Why “Frankie & Benny’s” Leicester Failed to Impress

My family and I have always enjoyed visiting “Frankie & Benny’s” restaurants. We drove to the Leicester Highcross branch today expecting good service and to order a decent breakfast to start celebrating my birthday. When I review restaurants, I always hope to share positive experiences. Previous visits to this restaurant chain had been positive and I didn’t hesitate to share a previous good review (here) which highlights potentially what this branch is capable of. Would we have a similar excellent experience? Unfortunately it was not to be.

We arrived early and decided to come back when the restaurant opened at 11am. The service was disappointing from the off and quite frankly we did not feel welcomed. Opportunities for the server to reset their approach and attempt to reconnect and establish rapport with their customers was missed and I have not experienced such a poor level of customer service for a long time.

The branch opened late (11:07) and quite frankly we could not believe how unfriendly the staff member was. When the doors opened, despite it being obvious that we were waiting (as standing immediately within the outdoor seating area) the staff member came out and positioned an A Frame sign outside. No eye contact or acknowledgement was given before going back inside and then coming out again with another sign.

This was not a good start and had us questioning whether to still go inside as we were just left without any greeting and wondering if we would be welcomed. We truly wanted a positive experience and once inside hoped that things may improve, let’s just say we were not met with enthusiasm. We waited to be greeted and were just asked if there were 3 of us and if we had any allergies etc. At our table, the menus were lightly slung. Maybe this would not have been an issue if the welcome was more friendly. Possibly not an aggressive move to give the benefit of the doubt but did not highlight a keenness to serve and made us wonder if we definitely had a server with a poor attitude. We really hoped the server would perhaps show a better attitude on return.

The smallest of attempts to be slightly more friendly on their return to gain our food order was made but it was difficult to know for sure. We quickly assessed that our fairly straightforward needs would not be accommodated. On ordering two NYC breakfast/brunches, we asked the difference between the standard and large. While they did explain, it did not sound very exact and the differences described as “I think” rather than a definite difference in what you would receive. Not a big issue but the big non starter was when we asked if the eggs could be substituted for something else due to a need to avoid. The answer was a “no” and the ordering system was given as the reason that a substitute could not be offered. Asking if instead a verbal substitution could be arranged, the response was that it would throw out the electronic stock ordering. What was more odd though was that we were not even offered to have the order without the eggs. At this point, as a table we agreed to go elsewhere as we sensed that we were not going to have our needs accommodated without a struggle. Strange, as we have found this restaurant and chain always to be helpful and for dietary needs, have not had an issue historically.

To make matters worse, we had a suspicion that the server was a manager. On leaving, I did volunteer our thoughts and was advised that he one of the managers. I explained that I felt as a manager, he had not welcomed us and that the experience had been poor. While not an apology, he did advise he had experienced some difficulties with equipment. I remained polite and advised even if that is the case, it is not the customer’s fault. I listed the issues and advised that he opened late, placed A frames with no acknowledgement or welcome and service had lacked. Unfortunately this was not enough for the manager/server to still correct their manner and offer an apology. The fact that they were having a bad day did not seem to occur to them that it was not our issue or problem. While I appreciate that customer service is not easy, we felt that they had plenty of opportunities to reset how they were dealing with us. They did not appear at all worried that their own poor service had directly resulted in us wishing to leave and no longer dine at that location and he just walked away. While there may have been difficult issues that the manager had faced previously, it should have not affected our experience as customers. A simple greeting, welcome and getting us seated would have likely been enough to keep us on side.

It goes without saying that we had a disappointing experience. I will likely now avoid this branch of the restaurant chain. Instead, we went elsewhere which was not ideal but gained a warm and smiling welcome at the nearby John Lewis restaurant. Should Frankie and Benny’s read this, I would welcome your comments. And to the staff member involved, either focus on providing good customer service and leading by example or if it is not a role for you, perhaps a rethink is required. Ratings wise, this is poor and I am disappointed to award my first 1 out of 5 star review for “Frankie & Benny’s” at Highcross – Leicester.