Pizzeria Francesca in Newcastle upon Tyne

I'm French, originally not hugely far from the Italian border and I speak Italian. Wannabe Italian chain restaurants hate me because I spot the BS ;) one of my favourite AUTHENTIC Italian restaurants in the North East is Francesca's! The food is good (proper "pizza Italiana" if you ask me). The owner / most of the staff ARE genuine Italian people that you can speak Italian to ;) My only complaint is that the French waitress joined in with the rest of my French compatriots / Parisians to show her disdain at my region. I thought I was safe in Newcastle and could pretend to be from a glamorous part of France but apparently not 😆! I am joking of course. Great crack. Great service. Great food. They even brought in a little ice-cream with a candle and sang happy birthday for my hubby s birthday. Completely unplanned but super kind. You keep doing what you are doing raggazzi and when you go PLC please let me become a shareholder!!!!!!! Tanti Auguri. Forza Francesca 🫶🫶🫶

Had to cue as it was so busy but that was not a problem, once seated service was super fast, staff were amazing and very friendly nothing was a problem, atmosphere inside was lovley, the food was beautiful cannot fault it and plenty of it the portions were huge. Planning my next visit already.

Amazing food and lovely staff very attentive

We first visited Francesca’s in 1987 & since then, it’s been our favourite restaurant in Newcastle, our go to and we’ve visited regularly for the past 38yrs. It’s been fabulous for us with fantastic food, lovely staff & lovely ambience. We visited this weekend and it simply wasn’t the same ?We both had Pizzas which are usually the best. Thin, crispy beautifully cooked bases with amazing tasting toppings. Last night, the pizza bases were doughy, floppy & pretty tasteless. My seafood topping just didn’t look or taste the same & my wife’s was equally poor. She had chips with her main which are always beautifully cooked golden brown crispy in the outside and soft to the bite. Last night she was presented with chips the size of half a potato that were anemic & tasteless. We rarely leave a morsel unless we’re simply too full but last night we both left a lot of Pizza & my wife a full portion of chips but it didn’t raise any questions ? We are hoping this was just a one off but whoever cooked our meal was not an Italian Chef as the quality of cooking & taste was simply so bad ! The garlic prawn starter was okay but again, didn’t quite taste the same as we’ve always experienced. After 38yrs, I’m hoping we don’t have to change our favourite go to Italian but based on this experience, we fear something has changed drastically at Francesca’s ?

I loved it it was delicious but my cousin got 2 wafers and I got 1 and that's sad

Really nice authentic Italian restaurant, excellent food and value for money. Great friendly service..

Real Italian family run restaurant serving authentic food. You won’t be disappointed!!! I had the Melanzana parmigiana which was to die for. And a super nice pizza 🍕 Definitely recommend

May not be as cheap or cheerful as 20 years ago, but by Zeus’ thong, they’ve still got it. Edit: still great, but double the price of what it was 5 years ago.

Lovely meal can have half pizza and pasta

Excellent friendly service. Busy on a Monday lunchtime which must be good 👍🏻

The best Italian in Newcastle, I absolutely love Francesca, the food is amazing as is the atmosphere and service!

Went for a dinner date on a Tuesday, nice and busy restaurant with fast service. Very welcoming, accommodating & efficient staff. Would definitely recommend and will be back for sure!

What an amazing restaurant in Newcastle. When you enter the restaurant it feels like entering Italy with the nice interior and music. Besides, the food was amazing. I mostly recommend the pasta arrabiata: it was so tasteful and so unique! Our whole dining experience was just perfect from the vibes, to the nice staff, to the food.

We love it here, fab vibe on a weekend - you'll have to queue as walks in only but that's all good as it moves fast since there's a lot of tables and you can drink in the queue - I recommend a limoncello spritz. Fave thing about here is the half pizza half pasta option and you don't need to split with a friend either so you get exactly what you want, been a few times and fave combo is tbe pepperoni pizza and pesto pasta

40+ years never had a bad pizza great staff 🙂

An authentic Italian restaurant, ran by Italian pros, serving food to die for. Francesca's serve arguably the best carbonara in the entire north of England, possibly even the country.

We are there last night food was tremendous nice atmosphere staff lovely and friendly looked after by Thomas what a lovely guy made our night also Lesley funny and friendly professional already looking forward to going back

Pizza and pasta is nice, sometimes slow, busy place so come early if you want to get food right away

Great atmosphere, environment and service. Great value. The pizza was much improved from my last visit when it was too oily.

