Francos in Carlisle

Excellent food and reasonably priced.

Such a friendly place with excellent choice of food, and lovely staff. The best restaurant we have found in Carlisle.

We visited on a Wednesday evening. We found Francos by chance and were sorry we had found it on our last night, our we would have been back for sure. It is a bit cramped, but some might call it cosy. The service was friendly without being intrusive. There are lots to choose from on the menu. We had a pate and a mushroom starter. Both were taisty and well portioned. Followed by a seafood spaghetti and a vegetable risotto. Plenty of fish, prawn and shrimp in the spaghetti. We would say prices were very reasonable for the city centre.

Some nice food and service. They only have 2 single toilets for male and female.

Lovely food, brilliant customer service from staff, very friendly atmosphere. Fab decor inside, but coke should not be £4.10 a pint

Had not booked but fitted us in. Authentic Italian food.

Meatballs we're OK but 3 in a dish?

Had a lovely family meal here tonight, lots of vegetarian options and a tasty vegan menu too! Happy to recommend this place

Blah. Nothing great. Bog standard. Lacked taste. A bit off putting seeing an Italian restaurant doing cheese burger and chips. Makes me wonder how Italian it really is.

Returning customer of many years. Always just perfect.

Location- in the heart of city centre area Staffs: very welcoming, friendly offer enough attention and support Food: quality is good, taste average Price: it is worthy Overall: happy with the hospitality Music: very nice We will visit again if possible

Tasty Chicken Diane but small portion and expensive for what we had - rice overcooked and unseasoned - not much atmosphere - a shadow of it's former self!

I've been here a few times and have never been disappointed. Apart from the food been top notch i love the actual building and the cosiness inside the restaurant. Shout out to all the staff, especially the young lady who liked my wifes t-shirt! She was very professional and training staff at the same time! Why would i need to go to any other Italian restaurant when this place is 👌

Amazing little place , amazing staff & amazing food

Brilliant service and staff were really friendly. Thank you for the nice moment we had here with my family!!

Came in for Mother's day. Although extremely busy on both floors & a queue going out the door, we were seen to by a smart & friendly member of staff. The food came in a timely manner for how packed out they were & what tasty authentic Italian. The portion sizes for the money is brilliant (you will need a doggy bag if you're not ravenous!) All in all a wonderful experience for the whole family. Read through a few of these reviews & I have to say what utter nonsense towards this beautiful little restaurant that has stood the test of time better than any other I can remember!

Wonderful food, lovely people and great atmosphere.

gorgeous food, helpful and friendly staff, good service despite it being busy, highly recommended

Absolutely appalling. Total disgrace. Went here for Mother's Day with my 86yo Mum in a wheelchair After a hip op. Came through doors with wheelchair struggling whilst a woman watched and didn't help ... before I asked her to. I thought she was a customer.... Turns out it was the managers wife! No place for anyone disabled this "shack"! Apart from being incredibly rude to us the Rottweiler of a woman then said to us .. "Oh you're playing the disabled card are you" ... to my 86yo Mum in a wheelchair. No wonder the place was empty on Mother's day! STAY AWAY!

Very disappointing. No atmosphere, no ambiance, and we felt a bit uncomfortable. The food wasn't exciting either! Nothing on the menu screams out or tastes like a true Italian restaurant. The dishes were bland and boring. Would never dine here again!

Great Italian experience. Good food and perfect service. I can only recommend this restaurant.

Brilliant service, good atmosphere will definitely recommend.

Brilliant meal for our work party. Food was lovely. Slight wait on cocktails at the end but they were busy and we wanted a few. Everything was nice and staff were friendly.

Honestly such a nice place and peaceful the staff are nice and friendly

Great food 😋 great service and a pleasant place to eat

Had a fantastic experience as somone who is new to the area and also a Celiac, trying new places can be a struggle but Helen (our server) was absolutely amazing and so attentive. Food was such a good portion size and partner had the margarita and said it was amazing! Cocktails were amazing , definitely be back thank you !

Food was amazing taste everything. Young man forgot hes name was so lovely service was very good and the Atmosphere was good had a laugh with the staff would definitely go back there loved every bit of my evening there xx

Busy and vibrant atmosphere, friendly and sociable staff, very delicious food and reasonable prices. A great evening all round. I would return.

Lovely food served by nice friendly helpful waitress. Booked for a Friday night at short notice. Had pizzas and side dishes which were really nice. Would definitely return.

gorgeous food even better than last time :D friendly professional staff, great atmosphere! we'll be back!

