Francesco’s Restaurant

Good, ambiance and service were great! Authentic Italian dining. We ordered the linguini and penne vodka — all delicious! Would definitely come back here as well as recommend!

Francis and her Dad, Francesco, rock this place! A great neighborhood spot with homemade Italian specialities. Tonight we shared a super fresh house salad, fried calamari and a tender veal chops. If you are looking for upscale ambience, this is not the place for you. If you’re looking for great food at a terrific family run restaurant then come to Francesco’s.

The restaurant itself is very old and honestly looks rough when you first walk in. The food is truly delicious! The staff is a family and super friendly. Very laid back atmosphere. All the pasta dishes are fantastic and authentic. The price isn’t bad considering the size of the portions you get. You will definitely be going home with leftovers. We really enjoyed it and We will be back!

I have been here 3 or 4 times and every time it gets better. Today I brought my Father for lunch. We both enjoy traditional Italian restaurants, so pretty soon they will be gone. My Father had a gigantic plate of eggplant parm. which came with a side of broccoli with garlic and oil. I had spaghetti with anchovies an old school Neopolitan peasant dish. Only way to describe it was mouthwatering. One of the best old world Italian in Westchester County. Father and son team to a great job. If your into Italian tradition you will love it here.

Amazing great
Authentic Italian fare
The bread was so amazing
The shrimp was good
The chicken was delicious
Pizza joint with tables at best
Do NOT go here better dressed then yoga pants
You will look ridiculous
Food good
Small bar

All the years I lived in White Plains (24 years) I never knew about this restaurant. And I like the fact that it’s family owned. Me and my girls ate here and I’m upset about the fact that I didn’t eat here sooner. Everything was delicious and you can tell that the food was made with love. Very comfortable setting. Quaint and cozy. The chicken parm was so tender. The penne ala vodka was flavorful. The shrimp cocktail was deliciously spicy. The service was great and on point. The waitress was a sweatheart. I will definetly be back.

You either love Francesco’s or hate them. We love coming here for their home-​y Italian fare.
OR– if you don’t know how Francesco’s rolls– you may end up hating them!
Tonight, Francesco’s tested everybody’s limit. The wait was extremely long-​at least an hour, but when we are craving really good Italian– we dive right in here.
The ambience is very family friendly. I almost imagine Francesco’s as THAT restaurant-​that on a rainy day you’d want to be stuck
In it. {That’s just me}. It’s totally cozy. So what if Francesco’s is outdated!
Food is fantastic!

Absolutely the BEST pizza pie I have EVER consumed! Literally. The flavor was spot on DELICIOUS and the pie was extra thin, just like I like it! It was cheesey, it was made-​to-​order hot, it was PHENOMENAL!
I also had the pleasure of meeting Francesco, and he is an absolute gem. He made me feel like family and I couldn’t feel more privileged to have met him. Before I left Francesco gave me a t-​shirt from his restaurant. I can honestly say, I will wear it with Pride.
Next time I am in NY I will make sure to come back to Francesco’s no matter where I am in NY… I wouldn’t want any other pie.
If you like flavor, good service, friendly people, and pizza, this is the place to go!

While on a mission to find Italian restaurant my friends and i found this place and figure we give it a try. This place by far has the best tasting Italian food i ever had in my life. I had the shrimp scampi which I KID YOU NOT was #AMAZING most places you go they give small shrimp but these shrimp was the biggest i ever seen in a scampi. The Drinks here are amazing as well we had apple martinis. Stuff her is super friendly and willing to help make your experience perfect. You must try this place out for yourself you wont be disappointed.

So this was just pure luck. On a hunt for pasta in White Plains ended up walking 15 minutes to this place I found on Unilocal.Never heard of it before and only had 20 reviews on Unilocal but to my surprise IT IS SO GOOD. It’s very small and very very quaint, but don’t let looks fool you. This place had by far the best pasta (I had Penne Alla Vodka) and it was just amazing, I can’t emphasize enough how good it was. The two waitresses were equally good and treated us like their best customers even though we’ve never been there. They also went out of their way to get us great drinks which unfortunately weren’t nearly as good as the food. They said they have a full bar next door but I didn’t see it and from the outside the restaurant does look super dark and the inside has a diner-​ish feel. All in all the place does need to get updated but it’s so worth coming here for the food.

This place is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Westchester. Old school authentic Italian food. They excel at the simple things, the salad is outstanding with roasted red peppers and perfect amount of dressing. Stuffed mushrooms are my favorite appetizer and the best rendition of that dish I’ve ever had. Menu contains all your typical Italian classics the chicken parm is great as is the penne vodka. The pizza is also 5 star quality and worth ordering. Definitely check it out.

Not sure why this place has so many positive reviews. The food is overpriced and bland. The wine is $ 30 a bottle and screw top. My party ordered stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. Not sure how you can screw these up but I couldn’t even finish one. The filling was all dry bread crumbs. I ordered the cavatelli with broccoli. The plate was drenched in oil and garlic but had zero flavor. The cavatelli was overcooked and overall not good. I am 100% Italian so maybe I’m picky but I wouldn’t come back here again.

