'Ideal family night out' or 'shocking' - Your verdicts on Frankie & Benny's Festival Park

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's announced this week that it was shutting its Festival Park branch after 17 years. A sign in the window confirms that the venue closes for good at 5pm today (Sunday, September 22).

The sign states: "We regret to inform you that our doors will be closing. Our last day of trading will be 22 September and we will be closing at 5pm. We want to thank each and every guest who has shared their time with us, whether that be for a birthday, engagement, date night, and family days. We appreciate the good times that have been shared. Our nearest branch will now be Frankie & Benny's, on Trentham Estate. From all of us here, thank you."

It was back in 2007 when Frankie & Benny's took over the former Fatty Arbuckles site on Festival Park. Further Stoke-on-Trent branches later opened within The Hive, in Hanley, which has since closed, and inside Trentham Shopping Village.

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As the Festival Park branch serves diners for the final time, we take a look at what customers thought of the restaurant - good and bad - when they left TripAdvisor reviews.

Here are some of those who rated it 'excellent'...

"The experience was great. The food was fantastic and all three courses were delicious and faultless. Dessert was amazing, it was one of the best presented desserts I’ve ever had at a restaurant. Staff were friendly and service was quick. The atmosphere and décor was nice. Toilets and the restaurant is clean. Would highly recommend. The gluten free menu is brilliant as it has always been. Thank you F&B for an excellent experience."

"Another fantastic meal here. Customer service was great and although they were busy we didn't wait long for our food. The pizza and garlic bread were delicious and we enjoyed our meal. Will definitely be back."

"We visited Frankie & Benny’s for dinner, we were served with fast and reliable service, delicious food & affordable prices. An ideal family night out, will be visiting more often."

"Had a fantastic meal here. The garlic bread was really nice, the calzone bursting with filling and flavour and the burgers really juicy and lovely. The cheesecake was one of the nicest I've had in a long time. The servers were really attentive and friendly. Was pleasantly surprised by how great it was and will definitely be back."

"Came out for a meal with a friend and the meal was cooked to our satisfaction and the server was wonderful. She made sure the order was correct as I have a food allergy so she made sure it was cooked and prepared separately from other food."

And here are those who were less impressed...

"Awful experience!! Disgusting food. Terrible service. Will not be returning. Put me off for life. Arrived and took 20 minutes before offered drinks which then took about 30 minutes to come. When food finally arrived after an hour of waiting even though the restaurant was not busy, we were shocked. The food was cold, the bacon was raw, the pizza base was not cooked thoroughly and the cheese looked out of date. We were put in an awful seat even though the rest of the restaurant was available. Worst meal of my life. Paid £50 for an appalling meal. I have enjoyed Frankie’s and Benny’s before but this experience of poor food and service will stop me from ever going again."

"It was the first time (and last time) we went to this chain restaurant. The food was just okay, nothing special on it, small portion and not warm enough. We waited 25 minutes which would be okay if other customers who came later didn’t get their order before us. Waitress said they needed to prepare steak and salmon from fresh, hence the delay. But … the steaks are done in 15 minutes including lie down. Sides and sauces are pre-made. I don’t understand why food in this restaurant is so overpriced if you will wait long and food is lukewarm. Paid £80."

"Both mine and my daughter's dinners were only just warm. My husband had the steak which he said had no seasoning as was not great. The waitress took our plates away even though I was still eating my garlic bread and my daughter was still eating her meal. I nearly fell off my chair when the bill came it was £85 we only had a coke each no puddings. There was a smell of urine all through our meal not sure where that was coming from, which totally ruined the end of what was a lovely day out for me my husband and my daughter."

"Visited today with friends and our children. We only had starters and dessert expected these to be brought separately but all came out together, food was cold and the deserts were very poor, chocolate fudge cake was hard in places and had to send the cookie dough back as rock hard, asked for strawberry sauce with the ice cream and sent a pot of the mix for the cocktails. My 11 year old went to ask for it to be changed and spoken to like she was stupid to the point I had to go and ask for her. I won’t be back again as complete waste of money, hardly any food eaten."

"Three of us walked in, waited for a staff member to seat us, to be ignored by three different members of staff who all looked at us so knew we were there... not even a hello. Waited five minutes then walked out. Shocking!!!"

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