Fran’s Restaurant

The service here was good but the restaurant was kind of dirty. There was food on the floor and fruit flies everywhere. I ordered off Fran’s favourites and got the meatloaf which was cold. The food was mediocre but my portion was big. My husband ordered the fried chicken and waffles. But it was more like three fried chicken wings… not fried chicken. Not worth it ppl… So many better diners in Toronto.

Alright but would only go back for breakfast. Ordered chicken and waffles and it came with one waffle and 3 wings? Ok, but for $ 13 I could get way better. The chicken tasted and was cooked well, but the waffles were not the best. I was expecting at least a quarter chicken. Staff was fast and friendly.

Diner food. Nothing more, nothing less. I was afraid to try anything but breakfast and even that was mediocre.

My friends and I stopped by here on a chilly night at around 8pm. Initial impressions of the place were positive as the décor was nice and was warm and inviting. The place was busy but not packed so I expected to be seated right away but we had to wait a few minutes to be seated as there was no one out to greet us and show us to our booth. As a small line was forming, we were finally shown to our booth which was nice and comfy but that’s not too important as we came famished and ready to devour some food. The only problem was that our waiter either forgot about us or just taking his sweet time to give us the menu when he said he’d be back with them. After 5 mins we asked for the menu from a different waiter and a new, prettier waitress was placed in our section. She was very attentive and courteous to us throughout the whole dining and redeemed the service portion of this review.
I ordered the French onion soup and the Shephard’s pie while my friends had the meatloaf and the chicken parmigiana. Food comes really fast.
The soup was good (maybe I was just starving) but could have been a lot hotter coming out. The slice of baguette was kinda small for the serving dish and was too far submerged that it couldn’t get the cheese on top nicely broiled. I liked the kick in flavour that the fresh herbs added (I think it was either thyme or rosemary) but it’s overpowered by excessive use of what I can only imagine as Worcestershire sauce as there was a very prominent vinegary aftertaste.
The Shepherd’s pie with veggies on the side was tasty but has an aftertaste surprisingly similar to the soup which leads me to believe there is an excessive use of Worcestershire sauce in an attempt to maximize flavour and broaden the depth of flavour. The mash could have used a little more butter in it and more time under a broiler to get a nicer colour and crispness. overall, it’s tasty for what it is but feels kind of one dimensional.
My friends seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed their food and rated it a 7 out of 10.
overall, I enjoyed the experience here save the service blunder at the beginning. It’s OK food at and OK price and is great when you’re really hungry and just need some comfort food. I’d give it an 2.5 but round up to 3 stars because I liked the décor and feel of the space. I’d come back to see what other stuff on the menu tastes like because the all day breakfast menu looks really good.

Bad experience here with their FISH & CHIPS! I was very upset and disappointed with the food I ordered. I couldn’t eat my fish at all. After the first bite I could tell that the fish WASN“T FRESH, was OVERCOOKED and covered with THICK BATTER. I even thought that they did deep fried it twice that was why it looked burnt and hard to chew. I don’t think i’m too old to chew the battered fish fillet.
However, I was too silly to not send it back and asked for another one as my husband told me to. I thought they wouldn’t treat me with a nice dish anymore if I say something. So I packed it back home and threw it away. (- -«) now I regret it and I am still upset!
It would be better if I talked to our server in the first place… and it might be my bad to order something that shouldn’t be ordered in breakfast restaurant! If I ordered classic breakfast, I would be satisfied, I guess. Anyway, I would rather go to Lakeview or somewhere else next time.

This place is the worst.
Used to love Fran’s when I was a little guy.
Came here with a friend after a long night of working. The outside menu said milkshakes $ 3.99, however once you’re told the shakes are actually $ 5.99???
I asked the absent minded waiter about this only for him to say «oh that’a wrong».
Thanks buddy.
The service was absolutely below abysmal quality. Our waiter wouldn’t even look at us. Never even said hello or goodbye. No tip for you my friend.
On top of that the food tastes like it’s been used to mop the dirty washroom floor.
Don’t give these punks your money.

