Frankie & Benny’s

Restaurant prices at fast food quality. Although in saying that the food is OK, just not worth anything like as much as they charge. Also charge a 10% fee which is ridiculous!

The pro and con to this place… it is conveniently within walking distance, so if I’m not feeling like making dinner… or breakfast… or lunch, then I have an easy out. To be fair, I think of the three restaurants in the leisure park, it is the busiest, it is also open the earliest and closes the latest. Not to mention, we usually get some coupons/​vouchers to use. That is the definition of convenient.
I remember some British friends asking me if Frankie & Benny’s is close to representing American food. In short… kinda. The idea behind some of the dishes, yes. Execution of the dishes, not necessarily. As far as generic pizza and burgers it is decent. On our most recent visit we stopped in for lunch and noticed that they were understaffed for how busy they were. If you go in for lunch, make sure you scan the lunch menu first. Not to mention if you drink like a fish, then there are unlimited refills with that option as well.
We ordered calzones, but Mr. Snarky wanted a starter (he was borderline ‘hangry’), but didn’t necessarily want the one calzone that was on the lunch menu. So we swapped calzones and he still got his starter. Again, it was quite obvious that they were understaffed for their lunch time rush. There is a sign on the door that they are hiring. Our calzones were ok, but the crust on the outside was a bit different this time… you could tell it was pre-​made for a pizza and all they did was fold it over. It wouldn’t have been that bad, but it was a bit soggy. It could have done with a bit more time in the oven. We also waited forever to pay our bill… again, understaffed, but hopefully they will get it under control.
We have had some OK meals here, but it is usually out of convenience that we head here. We have had one issue where we came in for breakfast and one of the waitresses told us that their gas was not working, so they couldn’t cook most of the items on the menu. Oh, and if you want to learn Italian, head to the toilets! Loads of parking and it is free… and you could even see a movie while you’re here!

Our first night in the UK and we are starving to death… so I looked over some near by restaurants and found this on Unilocal… there were a couple of Unilocal reviews… we gave it a try.
the service was perfect… the food was great. e both had the spaghetti with meat sauce… it was very tasty. We ordered garlic bread… it was actually pizza dough with buttery garlic… it was a surprise as we really expected good old garlic bread… but it actually was real good!!!
We will do his place again before leaving on Tuesday for North Yorkshire!!!

I have been here a few times and come here for breakfast, they have a craking deal £10 for 2 breakfast
only thing i could say about breakie is the potions could be bigger!

Hi, my name’s Emma-​Lou, and I’m a Frankie & Benny’s fan.
‘Hi, Emma-​Lou.‘
You’re all so friendly. Well, it all started when I was a little kid, I’m not entirely sure how old but I’m sure that St. Ann’s Square F&B’s near Gap is what began my fandom. How long’s that one been there? I was young and impressionable for sure, I think my decade-​older brother was studying at Man Met at the time, living the uni high life, and my folks and I were probably visiting him to take him out for a decent meal. Of course at that age everything’s exotic and exciting, especially restaurants. I can’t remember much about my experience apart from it being mighty tasty, and rather filling.
Oh, but then years later I joined Unilocal,and I started to scoff at the chains. Before then I was a Pizza Express Princess, a GBK Guru, a Nando’s Natural… now it was all about the independents, I’d sooner slurp my coffee from the vending machine in a hospital than a Starbucks. But sometimes, needs must. Sometimes it’s just too humid and you have to have that strawberries n’ crème soy frappé. Sometimes you’re in an unfamiliar city and that instantly recognisable Pret’s practically purring at you. And sometimes, you’re in one of those off-​the-​beaten-​track entertainment complexes, and it’s the only pre-​cinema meal option.
Well, I can’t say I was disappointed. It was the perfect excuse to indulge my guilty passion. My date had actually described a very pleasant F&B’s experience of recent times, and that had spurred me on even further. I mean come on, who can argue with two ultimately filling and perfectly tasty courses for less than a tenner? We couldn’t have been happier with the doughsticks with dips — you’re told you can only have one but my companion swayed the waiter into giving us small amounts of all three — and bruschetta, which to be 100% honest was just as gourmet-​tasting as the equivalent from San Carlo. I know, I was surprised too.
And who the heck is clever enough to come up with a calamari Caesar salad? Breaded crispy squid with all the other requisite bedfellows like romaine, rich dressing, Parmesan cheese and anchovies (fresh in this case)? Who on earth are this Francis and Benjamin? So don’t bother to rehabilitate me… I’m happy to see their familiar red squiggled name shining out from near cinemas and bowling alleys the country over, and I’ll certainly be back in the future.

set in the valley, on the complex with virgin active gym and the cinema complex two minutes drive fom the town center, large car park, a traditional setting with the learn italian as you go to the toilet. friendly staff american, italian cuisine with cosy booths for a more intimate setting.

I used to love this chain, and I suppose that some of the restaurants are still ok but I’ve been to this one twice lately, mainly because it’s situated right next to the cinema and we’ve decided last minute to eat before a film, and it’s not been a great experience. Firstly, you always seem to have to wait in the bar even though there are tables visibly free (ok this may be a booking thing, but i’m not talking about going there at peak restaurant hours, i. e tea time on a friday!), secondly when you do get seated the music is often too loud to be able to hold a decent conversation, (even though i like a bit of old Frank & the rat pack), and finally, it seems to be the place that everyone books for their children’s birthdays and there are interuptions every 20 mins or so by the Happy Birthday song (which is turned up extra loud). I still like the food, it’s basic american italian cuisine so i’ve still scored it 3 but I’ve just found the atmosphere is a bit too much here at times.