I actually went there for the first time on my birthday! Delicious food humble little place. No wonder Jerry Springer used to travel all the way from Longboat Key to eat at your spot. I Absolutely loved the veal parmesan with vodka sauce I think you call it Aurora sauce or something. Yummy!!! ??. We'll be back!!!
Wednesday, February 28th 6:00pmOrder # 8VO-00125Server: MikeService for: 2Frequency: First Time CustomersTimer Used: IPhone StopwatchCleanliness: Store was clean.We went online to find this restaurant. The website seemed out of date, but the prices were decent compared to other places. Went to the facebook page and didn't find anything posted past September 2023. We called to verify if they were still in business.We read the reviews and found a mixture of good and bad. We read through the 13 Health Violations it gained 3 weeks before (Feb 8th) but didn't find anything that was out of the norm nor did we see any big red flags so we thought we'd try it out.We were greeted at the door by a tall redhead who opened the door for us but then walked to the back immediately saying nothing else. There was no instruction for seating or inquiry as to why we were there so we had to ask a cook if we can just sit anywhere. He instructed us to take a 2-top table since he had a group of 5 coming in.In the front section, 3 - 2-top tables out of the 10 total tables were taken, I think there were 3 or 4 - 4-toppers. At 6pm on a Wednesday night, there were a total of 5 people in the front, may have been more in the back section. One left shortly after our arrival.Within 4 minutes of being seated. Mike introduced himself as our server and we instructed him that we were first-time customers. He took our order which included a shared salad for 2.He brought complimentary Bread with Oil/Vinegar/Herbs on a plate with our drinks within 1 min.9 minutes post order, we had to remind Mike about our salad. It was an easy salad to make, mixed-lettuce, Tomatoes, & Croutons. We ordered the Italian Dressing with it.Mike offered to bring more bread out but that never happened.Shared Salad for 2:Size: SmallThe shared salad was too small for 2 and was priced at $8.99. Not what I thought it was worth for what we got.Quality: Everything in the salad was fresh.Taste: Salad was fine, but the Italian Dressing was very sweet and looked like gravy. It was missing that Italian twang it should have, we found it to be bland.6 minutes later our food came out which of course interfered with the late salad delivery but I am glad it wasn't just put under a light until we were ready.Food Order 1: LasagnaSize: DecentAppearance: 8 out of 10Quality: 7 out of 10Taste: 9 out of 10The lasagna had a lot of watery sauce around it. It was sitting in juices to the top of the elongated dish. It wasn't able to stay together since it was swimming in juices. Would’ve been a lot easier to eat with a spoon. It was very soupy. The ingredients tasted very good though. I missed being able to take a bite of a relatively firm Lasagna with all of the layers combined.Food Order 2: Tortellini Panna E. ProsciuttoSize: DecentAppearance: 9 out of 10Quality: 8 out of 10Taste: 8 out of 10Pasta was spot on. Good texture and proper firmness. Prosciutto seemed like it was just regular ham (and I think it was). Not impressive at all. Taste overall was good but real Prosciutto would have made a huge difference.Plating and Presentation Issue:Lasagna Dish and plate it sits in aren’t well matched and the top plate rolls around making it hard to cut food, but I didn't need to do much cutting since the Lasagna was so soupy.Service Issues:Mike forgot about us. 17 minutes into dining with no follow-up/check-up. With almost empty drinks, the tall redhead saved the day and got drink refills for us.Finals:22 minutes into dinner our server Mike showed up to ask how things were. Unfortunately, we were not impressed and I could see he was frustrated about that. He apologized and felt bad about it and seemed a bit embarrassed.Check was brought 2 minutes later and picked up for processing at 26 minutes. All was right on the ticket but $47.05 for what we got wasn't worth it.Now for the BIG QUESTION: Will we be back?No. Unfortunately, for the price, we cannot. While I don't expect perfection, there were just too many issues for us to return.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
ryan howard
We love Francescos food and the convience it is close to our home, but tonight I was let down and will be taking my business else where.We could not order online as their system is always down stating they aren’t accepting online orders so had to call it in. When I arrived my order was more expensive than what I looked up on their website. They were not willing to make it right and adjust the pricing just said they haven’t had time to update their menu online and go by the pricing in the restaurant. It was a $12 difference which is equivalent to a whole other pizza…this really sucks but I don’t feel valued as a customer when it isn’t my fault you didn’t have time to update your own website ?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
Lisa Salerno
Got right in... great service. I wish I remembered her name... pretty red head, sooooo wonderful... and my manicotti was DELICIOUS!!! Wish they had Caesar salad but loved the place very much!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Everything
Ralph Sperlunto
Amazing food and everything is so fresh!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gluten Free Personal Cheese Pizza
affifa Durand
Amazing home style Italian food. Highly recommended. Make sure to visit this place if you are in town.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Italian, Small 10 Pizza, Garlic Bread
Roseanne Caputo
If you’re looking for Italian food that will mesmerize your taste buds this is the place for you! My wife and I come here at least once a week! Everything on the menu is indescribable. We love this place so much we even had them cater our wedding!
