Francesca’s

Food was o.k. Atmosphere so-​so. Go early, they will not hold
your reservation. They gave our take home left-over’s to the couple
we were with, and gave us theirs.

Always been a solid Italian fine-​dinning experience. The prices are reasonable and the portions are generous. My family often times carry-​outs an entrée, an appetizer, and a bruschetta and we are able to feed 3 adults with it! Try the mussels in the red sauce. Delish!!!

Good food, very poor service. We reserved a table and they were unable to honor our reservation. Had to wait an extra 20 minutes in very cramped quarters. Not the end of the world but there was a line of people that experienced the same thing.
There was a bigger gray haired lady who was very hungry and she became very vocal. The manager got into somewhat of a yelling match with her. She then proceeded to complain for the next 20 minutes. Bad start to the our experience here and it did not get better.
Once we were finally sat the server eventually came to our table a good 5 minutes later to check our pulse. She took our drink order and disappeared.
We sat near the horseshoe bar. It was way too crowded for the middle of an intimate restaurant setting. There were some townie hillbills at the bar loudly cursing and being obnoxious. Clearly over served. The staff or management did nothing to quiet the riffraff down. Again, not a big deal if I were at the local watering hole but this is an intimate Italian restaurant that caters to couples!
The server came back with our drinks a good 15 minutes later. Overall the service was painfully slow and inattentive throughout the night. Once our check came we waited another good 15 minutes to pick the payment up.
Oh the food… it was actually pretty good as well as the atmosphere (minus the over served drunks cursing at the bar). The drinks were also good…
Unfortunately this place is run horribly from management to staff. So either we caught them on a really bad night or the place is run horribly and ownership needs to get their team in shape. Either way I won’t be coming back.

Francescas in West Dundee has always been on point. Service, food, ambiance, management, cleanliness… everything about this place is always top notch. Never a disappointment. I got my entire family and many of my friends hooked on his place :) keep it up Francescas! Thank you for making it a place where I feel like family when I walk in. See you soon! :)

We had a nice dinner here, the menu has plenty of choices but isn’t overwhelming. Each item we had (calamari, pasta, chicken, potatoes) was very good. The atmosphere here was nice, although at times it was loud.

We came on a Saturday evening for our First visit. Order Calamari and was good. I had the tuna my wife the linguini
with shrimp and scallops. Both uwere excellent. The place seem a bit congested but service was good. Every time we looked at the door there was a group of people waiting to be seated. I will come back.

I can’t say enough great things about this place. Our visit was fantastic!!! We reserved for a party of 5, but 3 of us arrives early, so we had a seat at the bar.
The bartender was very personable & prompt. He did forget the vermouth in my brother’s martini, but we were yapping at him quite a bit, so probably distracted him. Didn’t stop bro from drinking that whole thing! The bartender gave the other member of our party wine suggestions and proper tastes. Then when bread was requested, he not only brought the bread, but olive oil, butter and Parmesan cheese!
So, we get to our table and enjoy wine, appetizers, mains & desserts. Our server (I never did get her name — she had short blonde hair & glasses) was knowledgable, helpful and soooooooo personable! We were sampling everyone’s food and — wow! — everything was delicious! (That fig & prosciutto app was original and yum, yum) I had the red snapper, my bro had the veal, my folks split a penne with sausage & cheese dish (eh) and our star of the evening had the broccoli («very broccoli») soup. Only common comment from the others was that the caesar dressing was bland. We ordered 2 desserts: the pistachio gelato profiteroles and an apple tart. They were so good, we got the coconut cake, too! [Please pardon I’m not giving the actual names of the dishes, but, I can’t remember them and you get the gist]
The restaurant is small, tasteful, not loud at all, but also not library-​quiet to inhibit your conversation. We really enjoyed ourselves. Thank you, Francesca’s!

I originally stumbled upon Francesca’s while here for the week for a job interview. I thought it was the best food I had eaten that whole week. Me and my fiancé ordered the Rigatoni con Broccoli and the Salmone con Vongole. Both were so mouthwateringly delicious. They also serve hot out of the oven bread with oregano infused olive oil to dip in.
I got the job and ended up moving just a few miles from Francesca’s. I was a little hesitant to go back to the restaurant because 1) I had just come back from Italy and 2) I wasn’t sure if I had hyped the place up in my head or not. This time I ordered the Spaghetti con Cozzee but asked them if they could substitute the marinara sauce for a cream sauce… they said it was no problem. It was soOOooo good, better than most of the pastas I had in Italy and I definitely didn’t hype this place up in my head.
The people there were also extremely nice and the service is great. Highly recommend.