Very tasty food, great atmosphere, wonderful owners. Love it

Great food and great people. Nice to see so many veggie and vegan options too :)

Good food. VERY LONG wait. AWFUL service.

Absolutely amazin food one our fav places 😋

1st time at Francos. Mum fancied Italian for lunch so thought we would give it a go. We were not disappointed. Food was amazing as was the service

Not the best food calamari was awful food didn't seem fresh won't be back

Most amazing food had in a long time definitely go again

Table booked for 7.30, noone came to the table until 8pm, order taken, food arrived at 8.15, noone asked how it was. Main course arrived at 8.55pm, we had to ask for another drink as noone came back to the table while we were waiting. We asked the waiter how long it would be for our main, he said, "sorry, don't really know, we are really busy", he then left us. We were contemplating just leaving it was that bad. Love a good Italian however this was shocking. No real sense of anyone knowing what they were doing, lots of staff congregating in their area..the only one who appeared to know what they were doing was the kitchen porter/bottle man. Avoid- it was our last night in Carlisle and really disappointing. Spoilt our weekend, ended on a real low.

Excellent well balanced and flavourful food.

On a roadtrip to Scotland we stopped in Carlisle to stretch our legs and grab some food. Between the 4 of us we had 4 different meals. The food seems to be home made, which is great, however the quality was questionable with 3 being poor and 1 being ok. The pizza base had a strong smell and taste of perfume from being too yeasty, the lasagna had sheets of pasta that were uncooked and still floury dough consistency, the carbonara was watery and rather tasteless. The dish that was ok was the gnocchi in pesto sauce with the gnocchi themselves being very light and a great texture even if the sauce was too rich. My eldest and I were left belching our way up towards Scotland for an hour before we felt close to normal again. Drinks for children are £2.30 for a juice they will gulp down in 2 bug swigs also so value for money isn't good. The staff are nice, the interior is quirky in an entertaining way. Just a shame the food is sub par.

I absolutely love this restaurant. The food and service is always brilliant. Set in one of the most historic buildings of Carlisle. Every element of the menu is worth a try, the pizza and pasta menu are unreal but, for me, the steak is the best, cooked perfectly. 👌🏼

We came here for an impromptu date night and it was lovely! A very homely family-run feel with very rustic Italian inspired decor. The food was rich and delicious and came in large portions. The staff were also brilliant and very polite.

The worst food I have ever tasted plates were dirty and the food was terrible everything was over cooked and bland. The staff members are rude and don’t know how to treat customers dont waste your money going here

Upon entry, no welcoming smile no happy introduction. The underside of the plates were a little dirty. Starters were edible. Main course was overcooked pasta. We asked to return it as it was overcooked and extremely bland in taste. No apology, no alternative. Just a rude member of staff came over and muttered something under her breath. Not sure if that's because she looks like frankenstein or not. Maybe she just can't talk. I would swerve this one if you want quality food.

Ordered carabonara. Tasteless!!!poor quality bacon tasteless sause will not be back.

Had a very nice meal service was excellent 👌staff really nice

Coke was flat like syrup Glass covered in lipstick Pizza was poor no flavor Would not recommend

Had our first and last meal here, the starts were fairly bland lacking any seasoning and the garlic bread with tomato sauce was pretty poor the bread was hard and tasted as if it was frozen or bought in. The sauce lacked salt. I had Lasagne which was very hot and against tasted as if the sauce was out of a tin of supermarket sauce, My wife's pasta dish was pretty dreadful having undercooked onions and only about 3 pieces of pepperoni in it. The only bright side was the food was fairly cheap and the building was quaint. But we will never go again. This place is a relic of the 80s and next door is another pizza/pasta place which had superb pizza and my wife had an amazing pasta dish.

seafood totally overcooked and pasta also overcooked certainly not al dente. all the meals were bland and presentation awfull i mean slopped from pan to bowl a little bit of seasoning and thought of presentation would help also try using fresh herbs their so much better and frankly expected in a restaurant.

Italian food just as we like it.

Great food and ambience, with very friendly and attentive staff...highly recommended. Bellisimo!

If you like real Italian food - don’t come here! The pizza my wife ordered was a cheap supermarket microwave job. Tasteless and overpriced. The pasta I had was ok, but the sauce was synthetic. Added to this, the main waitress looked bored and was very blunt. There are much better restaurants in Carlisle.