I love a restaurant that looks like it’s a holdover from the oldern days. Francesco’s definitely fits the bill in that regard. They have the obligatory neon sign out front, dark interior, and ‘all business’ staff that looks like they’ve been working there for decades.
Looks aside though, we really didn’t love the food. We got the pasta fagioli, a cheese pizza, and the pork chops and vinegar pepper entrée. The fagioli and pizza were decent enough. Not particularly good or bad in any way but definitely okay and eatable. The nearly $ 30 pork chop entrée was awful. The chops were so tough and filled with fat and other inedible bits that we couldn’t even get thru a quarter of it. Even their military grade knife was no match for these horrendous chops. A complete bomb-​a-​roo of a dish.
I don’t know, over $ 70 for bad pork chops and average pizza and soup (plus 2 sodas, tax, and tip)? Not the best experience really. Francisco’s definitely has a cool vibe but in the end it’s very average and expensive for what it is.

great old place with excellent food.
its plate price is a tad high, but portion size is huge & quality damn good.
the owner (frank) still works the kitchen, so you know its good.
favs — pizza, lasanga, and chicken parm.
the do to-go’s as well. stop by and check out what its all about.

I remembered eating here over 20 years ago and decided to return with my Daughter and my brother’s family. The ambiance and décor was old school Italian-​American, the service very experienced and well versed, but the real reason to eat here is simple — IT’S THE AWESOME FOOD!
Our choices were wide ranging — penne alla vodka w/​shrimp, baked ziti, chicken franchese, Francesco’s seafood medley arribata, mussels marinara and cavatelli with broccoli.
Our opinions were unanimous — everyone absolutely loved their meal. It’s all about great family and great food, we were fortunate to have both at Francesco’s. We will be back much sooner than before. Get there early (before 6:30pm), but if not, it’s still worth the wait.

Dive bar /​mom and pop atmosphere, great staff, big portions, prices on the lower side. 1 star down due to long waiting time for our dish (30 min.)

This is an old school Westchester Italian restaurant — sort of like La Manda’s, but Francesco’s takes credit cards. Décor is straight out of the 70s, prices, although moderate, are not.
Lately I have been coming for lunch, I haven’t been here in the evening for a while, as the wait on weekend nights, when families come for their excellent pizza, can be long. Come at lunch and the place will be less than half full.
The place makes a killer veal parmagiana sandwich, not cheap at 11.50 but definitely worth it. On the last visit, we paired it with Manhattan clam chowder, usual tired and bland at other spots, but it was very good here.
If you can’t park in front there’s an ample municipal lot behind the restaurant.
Recommended.

pizza is the best if you like thin and crunchy crust
Food is great but if u care about décor stay away.
Plus if u don’t like to wait also be careful.
Lasagna is superb. Lots of meat and cheeE. Great sauce.
House salad is not great. Iceberg lettuce.
All in all come for food and pizza and it will be a favorite. Old time family run business where everyone knows the staff.

Came to white plains for a wedding. Went in for lunch as one of recommended options by bridal party. Was therefore excited, expecting some good homemade pasta etc. First off, senior gentleman, ?probably owner, waited on us. Was not friendly at all as some of these reviews have alluded to. When I asked for specific recommendation he just blew me off and said «well ya know its all good. Pasta? Pizza? Wedge? It’s all good» we ordered Cesar salad, spaghetti and clams, and penne with butter sauce and chicken. Cesar was nothing special, but whatever. Clams were salty and rubbery and the spaghetti was clearly out of a grocery box. Same with penne. The shocker? 4oz of dry grilled chicken, penne, and butter was apparently custom and we got charged 15.95. At lunch. Total bill was close to $ 40 no drinks.
Bottom line: total tourist trap. go have a nice meal at the local Cheesecake Factory and save the real and soulful Italian for the big city.

I came here after reading about Francesco’s on Jeff Varasano’s pizza list, which is among the best I’ve come across. As he described, Francesco’s is an Italian restaurant that happens to serve pizza. Opened sometime in the late 1950’s, it’s still owned and operated by the same family. It’s off the main drag in White Plains and doesn’t look like much from the outside; inside it looks like a typical Italian restaurant with some booths in the front with tables in the back, paintings on the wall, dim lighting, etc. The service was very good, contrary to what some others are saying on Unilocal.Granted that I came here for lunch with only 2 other tables around, but I got exactly what I came for here: a great pizza in an old school atmosphere.
I got a medium pie with sausage. The crust was the star attraction; it was well fermented with bready character, and crisp as well. I usually like my pizza with a thinner crust and less seminola used, but those are smaller complaints; it was a bit leathery too, similar to Santarpio’s in Boston. The cheese was applied with a heavy hand, and while it was good it did overshadow the garlicy tomato sauce. However, it did do a good job of keeping some great sausage chunks in place. Bursting with pork and fennel, these I would say are the topping of choice here. As a whole this was a great pie that lived up to the hype. The medium was also the perfect size to have leftovers to take home!
Looking at the other reviews here, maybe I need to come back to try the other food. It’s great to see an old school Italian restaurant like Francesco’s doing so well. With old school Italian food becoming more rare each year with older places shuttering, Francesco’s is a gem. I’d eat here regularly if I lived nearby.