Holy cow, how I adore Francesca’s. The pastas are cooked perfectly, the fish is from probably the best purveyor in Chicagoland, and their drink menu is fantastic (especially on the nights when they have $ 5 martinis). We ALWAYS order bruschetta, even though we frequently have a server who corrects my pronunciation of the word. Even though I speak fluent Italian. And went to school in Italy. Culinary school. That’s how good the freaking bruschetta is.
My biggest complaints about Francesca’s are pretty minor:
–They aren’t open for lunch on the weekends.
–Their desserts have come from numerous sources over the years, so there’s a small consistency issue. But I’d still recommend dessert.
It’s a great place for a romantic dinner, a special occasion, or if you just want to spoil yourself a little. Go now.

One of mine and our friends favorite places to go to dinner. Their menu is constantly changing with new features and tastes in the Italian cuisine.
After numerous visits, we have found some of our favorite meals. When it’s not on the menu you just have to ask, and usually go be able to accommodate your request.

Great food, great service. The lady and I have been in numerous times, and we have no complaints. My only advise is on the weekends, make reservations because they can fill up pretty quick.

Excellent food, service was great and the price is fair. Tonights meal could have stood up to any Chicago Italian restaurant. We will be definitely be back!

If you’ve read my reviews you’ll know I’m a fan of the Francesca’s family of restaurants. Just like the others this one serves great food at reasonable prices.
This was my first visit to this location and I really liked it! The food was very consistent and the service was great. I met an old friend that I hadn’t seen in over a year and we took our time while never ever feeling rushed by the server.

The food is fantastic. The atmosphere is wonderful. The terrible service ruined the whole experience.
It took two of us TWO HOURS to sit, order and eat dinner and dessert, and pay. Actually, we’re still sitting here waiting for someone to come and pick up our credit card. On a Thursday evening.
We will never come back here.

As such the experience was Ok. the staff were friendly and décor looked good. But I think since it was too cold, we were not happy with our seats since we were rushed to the table next to the windows. Good thing, we were brought fresh bread which was hot, but we were not told bread was brought so we ordered some bruschetta alla romano which was pretty good, presentation was good.
They didn’t bring any kind of dipping for the fresh bread. Atleast they could have made a dipping out of the olive oil and put some cheese and pepper, but nah. So, we ordered the Ravioli al Spinaci which was uhmm pretty good and the plate was big and the Pollo Arrosoto Al Romano which was good. I thought the gravy/​sauce was good, had a lot of salt which complemented the chicken. We got a Tiramisu to go, which also tasted good. I paid little more than $ 30 for the food, was it good — YES, was it worth it $ 30 — NO.
P. S. I would have liked to see a bigger menu, seems really small with less options.

Just spot on everytime! I have gone here for years, since it opened in West Dundee, always such great food, never got a bad plate of food here.
They are great to eat in, a more classy place (not formal), but they are also great to order out for pick-​up.
Also, they change up their menu very frequently, not just for seasonal menu’s, but on a regular basis.
I will continue to go and recommend highly to everyone I know.

First time here & was for our anniversary tonight; everything was amazing!
Hostess, waiter & servers were all so nice and professional
Food was phenomenal!
Prosciutto bruschetta, carbonara spaghetti, tomato basil sauce & shells, pumpkin cheesecake and banana choc chip bread pudding with gelato

Spaghetti con frutti di mare was worth five stars in its own. The shrimp were very fresh, and the scollops were perfectly cooked while being tossed in al dente pasta with clams and muscles in a simple –yet delicious– marinara sauce. The soup of the day was zucchini and I didn’t expect much but that surprised me too! The service was okay, but I felt neglected after the restaurant got busy. My check was brought to me without a word from my server, even after he charged the card and brought it back– no even a goodnight, Normally poor service would mean less than four stars, but the food made up for it and I’d return!

My absolute favorite place when I come up to the Chicago burbs. This place is a no-​brainer whichever Francesca’s you go to… But, the one in West Dundee I think reigns…

We went here to celebrate a belated Mother’s Day dinner for the women in our family. We had early reservations and were accommodated quickly. Our service was GREAT all the way around. Overall, this is a nice restaurant that I would return to.
Food: We enjoyed a mix of food and shared everything at the table. For appetizers, we selected the calamari and bruschetta; both of which, were amazing. There was a salad on special that featured candied walnuts, bleu cheese and raspberry vinaigrette. None of us would recommend that again as it was underwhelming. The dressing was just plain gross. The highlight of the dining experience was the spicy seafood pasta. That was hands down the best thing we ate all night. We also enjoyed salmon, roasted chicken and wild mushroom stuffed pasta. Everything was pretty good.
Drinks: We had a few glasses of castle rock Pinot noir. They were just ok. We also had a mixed drink that was good.