Frankie & Bennys, Telford
50's America comes to Telford
Manufactured 50's America comes to Telford in the shape of 'Frankie and Bennys New York Italian Restarant and Bar'. With neon lights glowing in the cold November drizzle we parked the car and walked past McDonalds to reach our daughters birthday dinner destination.
Warm Welcome
There is no doubt that the staff are attentive and friendly. From when I popped in to book, and right through the eating experience Guy Ward and his team do a great job of looking after their clients.
We were 15 minutes early for our 7pm booking and out table wasn't yet ready. We were offered a device that looked like it had been made out of bits from the opening sale at Maplins new store across the road. Its purpose was to drag us away from the bar to our table when it was readied for our meal.
There were a couple of big parties in tonight, it's Christmas early in 50's America apparently, so the bar was packed to the rafters. The brat-pack music was a little louder than background tunes but it fitted well with the atmosphere. The barman was doing a great job trying to get everyone served even with a broken ankle. We bought our drinks and our electronic set flashed so we went to the table pretty much bang on time.
The Menu
Pasta and Pizza feature expectedly on the large menu. There is also a substantial range of chicken dishes, burgers and salads. The pizzas are available in two sizes and you can choose different toppings if exactly what you want isn't on the page.
With a number of vegetarians in the party, dishes we chose included an American Hot Pizza (without the pepperoni) and Mushroom Lasagne. Kids are catered for with their menu, majoring on Pizza of course. We also chose some Garlic Pizza Bread to share for starters.
The waitress was prompt and helpful, and we placed our order. We continued to look at the menu and decided that a non-alcoholic cocktail would be a suitable treat for the birthday girl. When you are nine, it takes 15 minutes to decide between a Cranberry Cooler or a Shirley Temple...
The Food
The bread arrived quickly, brought over by the waitress from the open kitchen at the back of the restaurant. We were expecting Pizza Hut style slices of baguette, spread with melted garlic butter. What came was a plate of ultra-thin baked pizza dough with a garlic topping. Very tasty, and soon disappeared.
The plates were cleared, more drinks ordered, including a Cranberry Cooler, and it wasn't long before the main even arrived. The American Hot Pizza was delivered on the same thin base as the garlic bread and without the pepperoni, exactly as ordered, the green chilli slices signalling to my brain 'save some Coke, you'll need it'.
And I did. Excellent. The lasagna was served in a dish with plenty of mushrooms. No side orders or trimmings came with it, but it was filling nontheless.
As ever, I always have room for a dessert, as did my daughter. The cocktail was polished off with a satisfying slurp, and we tucked into our pudding. I chose the Vanilla Cheesecake. A little dry and disappointing after the great preceeding courses but it didn't stop me finishing it. The Lemon Meringue had a home-made taste to it - bland and uninteresting.
Summary
The true test of a restaurant is if you would recommend it to someone else or return yourself, and I have to admit that I have done both. In terms of value for money, the bill for five of us including drinks came to less than £65.00 and we enjoyed our experience. When you consider that the restaurant has been open less than two months, its a real testament to the hard work put in by the team to put on such a good show and I am sure that they will improve even further.
Food:Good value, well presented but desserts not up to much.
Service:Hard to fault, staff very helpful.
Value:Not much more than Pizza Hut but a much better experience all round.
Score out of 10: 7
Frankie and Bennys
Colliers Way
Telford Forge Retail Park
Telford
Shropshire
TF3 4AG
01952 293 902
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