had always wondered where ‘Franklin’ and ‘Mexican’ made some connection. But being out and about in the North Hills, brought up the idea of checking it out (finally). So we found the address and checked it into the GPS. As we set off on the trek, and our roving Gypsy GPS voice lead us all over suburbia and darned near into rural reaches, we really started to wonder HOW a Mexican restaurant ended up ended up in the middle of suburban nowhere Western PA.
We found the location, and discovered a little kitschy painted stand alone building, surrounded mostly by a residential area, with a large gravel parking lot.
So one of the first things I had to do was ask the waitress HOW a Mexican restaurant ended up in the middle of nowhere suburbia. And I learned my history of the Franklin Inn.
Starting in 1979, the Franklin Inn was basically a roadhouse style bar and restaurant, with no particular theme. And then they started having theme ‘nights’, including a Mexican food night, which became their most popular night of the week. Now, we’re not talking about the sophisticated ‘city’ crowd looking for some serious ethnic escape and cuisine. We are talking about far off rural and suburbanites who were hankering for some tacos and margaritas, and they found them suddenly in ONE place within their safe driving zone.
Eventually, the Mexican theme night outdid anything else the place was known for, so they shifted their main focus to just that.
Now, taking all of that into consideration, and noting not having seen a single Latino on the premises, I completely comprehend why this is NOT great Mexican food, but rather ‘just good enough’ for a Western PA suburbanite crowd. Pretty much if you made it at home, this is probably what you’d be eating.
The portions and prices were all reasonable and fair. I had a combination sampler, for $ 13, and my friend had a quesadilla that was in the $ 8 or $ 9 vicinity. The quesadilla was two large tortillas sandwiching cheese and chicken and was more than enough for him. My combo was selected from a choice of like six items. They have a two combo and a three combo, and I chose the three. I had a ground beef burrito, a chicken enchilada, and a chile relleno, and the combos all came with two ‘sides’, so I opted for rice and beans.
The rice and beans were totally basic. Not exceptional, just basic. The best of the combo trio was the ground beef burrito which had the most seasoning and flavor, and the most disappointing was the chile relleno, which was not the poblano pepper that it’s supposed to be, but some other pepper, very possibly a small cubanella — fortunately NOT a bell pepper, which would have really ticked me off.
Before the entrees, we had a basket of chips, which were not bad, accompanied by some salsa which again was very basic. The chips were light and crispy, and seemed pretty fresh, but the salsa was only about one step up from a basic jarred salsa.
I also ordered the chile con queso dip, with added chorizo, but requested it without onions, which may have made them stray from their ordinary path. The cheese was tasty, but VERY thick, almost gluey. Chips broke off in it almost every time. I’m not a big fan of the soupy cheese dip variety, but this was an extreme in the other direction. The chorizo was fine, but it was just sprinkled over the top of the cheese in the bowl. I wouldn’t say this was any fine variety of chorizo. Just some basic slightly more spiced sausage.
The service was great, the prices were decent — the entire bill came to just over $ 30, including the iced tea (they’re Pepsi people) and my friend’s Tecate. Everyone was friendly and accommodating, so it wasn’t a less than pleasant trip.
But when it comes to being ‘authentic’ Mexican food, don’t count on it. It is an extremely basic American version of Tex-​Mex that appeals to a far reaching suburban crowd that really has no concept of ‘better’. This really is like going to Joe and Barbara’s house for a night of Mexican food that they assembled from a shopping trip to Costco. You’ll have a nice time at Joe and Barbara’s, but later, when you want to have some REAL Mexican food, hit up Patron Grille or El Campesino. If you feel like goin’ inta da big city, try Mexico City or Las Velas for something that tastes more authentic, where actual Latinos are staffing the kitchen.