I fall in love every time my man brings me here, food always fresh and hot and made with love, and I mean lots of love ❤️and on top of that, they even bring it out with perfection ? it doesn't get better than this ☺️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elijah Iung
Best pizza in Sarasota, bar none! Great little family owned joint, all their food is made with love and tastes delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Everything
Jerry D.
Excellent pizza and Italian food, great prices and excellent service. I would highly recommend Francesco's for a casual dinner out.
Kathlyn Sasso
Imagine that you're the owner of an establishment. And you get a call from a customer during your dinner rush asking if you can accommodate a group of 23. And then that lady on the phone tells you that they'd like to come in within the next 15-20 minutes. Most of us would laugh that off and say no. Not the staff at Francesco's.After a long day of travel and tournament prep we took a soccer team of 16-18 year olds for dinner. Francesco's set up an entire corner for us, had servers ready and waiting to take our order and didn't even blink an eye when we requested separate checks. The food was plentiful, well priced AND delicious. Despite the fact that 23 people all placed orders at very nearly the same time, the kitchen delivered our orders quickly. Pleasing all the members of a small family is no easy task - pleasing every single person in a party of 23? Nearly unheard of but Francesco's did not disappoint a single person.Go for the complimentary focaccia alone, stay for the hearty servings and leave feeling like you've just eaten at your Nonna's kitchen table.
Locally owned and operated, beyond exceptional, this place truly brings enjoyment back to the dining experience.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salads, Italian
Love this place!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salads, Meatballs, Chicken Marsala, Baked Ziti Francesco, Gnocchi Aurora Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Baked Ziti
I actually went there for the first time on my birthday! Delicious food humble little place. No wonder Jerry Springer used to travel all the way from Longboat Key to eat at your spot. I Absolutely loved the veal parmesan with vodka sauce I think you call it Aurora sauce or something. Yummy!!! ??. We'll be back!!!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Everything, Italian, Gnocchi Aurora Meat Sauce
Wednesday, February 28th 6:00pmOrder # 8VO-00125Server: MikeService for: 2Frequency: First Time CustomersTimer Used: IPhone StopwatchCleanliness: Store was clean.We went online to find this restaurant. The website seemed out of date, but the prices were decent compared to other places. Went to the facebook page and didn't find anything posted past September 2023. We called to verify if they were still in business.We read the reviews and found a mixture of good and bad. We read through the 13 Health Violations it gained 3 weeks before (Feb 8th) but didn't find anything that was out of the norm nor did we see any big red flags so we thought we'd try it out.We were greeted at the door by a tall redhead who opened the door for us but then walked to the back immediately saying nothing else. There was no instruction for seating or inquiry as to why we were there so we had to ask a cook if we can just sit anywhere. He instructed us to take a 2-top table since he had a group of 5 coming in.In the front section, 3 - 2-top tables out of the 10 total tables were taken, I think there were 3 or 4 - 4-toppers. At 6pm on a Wednesday night, there were a total of 5 people in the front, may have been more in the back section. One left shortly after our arrival.Within 4 minutes of being seated. Mike introduced himself as our server and we instructed him that we were first-time customers. He took our order which included a shared salad for 2.He brought complimentary Bread with Oil/Vinegar/Herbs on a plate with our drinks within 1 min.9 minutes post order, we had to remind Mike about our salad. It was an easy salad to make, mixed-lettuce, Tomatoes, & Croutons. We ordered the Italian Dressing with it.Mike offered to bring more bread out but that never happened.Shared Salad for 2:Size: SmallThe shared salad was too small for 2 and was priced at $8.99. Not what I thought it was worth for what we got.Quality: Everything in the salad was fresh.Taste: Salad was fine, but the Italian Dressing was very sweet and looked like gravy. It was missing that Italian twang it should have, we found it to be bland.6 minutes later our food came out which of course interfered with the late salad delivery but I am glad it wasn't just put under a light until we were ready.Food Order 1: LasagnaSize: DecentAppearance: 8 out of 10Quality: 7 out of 10Taste: 9 out of 10The lasagna had a lot of watery sauce around it. It was sitting in juices to the top of the elongated dish. It wasn't able to stay together since it was swimming in juices. Would’ve been a lot easier to eat with a spoon. It was very soupy. The ingredients tasted very good though. I missed being able to take a bite of a relatively firm Lasagna with