Overhyped but service is good and the food is decently priced. Parking can be difficult to find however.

Always having the best Italian food there. Also their steaks are really good too. Nice value and happy to go back again

My go to place for over 30 years! Great every time!

They saved us from freezing to death as other restaurants in Jesmond were fully booked or closed on a Friday night. We were seated very quickly despite the length of the queue, and their food was really good. I’ve never had tomato-based vongole pasta before, so that was something new to try. The staff were very helpful and friendly as well.

Really great restaurant, been here multiple times and will take visitors here. Food is so good and reasonably priced. The biscoff cheesecake is absolutely incredible.

Authentic, amazing food, great price and great staff

There were 20 of us from the boy's Brigade, you can't book, you just turn up. They were able to find us tables ear to each other, order was taken and surprisingly enough after a not too long of a wait our food was being served. Staff couldn't do enough for us. A young waitress even took the time to cut the pizza's up for our younger boy's.

A very nice Italian restaurant. The place is very lively and it can get very busy but the staff are lovely. Ordered lasagna and Francesca pizza, both taste great! Would recommend to others.

Possibly the best pizzeria in Newcastle is Pizzeria Francesca or as the locals refer to it, simply Francesca's. Francesca's is always busy and if you do not book you may find yourself queuing however the food is well worth it and the prices are very low despite the quality.

Second visit in as many weeks! Amazing restaurant, love the atmosphere and the food was incredible. The mussels were a personal highlight.

We were there early and plenty of room. I had delicious gluten free pasta. A real treat as not available every where.Pizza too looked excellent.

This is a great place to meet and enjoy lovely food with friends and family. The restaurant is very rustic with a lively atmosphere. You can't book in advance, but it doesn't stop people from queuing to enjoy the great food on offer.

Great food, polished off with gusty renditions by waiters of some typical English songs.

Really, just what you want from an Italian. Friendly, Efficient service. Great food. And always a good atmosphere. Top place.

Well known place, but I'm from out of town, I live 40 miles away. I accept this place gets ques out the door and happily ready to give it a go. They are clearly doing something right. Have been at least 5 x now and love it.

Have loved this place for years. Great atmosphere ! Good food , value for money.

Good meal. Very crowded and noisy. Unfortunately the prices have gone up a great deal since my last visit.

Still the best Pizza and Pasta out there !!

A proper Jesmond institution. Great food served in a lovely atmosphere. A firm family favourite.

Always a high standard of Italian food with very friendly and helpful staff. Lovely place to visit

Really very good food, at very reasonable prices. Brilliant atmosphere, the queuing is an important part of the experience. The staff can seem a little stressed and flustered at busy times, but they are generally very friendly and polite.

Nobody should have to queue for Italian food. “Just a like a mama used to wait!” 👵🏼🤌🏻

Amazing restaurant, fantastic staff, love to go here all the time!

Been going for almost 10 years... never had a bad experience. Great staff, great food, great prices.

Delicious and reasonably priced lunch. Service was outstanding. Everyone seemed to know about this place except me. Definitely will return.

Good service lively atmosphere. The food while still ok is not as good as it used to be.

A fantastic Italian restaurant. The food is great and good value for money. The place is popular, when we got there we had to queue for a bit which is always a good sign.

This place has gone down hill. We had high hopes after not visiting for a few years, but please don’t go here if you want authentic Italian food. Staff were very friendly when greeting us, but, the food did not impress. Pizza was very greasy, tasted like it had been fried. Pasta was awful it had no flavour and just tasted like grease. Disappointed as such it’s such a popular restaurant.

Couldn't cater for a nut allergy ,even though there is signs saying to inform your waiter/waitress which I did I was then told I could not have anything i wanted to order due to the oils they use and trays for other items /Cross contamination was too much of a risk for them.....seems pointless having a sign regarding allergy info/requests to then not be able to provide the service....paid for the drinks we had already ordered and had to leave and go somewhere else

If you’re within 50 miles of Newcastle and want an Italian restaurant then you have to go. Honestly been over 50 times and would go every week if I could. Birthday song was a lovely unique addition from our waiter. Mushroom starter and the muscles were brilliant. Forza Francesca.

