The Franklin Café

Service. 1 of several mishaps. Half of what we ordered was wonderful, but for what was incorrect wasn't the biggest issue. The issue was how it was handled... absolutely the worst customer service I've ever experienced. The steak was brought out burnt after the rest of the party was ready for our check. After being brought out the first time rare. No apologies (which was the worst). Quote, waitress said our cooks are off tonight if you wanna fight them on it. WTH. To be nice, best oysters I've ever had...doesn't matter when customer service is awful and management the worst. Did finally get 20 percent offered off my ticket which wasn't the bad ticket. But after 30 minutes checks came out without discount. Sent back to correct. After 45 minutes gratuity was added.

Friendly, attentive staff... wonderful meal! We had the filet and saved room for dessert. The bread pudding was decadent!! Yum!!

This was a lovely experience for my 25th wedding anniversary. Celebrating with my family. The only problem is that I had reserved a table for 10 and they sat us at a table for 14 and I did not want to be spread all out. I asked them to remove a table And that fixed the problem. Since this reservation had been made several weeks ago I feel the table should've been set up correctly to begin with. Other than that, everything was excellent. 

Honestly we expected a better food experience at Franklin Café, especially since it was highly recommended by friends. I ordered the filet, with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. The asparagus had little flavor and seemed like it was boiled vs grilled. My wife had the red fish dish. She had a similar meal the night before elsewhere and her previous dish was way better than the one at Franklin. Afterwards she realized that they forgot to add the sauce that was supposed to come on the fish, which probably accounted for why the fish was unimpressive. I think we would give Franklin Café another shot someday, but we definitely left a bit disappointed.

We went into this experience knowing there were mixed reviews, but it was the only restaurant in Apalachicola that took OpenTable reservations on July 4th. The service at the Franklin didn't seem to be the issue, but the speed of the kitchen. We waited ages for our meal, as did the tables around us. After waiting around a half hour, the waitress told us a key piece of my husband's meal was out, and would he like a substitute. He ordered broccoli. When our meal came another 10 minutes later, he'd received Brussels sprouts, not broccoli. It was another 10 minutes before he got his broccoli. We were already done. I ordered the fresh catch blackened. It was a piece of redfish on a plate of rice with five small Brussels sprouts. The cost was $36. This isn't a fine dining experience, it's just the most expensive dining in town. We had much better food at the local dives, for much less money.

As a fine dining waitress it takes a lot for me to have a bad experience with a restaurant and their staff, as a matter of fact I’ve never had a bad experience with a restaurant until we dined here a few weeks ago. There is obviously no management here whatsoever. We called asking how long the wait time was since we had 3 toddlers in tow, and whoever answered the phone said there wasn’t a wait. Walked in 5 minutes later and waited 45 minutes for a table, even though there was an abundance of tables open outside, which we voiced that we would be happy to sit out there. The host looked like she was lost the entire time, but she was nice enough to grab us water and our order since the waitress outside ignored our table and another table of 7 elderly people, who ended up leaving after 25 minutes. I guess she was too busy talking with her friends to want to make a good tip off of our table. Another waitress was sent outside to finalize our order, and during that time an even bigger party was sat next to us and the original outside waitress was very quick to get their drinks and order taken, meanwhile we’re still waiting for our drinks to arrive, and they even ate before we were close to getting our food, at this point we had been here for 90 minutes. There’s no communication between the BOH and FOH because after placing our order the waitress came back 5 minutes before the food came out to let us know that XYZ was out and we had to pick different substitutions. The fish of the day was barely warm, the lemon thyme basmati rice was plain minute made rice from the microwave with no flavor, and the Brussels sprouts were tiny and hard, I counted 5 halves on my plate, the broccoli wasn’t even close to cooked. The only dish at our table of 7 that had any flavor or season were the French fries. The entire restaurant needs to close and have a retraining class on how to function. This was a waste of money and time. The service at McDonalds was better than this place.

We were a group of 12, only 4 other people in place. 2/12 liked their meal (crab cakes) No one finished their meal. My steak was half well done, half medium rare, ordered medium. 100% bland other than char.

The food was very tasty, though they haven't changed their menu since last year and we were hoping for some variety. We enjoyed the shrimp and grits and steak. The specialty cocktails were delicious.

We had stayed and dined here 3 years ago and it was a pleasant experience. We were excited to return. Our excitement turned to disappointment almost immediately. We had to push our tables together to make enough seat for 5 people. We waited 15 minutes for someone to take our drinks order. When asked which beer was on tap, our server had to go find out. We were later told, light, medium or dark. I had remembered there being a Bar Menu but this was not on offer, therefore there was nothing on the menu that appealed. I ended up with a wedge salad swimming in dressing. Others had forgettable shrimp and grits. The food was overpriced and not enjoyable. All in all it was an experience I'll not repeat. We had planned to go for breakfast but decided against it. This is such a shame because The Gibson had held a special place in my memory.

Our server although sweet and polite seemed like it was her first day. She kept having to go ask the manager questions we had about the menu. My steak was way overcooked and not seasoned. I paid $45 books for a skirt steak and cold fries. My wife's steak was was also overpriced for the cut and quality of the steak. It was also under seasoned and over cooked. This was our most expensive meal during our vacation and by far the worst food. Unfortunately we won't be coming back.

It was dreadful. Tenderloin was tasteless and over salted. Demi glaze veal sauce had to have come from a bottle. Sauce Choron was also tasteless and bore no relationship to a properly made sauce. Asperagus must have been frozen. Mashed potato was lumpy and tasted like it had come from a box. For dessert we were promised apple crisp with ice cream. It came with no ice cream and we were told that new management had discontinued ice cream. Huh? It was covered with gloopy over sweet and inedible sauce. Finally we were told that restaurant no longer has a chef but they hope to get one soon. We were ripped off; restaurant should close until they can hire someone who can cook. And they need to revisit food suppliers. Really one of the worst restaurant meals I can remember.

Pleasant staff, cool building, food was ok. Came out a little cold.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Fried

A huge disappointment. My pork loin was like leather. My wife's fish (gouper) was tough. She had trouble cutting it with a knife.

We had a reservation. When we arrived we were told we would have to wait. There were three empty tables we could see. We sat for a minute and I went back and waited for some time before someone came and I asked if we had a reservation why did we have to wait. She looked up the reservation and took us to a table.

They had no Jack Daniels!!

We had to wait for everything. Service was very slow. They were not busy in the cafe. There was a large party in another section of the Gibson. That should not have caused the Franklin to fall to pieces.

I hate to write this review. We had high hopes that this would be worth the wait and the price. It wasn't. This should be a gold star 5 star restaurant. Maybe new management can turn it into what it should be.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

While the restaurant does have outdoor seating and does state that they are dog friendly, the staff informed us when we arrived that the outdoor seating was not being served today. The waitress stated that they were understaffed.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

Had a pleasant dinner with my wife and daughter for my wife's birthday. Our server, Sara was great. She was attentive, helpful and made us feel like enjoying our dinner was the most important task for the evening.

I had the stuffed flounder. Crab was good, the fish was a little over done.

The restaurant had a charming decor and the wine selection was the best I have seen so far in this part of Florida.

I recommend this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5