I thought this place was good. I ordered the Maple Leaf and I liked the home fries a lot and they were crispy on the outside and soft inside. The eggs came out perfectly sunny side up and the sausage was very tasty. The baked beans had quite a bit of bacon that tasted better than Senator’s. For Americans that are used to IHOP, this place is way better.

I’m in Toronto a few times a year and I always make a point to stop in for breakfast. If you have a big appetite it can be satisfied without seriously draining your wallet. This location is open 24 hrs, so it is a great place to stop in for some poutine after a night of partying. My top picks from the menu are any breakfast that includes pancakes, and poutine. You may want to choose one or the other. I’m not sure I’d want poutine with pancakes.

Great place to go for breakfast — any time of the day! We came on a very busy Sunday morning and didn’t wait too long to be seated. Service was fast and friendly for our group of seven. Food was well cooked for a fast turnover restaurant.

Fran’s is like IHOP in America (is there IHOP in Canada??) — the most basic breakfast ever. Prices were reasonable to me, at least, and the interior of the restaurant seemed clean. Nothing special about the food, service, or anything here. Pretty plain, simple, and average. Thus, three stars from me.
I got two eggs, toast, and potatoes. You can’t really mess that up. Eggs were cooked over easy as requested, toast came with butter and jam, and potatoes were fried and cubed.
I find it interesting that when you ask for hot sauce, you’re presented with Tabasco and Sriracha… weird! Didn’t know these kinds of places ever carried Sriracha!
Not sure why there would be a wait at a very basic restaurant that neither shines nor sucks.

One of bigger location, I find it a bit slower in service then other two location I have been to but that just might be the size
I went with big breakfast, (3 eggs. Bacon, ham, sausage and pancakes) it was good, quality doesn’t change thou I will probably stick to one of the other locations.

No, No and No!
I normally like Frans, but this location is horribly understaffed and under-​cared for.
My 3 friends and I were here on a Saturday night, so I understand it’s going to be a little busy.
However, we waited 15 minutes to be seated at 11:40pm. We finally sat down and asked for a pitcher of water that never came. Our waitress hardly spoke english and had a hard time understanding us. She was extremely stressed out so we did our best to work with her.
We put in our food order, which took 35 minutes to get to us! Our food was okay, so I won’t complain about that. One of the guys at my table ordered 5 sliders and only received 3 of them. (The waitress never checked up on us to see how our food was, just came once to refill the draught of water at our table)
When she came back to bring us our bills, my friend was charged for all 5 sliders! I asked her if we could speak to the manager about the waiting times and incorrect charges, and she said no, because there was nothing the manager could do for me… What?! Oh my. All she did was not charge us for the 2 sliders.
We paid, and on our way out, the blonde manager was sitting at the bar doing what looking like nothing. Our poor waitress was running around like a chicken with her head cut off and there’s the manager sitting down doing nothing to help the stressed out servers. As much as I disliked the service, I felt bad that all of the servers were being overworked.
I won’t go back here. First and last time!

Would have given it zero but I don’t know if that’s an option.
Came here after a night of drinking (staff party) and was hungry for a good burger and a nice cold soda. What me and friend who came along for the ride got can be summarized in one word: horrible.
Took over an hour to be seated. There weren’t too many other options for sit down dining at the time we were there and she wanted Fran’s. When we were finally seated we were ignored for another 20 minutes. The waitress finally came around and took drink orders very quickly, then disappeared for another 30 minutes. By the time she took our food order we were digesting our own stomachs. The food finally arrived 40 some minutes later and the server was nowhere to be found after that. To be fair, she was swamped and wasn’t unfriendly, but an explanation would have gone a long way.
Whole experience took 3 hours. Ridiculous. Won’t ever come back. Zero tip. Like I said, if she’d said something maybe I’d have given lenience, but if you’re making people wait that long you should tell them ahead of time.