As always , never disappointed

Only had a takeaway pizza but could tell its a lovely place to sit and eat. from the quality of the pizza, the rest of the food needs to be tried

Certain Staff member not very welcoming. First time I went to dine in by myself staff suggested i get take out instead despite the restaurant not being busy and the second time i came in to get takeout he ignored me at first and had a look of distain on his face when I asked to pick up my food. Pizza was also not the best.

Incredible. It was my first time here but will definitely be back. I was with a group of 10 and I saw a few dishes I would like to try 😁

Absolutely brilliant, magnificent meal thanks again.

Lovely food. Staff friendly and welcoming.

Felt like authentic Italian food, we had to wait for 40 minutes in the queue but it was absolutely worth it !

We had Thomas as our server he was very attentive, made a fuss of my mother for her birthday and was very talkative and making our baby girl smile all the time. We Will definitely be back.

Fabulously decorated interior, cosy seating that was not loud despite the place being busy. Lovely, very warm and welcoming staff - which when paired with the faultless food, was an excellent evening. Will return when I am next in Newcastle!

Francesca's Pizzeria serves up an excellent selection of pizzas and pastas, along with an array of amazing desserts. The restaurant itself brings a delightful old-school vibe with retro decorations, making the whole setting very welcoming. Do note that you can't box your orders here, and there's typically a queue, but fortunately, it moves quickly. The staff are incredibly warm and hospitable, which makes the dining experience even more pleasant. A minor downside was the payment process, as they prefer a single payment for the group rather than separate transactions, which was a bit of a challenge since our party didn't know each other well. Despite this, the quality of food and service makes me eager to return. Highly recommended!

Delicious food with great service and brilliant atmosphere 👌 😀

Best Italian restaurant I have ever known. The food and the staff were amazing. Overall atmosphere just make you to come back there again and again. Highly recommended to friends and family. This restaurant doesn't need to advertise once you visit you will do the job for them. We will definitely go back there with my family.

Lovely Italian restaurant with quality food and service. We’ll be coming back for sure. Strogonoff and sea food pasta were amazing. And don’t forget to get profiterol it’s delicious and the portion is huge!

I’ve been a couple of times it’s a beautiful restaurant and not only is the food great but the staff are out of this world and so friendly. We had Thomas our last visit, he really made our day and went out of his way for us.

Always excellent, an institution

Worth the wait. Food is fantastic at a very cheap price. Great atmosphere and really interesting decorations.

Lovely atmosphere, however the food was rather disappointing; bland and quite oily. Very busy and popular spot.

Decided to give this Italian restaurant a try and boy we were not disappointed it was absolutely amazing food was delicious service was wonderful try it and you will not be disappointed you will probably have to queue to get in it’s that good

It’s been a while since we have been here as we don’t live close but we will definitely be back. We had a fantastic meal and the service was great. A special thanks to Thomas for making our evening special as it was my aunt’s birthday and he had everybody singing happy birthday. Thank you we will be back soon. 🍷🍷

Was disappointed with the food. No taste and very plain.

Pizzeria Francesca in Newcastle is an absolute gem of an Italian restaurant. From the moment you step through the door, you're greeted with warmth and hospitality that instantly makes you feel at home. The ambiance is charming, with cozy seating and a delightful aroma of freshly baked pizza filling the air. But what truly sets Pizzeria Francesca apart is its impeccable service, led by the outstanding server, Thomas. Thomas goes above and beyond to ensure that every guest has a memorable dining experience. His attentiveness, knowledge of the menu, and genuine enthusiasm for the cuisine are evident in every interaction. As for the food, it's nothing short of sensational. Each dish is crafted with care and precision, showcasing the authentic flavors of Italy. Whether you're indulging in their wood-fired pizzas, mouthwatering pasta dishes, or delectable desserts, you can taste the passion and expertise that goes into every bite. In conclusion, Pizzeria Francesca is a must-visit for anyone craving authentic Italian cuisine in Newcastle. With its welcoming atmosphere, exemplary service, and exceptional food, it's sure to leave a lasting impression. And with Thomas leading the way, you're guaranteed a dining experience that exceeds all expectations. Buon appetito!

Always queue but worth the wait.

Amazing italian restaurant with an original decoration and a great variety of meals. You can also enjoy a half pizza + half pasta at a good price. The restaurant is located in Jesmond area and it's usually full so dont forget to book in advance. The food is delicious and the staff very professional. 100% recommended

Great meal but you cant prebook and are likely to have to queue

What a lovely place so charming and old world. The food was really good and the service very good and the prices are so reasonable. Definitely worth a visit.