Went for lunch today and sat outside ordered food and drink, a old disabled lady and carer sat next to us but they had own sandwich , harming no body, they were asked to finish and leave , then a man come out going radge with them and grabbing there belongings, was absolutely disgusting behaviour, they should not treat people this way, disabled or not, so I told them didn’t want there food I’ll just settle drink bills, went in to pay and they were very rude to me when I told them can’t treat old disabled lady that way, customer service skills zero , I’ll never go back

Quite possibly the worst Italian I’ve ever had. Dirty restaurant and staff and food tasteless

Beyond bland. Had the vegan mushroom and broccoli rice dish, tasted of tomato sauce with paprika stirred in. Husband had salmon with over cooked veg. Nice staff, hot coffee.

Excellent service & delicious food My husband knocked over & smashed a wine glass. Not only was the glass replaced but it was refilled on the house 😊

Had meal today food was not up to par pasta meatballs was very dry felt like microwaved also place had weird smell it smelt dog p** pizza tasted not so good, got peach schnapps lemonade me and partner she had nice cold drink mine was room temperature both drinks tasted more of water and lemonade was not fizzy.

Great atmosphere and service. Unfortunately a couple of our mains lacked some taste. Possibly just an off day or forgotten seasoning. Will give it another go. Pizza recommended over pasta.

Very poor.....Disappointing Starters..... Fish Soup served with Warburton (?) Burger Buns & Bruschetta was basically chopped Salad Tomatoes on Toast. Seated upstairs with two roudy Parties of 30 people. Won't be returning.

I ate here at lunch and i was not impressed with the speed and service at francos and the music was not good

Like stepping back in time ,1950s 60s Italian music which I hummed along too Dean Martin . Food was superb . Wine refreshing . I will be back .

Friendly but unobtrusive service, lovely food, beer and wine.

Excellent food and service. Whilst it was a Monday evening, it was fairly quiet, but still had a lovely, friendly atmosphere. Great location and building too. I plan to return. Mank thanks

Great food and service. Very welcoming and lovely atmosphere. Food is always lovely and authentic Italian.

No real atmosphere I'm afraid and the food was just okay.

Delicious food in the middle of Carlisle town centre ,good for romantic dinners ,Italian music.

Food was lovely, staff were nice but totally unorganised and inattentive. Soft drinks were shockingly over priced ranging £2.30 to £3.20 served in extremely small glasses.

Very busy and friendly, we booked at very short notice as a family group. Not ideal for disabled as WC is upstairs. We also had prams and were booked in upstairs which made things a little awkward. However they were happy to help with a birthday cake and provided an ice cream with a candle for the birthday girl. Nice touch.

Really disappointed with this restaurant, very busy and had read a couple of reviews so decided to book on a sat urday evening. The starters,bruschetta and garlic cheese bread had no taste whatsoever had to add salt and pepper to get a slight taste, the mains that myself and my husband got were equally tastless very bland, I got the quatrro stagionni pizza and my husband got a pasta dish which was just like a packet pasta and sauce mix with no seasoning ,flavour or anything. The best part of the meal was the wine but at £25 a bottle was expensive also. We left most of the meal and would definitely not return. Two very tasteless meals and a bottle of wine for £65 sorry but will not return.

Great fresh food and friendly staff.

Disappointed as food lacked any salt or flavour. Felt like it was pre made earlier and heated when ordered. Staff very quiet but did ask twice if ok but really lacked atmosphere and food bland. Get chef to taste food as seasoning is a basic element to get right.

Great food and friendly service, reasonably priced and nice selection of meals for kids too. Go to Francos hungry, great size portions and very tasty.

Good food, atmosphere and service. Great place

A unique Italian restaurant that’s both impressive in some ways but lacklustre in others… My partner and I entered at around 2:15pm on a Saturday and despite the place being busy we were able to get a table (I would recommend booking a table just in case) The place is cosy to say the least, there’s not much space between the tables and it could leave you feeling a little claustrophobic. The decor is rustic but definitely Italian inspired, I actually really enjoyed the decor, it felt unique and a new experience for this area which was nice. For food, my partner opted for the spaghetti bolognese from the lunch menu while I went for the Quattro Stagioni pizza (I swapped the peppers for mushrooms) and we got a bowl of chips to share. For drinks, I went for the Irn Bru while my partner chose Coca Cola. Our drinks arrived in a surprisingly small half pint glass, surprising as there was no indication of drink size on the menu and they cost £2.30 each… The food arrived pretty quickly and we tucked in, my pizza was absolutely amazing, full of flavour and very generous with the toppings (except pepperoni, I would’ve appreciated a few more slices). My partner had Parmesan added to her spaghetti bolognese but unfortunately didn’t enjoy it, she said it tasted like watery tomatoes - I gave it a try and have to agree unfortunately. The chips were also disappointing, for £4.50 I expected something better than frozen theme park chips. After we had finished, we asked for the bill and it took rather a long time to firstly get the bill and secondly get someone to bring the card machine over, there’s a big sign saying “please do not come to the till to pay” but I feel this would’ve made things a lot quicker. Overall, if you’re looking for a quality pizza in a unique environment then this is really hard to beat - as for pasta, the spaghetti bolognese needs some work.

