It was a Monday evening. The impact of Coronavirus was hitting home. Central London was quiet and I was not hopeful of finding a a place to eat that would raise my spirits.

I decided to make a last minute search on O/T for somewhere in the nearby St James/Mayfair/Piccadilly area.

In my numerous visits to London and my shopping strolls long Jermyn St. I must have passed this place dozens of times without even taking a look at its menus.

Well let me tell you had a very pleasant surprise. A brief look on-line at the food menu and a closer look at the wine list together with a modest (i.e. not over-engineered) set of photos, including the restaurant's interior, were enough to stir me out into a chilly, dark March evening. I was hungry!

A wonderful welcome awaited me - the broad smiles and the cheery demeanour of its staff together with clear enthusiasm for their product were very apparent.

The food choices offered were varied and relatively sophisticated without undue pretence. The wine list was very well structured (i.e offering options in geography, appellation, grape varietal, vintage as well as quality and expense.) Something not always evident as a matter of course.

The food was beautifully prepared and presented and delightfully flavourful.

This was a serious restaurant trying to do its best on a dark March evening when the world's spirits (including mine) generally needed lifting. And I for one want to both thank all concerned for persevering and providing encouragement in addition to a very good product. What it displayed is true character in an increasing faceless and less self-reflective world at a time when it was needed.

Try it and see.

Service has lost its magic. Firstly they squeezed us on a sofa while much smaller groups later joined had bigger tables. Our table wasn’t for 5 and it was quite obvious!! they just improvised one more chair where it didn’t belong. When going to the toilets all the way down we struggle as they leave chairs around as obstacles. Manager stumbled into me rushing after toilet and said “sorry gents” and barely gave us a nice look or more than 1 sec of his time going back to chat out loud laughing in Italian with his colleagues. I felt terribly looked afire. What a shame, this location used to be so special

Fabulous food and great service. Highly recommended . Seating is a bit tight esp for 4 persons and above

Excellent hospitality as always!

Had a really lovely lunch from the set menu. Food was delicious and very filling, couldn’t eat all of the dessert. The restaurant is very elegantly decorated and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Would definitely go again.

great service, great ambience and great food. We had a lovely evening

Excellent food, service and value for money! Can’t wait to go again!

Great staff and fabulous food. Never fails to impress

What stands out the most about Franco’s is the service. Friendly, professional and efficient, I was really impressed. The food was delicious and I would highly recommended this restaurant.

Always a great experience but after tonight it seems Franco s 2020 is even better !!!

Great place for business breakfast meetings. Good food and pleasant ambiance.

It is Christmas time in London. A hugely busy time. We are visiting from the states and in recommendation of our friends we choose this restaurant to meet up and celebrate the holiday. We showed up 2 minutes past their procedural waiting time. The traffic and Friday night London congestion contributed. No one called to check our ETA. When we arrived the nature of the dismissive hostess and the smug manager was the biggest disappointment. They had to have sat our table within the 15 minute waiting period. They did not once try to accommodate or help us through this process. We were customers yet you would think not. We went down to the street to a fully booked restaurant and they made it possible for us to have a dinner. I will never ever recommend or suggest for someone to dine here. The attitude of the staff was a shame and does not at all have the culture of service.

I can’t comment value as my dad paid but it was great overall

Wait staff rude and inattentive.

I like Franco’s very much. The food is great. The service is also great. I always sit in the ground floor. This trip I was seating downstairs. It was a bit disappointing. I prefer the ground floor. We had pasta with truffle. Also venison. They were really good.

The pasta with white truffles was great and although it
was white truffles at £ 80 the portion at this price was I felt still too steep !
My steak was super and appreciated the chef adding some white truffles as they had run out of veal chops which I added ! Overall a great meal but a bit steep !

Franco’s is a very traditional Italian. We booked a table for a Saturday evening. When we arrived we were sat downstairs, unfortunately there was no atmosphere and not very busy. The food was nicely presented and the service was good, however as a dining experience there are many better Italian restaurants to choose from for the price.

Honestly, the food was fine, but you can get way better in London! Found a piece of metal in my food too so that didnt help.... not worth it ngl

This was the second visit to Franco’s and probably the last. The food was mediocre if anything. Two of us soup that was nothing special and then both had the halibut as a main course which again was nothing special yet very expensive for what it was.
Service was haphazard with too many people waiting on us and led to confusion about what had already been ordered. I’d expect more from Franco’s.

Excellent service. Food is mediocre at best.

Exceptional food, wines and service and staff. Highly recommend this superb establishment.

Franco’s is always delivers on quality of food/wine, level of old style efficient service and ambience. A wee bit noisy but always busy. A ‘banker’ for a good business lunch if seated upstairs.

Great food and good wine. Seating is a bit tight

We felt rushed and pushed through quickly. My spouse' swordfish was so/so

The restaurant is well established and well-heeled mature clientele reflects that. The service is courteous and professional, food is good albeit unadventurous (this is not necessarily a bad thing). Price is on a steep side but expected for this type of St James eatery experience.

As always a lovely meal in one of my favourite restaurants.

The food is great. The staff are very helpful and friendly. You get positive feeling when you’re in the restaurant.

Positive and friendly service as always!
The truffles pasta was superb as well as Veal Milanese was
great !

Afternoon meal , incredible 3 courses ...I was quite astounded at the presentation of the food as well as more than reasonable portion sizes which I think is becoming a issue at some places . Terrific value with utterly great service .. marvellous

No comments . One of the best old time values in London

Lovely place for dinner. Portion sizes a little on the small side but overall, delicious

Dining with friends. Overall the food was good although I found my crab and avocado starter somewhat tasteless. Feel some of the dishes are overpriced especially as you need to order sides separately. I most probably will return but eat from the good value lunch menu.

Very good food and service. Always a pleasure to visit Francos!

Great atmosphere as usual, staff very professional and efficient and the food is always a solid standard.