Went this morning. Tried their chicken & waffles breakfast. A little disappointed that the menu didn’t specify if was strictly chicken wings, most places do a chicken breast. However the wings were tasty and crispy. Service was a little lackluster, disappointing when our city is trying to shine for Pan Am games. Server never came to ask me about the meal quality. Then, when she brought bill over to pay with credit she didn’t even bring a pen. Seems like a basic thing to do. In any case, my cokes were free, again likely ’cause she forgot to punch them in. I got that going for me.

I used to eat at this location on a semi regular basis until a few years ago. I’d been standing, waiting for a table for about 10 minutes. No one came to seat me. Then these 2 girls dressed in skimpy outfits came in and were seated immediately. When the guy that seated them came back, I approached him and told him that I’d been waiting 10 minutes for a table. He responded, rather apathetically «do you want a table?» I said no and that I wanted to speak to a manager. He refused. I don’t know if this person still works there, but that’s irrelevant as I won’t return to this restaurant, which is a shame because I used to love going there to eat. The only reason this place gets a star is because I can’t post a review without one.

We went to Fran’s today instead of our usual quick spot (the Senator) because we wanted a change.
I ordered the chicken and waffles, which was actually very good at Pickle Barrel. Instead of the «spicy friend chicken on a whole waffle» I got 5 tiny bland chicken wings on a soggy waffle. This cost a ripoff price of $ 14.
Needless to say that’s the last time I’ll ever go to Frans. I think it only stays in business because of the late-​night crowd and the tourists who don’t know better.

We were walking by and we were hungry so we decided to give Fran’s a try. Our waiter was very friendly and answered some questions my wife had. My wife had the sirloin steak special and I had the shepherd’s pie. I found it did take a little bit longer than usual to get our good. However, when it did arrive we both found our dishes delicious. For desert we decided to share a carrot cake. It was good but could have been a bit bigger considering the price. Overall we enjoyed our time there and will return (I do want to try their breakfasts).

I was a bit weary coming here with the dimly lit Unilocal stars, but had a great lunch experience! It’s a great place for a large group as they can put together enough tables to accommodate 10+ people. There were tons of choices on the menu, including some Asian dishes which I wouldn’t recommend. I find that Asian food is never good at a diner, and this place is no exception. My coworker had the orange chicken and didn’t like it very much. The waitress was fast and friendly.
Fran’s Lunch Special $ 8 «Your choice of tuna salad wrap, bruschetta with cheese, or Fran’s Western Sandwich with any lunch-​sized daily soup or salad.» — I went with the Western Sandwich and cream of tomato soup and it was good for diner food. The Western Sandwich is a chopped ham, onions and peppers, and 3 large eggs omelette sandwich. The soup was good, but it could have been hotter instead of luke warm. The egg was a bit bland in the sandwich.

Fran’s is like an old pair of pants… it may be dated, have some holes in it, but you just gotta try them on every few years to see if they still fit. Ditto for Fran’s.
I’ve been coming in for breakfast for years and there are really no surprises. The food is good, staff are friendly, location is perfect… what’s not to like?
So why not a higher score? It’s just that in Toronto there are much better places to tempt your taste buds with… and this is strictly comfort food.

This is one of my favourites — I always come back when I’m at a loss for where else to eat! I love coming here with groups or with a friend or two. There are always lots of options for food, whether it’s a snack or a meal. The snacks are great for sharing, especially since they can be a bit on the pricey side. I also really love the grilled cheese here.
The waiting staff here have all been really polite and friendly — they’re great about splitting the bill if you’re in a big group. Also — if you go to the bathroom, take a peek at the bar/​lounge behind the main store. It’s quite the secret escape!
All in all, Fran’s is a great diner. It’s basically what you expect a sleek, downtown diner to be! Well worth a stop if you’re not sure what else to grab for dinner.

Fran’s est une institution à Toronto. Style ‘diner’, c’est d’une qualité acceptable mais le restaurant bénéficie davantage d’un excellente emplacement et des horaires étendus que d’une réputation culinaire particulière.