Quick service and very friendly staff. The Italian staff make it feel very authentic. Be prepared to queue, but it will be worth it

Wasn't sure about waiting in a queue to get a table but it was worth it for the food & the service.

This is a great restaurant in Jesmond. Lovely food, lovely staff and a great atmosphere.

Very nice a great place to eat.

Sooo I come to Newcastle for the football I ended up here for dinner on the first night, it was one of the best Italians I've ever been too, the food was so rich as hearty it was perfect ❤️ the atmosphere was amazing the food was just perfection

Old school family vibe Italian restaurant. The service is great. They make you feel very welcome. You get bread and can ask for balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I went for the bbq ribs which were spare ribs. The sauce was a bit tangy for me but I cleaned the ribs. The pepperoni pizza is £11.60 at dinner or £9.35 at lunch. It had lots of cheese but wasn’t my style of pizza.

Fabulous food ,great service and a lovely atmosphere

Warm,hospitable,value for money,great place

Excellent restaurant with an authentic Italian ambiance. I really appreciated the originality of offering plates with half pizza and half pasta, which allows you to discover a variety of flavors. The Francesca pizza was particularly delicious. Recommended !

Haven't been for a while. Went a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed our meal there. My daughter asked if we could go back no brainer yes. Went in not that busy happy days quick service orders taken all very good starters came Very nice then the main course arrived two chose Pennie pasta dishes got tagatellie the other order pizza looked ok but raw how do you possibly under cook a pizza. At first I thought I was imagining it. But no I could taste the flour and with closer inspection soft and elastic under cooked . Also asked for an extra side of chips didn't arrive and told the waiter still didn't arrive although it was on the bill but they didn't charge for them. Go to any restaurant place and order you would reasonably expect to get what you ordered not what they want to give you and your order to be cooked. Sad to say we won't be rushing back ever .

Great Restaurant, reasonably priced and quick service with great food. Atmosphere for a Wednesday night in January was really good.

This place deserves to be called Italian, fantastic food and great services.

This is an institution of the area and is widely regarded as a great venue. Honestly I think the atmosphere and service can't be faulted but the quality of the food (I ordered half and half pasta pizza, potato skins and an affogato) for the price is dismal. £5 for potato skins seems very expensive. The pasta had very little to no flavour to it, the pizza was okay though for the price certainly not as good as newer pizzerias such as Flint. I did enjoy the affogato though. I would recommend going once for the experience and avoiding the pasta

Fantastic place for families, groups or a meal for two. Huge menu and generous portions. Service was quick and the food delicious.

I visit here every time I'm in the UK

We came here tonight for our friend’s birthday, the food was absolutely fab and our waiter Thomas was especially great even serenading the whole restaurant with us singing happy birthday and xmas songs. Thanks so much to all the staff and especially Thomas you babe.

The best Italian restaurant in Newcastle, fantastic atmosphere and food.

Good value, family friendly, local neighbourhood Italian. Fast friendly service. Would return again but not a destination place for us. Seems ideal for local families.

Tuesday night and it was heaving. Superb food, lovely staff and a warm atmosphere. Highly recommend

This is such a cool place. Great food, great service. It's very popular, so expect to wait, but it's well worth it.

Had the best meal here for my daughter's birthday, fabulous food ( large portions, now need a sleep 😀)and service. Staff were amazing 🤩 they even brought Ice cream with candles for her. Thank you 👍😁😁

Great atmosphere, food and service!

Been going here for over 20years, amazing food, amazing staff, one of Newcastle upon Tynes hidden gems

My daughter lives in Newcastle and highly recommended Francesca,s . We were not disappointed . Gorgeous food , fast friendly service. We loved it . Will definitely be eating here again on our next trip to Newcastle.

Thomas had excellent service and sang happy birthday for my friend, great energy. -Kieran

Absolutely amazing food and service! Could not recommend this place any more. Complementary bread basket is a nice touch to start, and the food is always fresh and comes out really quickly. Good sized portions too so definitely worth the money! Usually have to wait 20-30 minutes, depending on time, but that’s not an issue, as the food is definitely worth the wait! Relatively good pricing too, spending around £20pp for 2 courses and drinks!