1st class food, couldn't fault it. The smells from the kitchen were amazing. However they lacked in the service, kept waiting at the door almost 15 mins before seated & wasn't asked if we'd reserved, put us at a 4 place set table and thought there was another couple joining us. Had to call them over to order. But apart from the relatively poor service, the food is amazing.

Food were very tasteless and not worth the money. Older lady waitress appears to look very doom and gloom and not very welcoming. Dont think we will eat hear again.

Francos is a hidden gem in Carlisle. Fantastic food and wonderful staff. Not to be missed!

Always Very nice food, friendly staff.

My partner and I went for a Christmas meal with friends and had a great time. Very good food and great staff.

Visited again on Tuesday 21st. Brilliant food and service

Delicious food served by friendly staff and a wonderfully cosy atmosphere

Good price especially if you visit during happy hour. Service is always good and menu has a good range.

Lovely place, nice food. Got a lil rowdy at times but didn't really interfere with us. Really enjoyed it

Great food, good service 👌🏾 A more spacious dining area would be nice.

I used to go for my meals with my wife, but she died 2015 I never bother going out anywhere with enjoyed my meals in there

Food was very poor. My wife's food was tasteless needed seasoning alot more seed to be non existent. I had the francesca which the sauce was very sweet, the asparagus and courgettes was soggy and chewy. Awful food to put it simple. We came with a baby no access for a pram had to carry the buggy up and down stairs, I asked the waiter where I can change the baby and he told me where the toilets were. I went up the stairs with the baby to the toilets to find no changing facilities I asked a different waiter and he advised there wasn't any changing, I had to change the baby in a full restaurant infornt of all the guests who were eating. Please advise the public or guests with babies on arrival. that there are no changing facilities. Atmosphere is nice and the setting, the food does need to improve though. Did not taste fresh and passionate at all. Many thanks Chris

My first visit meeting with friends before attending an event. The premises themselves are beautiful with lots of history. We were early birds so as the evening progressed and the restaurant filled the warm friendly atmosphere became more apparent. The menu was good and varied with happy hour options clearly marked. The staff were approachable and obviously very busy during our visit. There was a choice of tables both upstairs and downstairs, although all required access via at least one set of stairs. Toilet facilities were upstairs too, the ladies had one cubicle so plan well. Even the gents had a queue. Queuing was quite awkward too, at the top of the stairs with staff needing to pass with food from the kitchen. In such an old building this cannot be avoided, it's just important to be aware. We weren't able to find room for a dessert, having had such wonderful filling main meals. We opted for a traditional limoncello instead.

The food was excellent! Staff were great and the atmosphere was as nice too

Food was tasty and our waiter lovely.needs a good clean and decorate and slightly older waitress needs to look like she enjoys her job .A smile goes a long way

Always enjoy the pizza when I come here drinks at a reasonable price the meals when you come here are always top notch i always enjoy the lasagne too 5/5 definitely worth a visit

We found Franco's by happy incident. It was busy but they accommodated us. The food was gorgeous, we both had pizza. They do a happy hour menu too which was a bonus!

Lovely day, able to sit outside for lunch. Food and service were great!

Service not so great and food was a bit average. There was not a lot of atmosphere.

Lovely meal that really did beat all expectations. The menu looked pricey, but when our food arrived. Wow. Full marks to mine host.

Fantastic food, staff are so friendly & helpful

Spaghetti aribatta, bellissimo. Very good pricing also.

Quite a nice surprise. Food was surprisingly good. The place itself needs a little bit of work to make it look better and have a better atmosphere. The prices were okey, however, some dishes were priced higher than they should be in my opinion. If I am ever in the area again I will consider this an option but I would like to try something else as it did not impress fully.

We always come here, the staff are friendly and the food excellent 👌

They've improved the quality of their pasta dishes but kept it really affordable nice relatively quite atmosphere and traditional good service too probably best to book

We weren't there very long we just had a drink outside but service was good and staff were polite