all of the layers combined.Food Order 2: Tortellini Panna E. ProsciuttoSize: DecentAppearance: 9 out of 10Quality: 8 out of 10Taste: 8 out of 10Pasta was spot on. Good texture and proper firmness. Prosciutto seemed like it was just regular ham (and I think it was). Not impressive at all. Taste overall was good but real Prosciutto would have made a huge difference.Plating and Presentation Issue:Lasagna Dish and plate it sits in aren’t well matched and the top plate rolls around making it hard to cut food, but I didn't need to do much cutting since the Lasagna was so soupy.Service Issues:Mike forgot about us. 17 minutes into dining with no follow-up/check-up. With almost empty drinks, the tall redhead saved the day and got drink refills for us.Finals:22 minutes into dinner our server Mike showed up to ask how things were. Unfortunately, we were not impressed and I could see he was frustrated about that. He apologized and felt bad about it and seemed a bit embarrassed.Check was brought 2 minutes later and picked up for processing at 26 minutes. All was right on the ticket but $47.05 for what we got wasn't worth it.Now for the BIG QUESTION: Will we be back?No. Unfortunately, for the price, we cannot. While I don't expect perfection, there were just too many issues for us to return.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
We love Francescos food and the convience it is close to our home, but tonight I was let down and will be taking my business else where.We could not order online as their system is always down stating they aren’t accepting online orders so had to call it in. When I arrived my order was more expensive than what I looked up on their website. They were not willing to make it right and adjust the pricing just said they haven’t had time to update their menu online and go by the pricing in the restaurant. It was a $12 difference which is equivalent to a whole other pizza…this really sucks but I don’t feel valued as a customer when it isn’t my fault you didn’t have time to update your own website ?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
Got right in... great service. I wish I remembered her name... pretty red head, sooooo wonderful... and my manicotti was DELICIOUS!!! Wish they had Caesar salad but loved the place very much!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Everything
Amazing food and everything is so fresh!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gluten Free Personal Cheese Pizza
Amazing home style Italian food. Highly recommended. Make sure to visit this place if you are in town.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Italian, Small 10 Pizza, Garlic Bread
If you’re looking for Italian food that will mesmerize your taste buds this is the place for you! My wife and I come here at least once a week! Everything on the menu is indescribable. We love this place so much we even had them cater our wedding!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lasagna, Shrimp Salad Francesco, Eggplant Parmigiana, Everything, Meatballs, Artichoke Picatta, Chicken Marsala, Italian, Sausage, Baked Ziti, Sliced Stromboli, Stuffed Ravioli, Margherita Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza, Bruschetta, Small 10 Pizza, Garlic Bread
Excellent Food and Service! Will go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Italian
Restaurantji Recommends
The food is wonderful every time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Everything
I fall in love every time my man brings me here, food always fresh and hot and made with love, and I mean lots of love ❤️and on top of that, they even bring it out with perfection ? it doesn't get better than this ☺️
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Best pizza in Sarasota, bar none! Great little family owned joint, all their food is made with love and tastes delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Everything
Excellent pizza and Italian food, great prices and excellent service. I would highly recommend Francesco's for a casual dinner out.
Imagine that you're the owner of an establishment. And you get a call from a customer during your dinner rush asking if you can accommodate a group of 23. And then that lady on the phone tells you that they'd like to come in within the next 15-20 minutes. Most of us would laugh that off and say no. Not the staff at Francesco's.After a long day of travel and tournament prep we took a soccer team of 16-18 year olds for dinner. Francesco's set up an entire corner for us, had servers ready and waiting to take our order and didn't even blink an eye when we requested separate checks. The food was plentiful, well priced AND delicious. Despite the fact that 23 people all placed orders at very nearly the same time, the kitchen delivered our orders quickly. Pleasing all the members of a small family is no easy task - pleasing every single person in a party of 23? Nearly unheard of but Francesco's did not disappoint a single person.Go for the complimentary focaccia alone, stay for the hearty servings and leave feeling like you've just eaten at your Nonna's kitchen table.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Everything