Description: A few months ago my daughter and I spent a few days in Blackpool with my friend and her family from Brighton, this meant a few days of eating out! One evening I suggested we went to Frankie And Benny's which none of them had tried befoer so it was nice to introduce them to one of our favourite places to eat.
Frankie And Benny's in Blackpool is situated on Festival Park Rigby Road, Blackpool, FY1 5EP which is very close to the South Shore Travelodge and Blackpool F.C. It is a little tricky to get to if you don't know the side roads of Blackpool very well so it's an idea to use the sat nav like I had to the first time we went!
Frankie And Benny's is a 1950's style American/Italian diner come restaurant. It is both casual yet smart so I don't think you tend to feel out of place however you are dressed. The restaurant is covered in old style pictures from the 50's and plays music from that era which is always upbeat and keeps in with the American diner type feel. The tables are always set ready as soon as you enter the restaurant with cutlery and napkins. Upon entry to the restaurant you are greeted by a waiter or waitress who will hand the menus out and guide you to your table.
There is a wide choice of food on the menu which includes pizza's, pasta, burgers and steaks. For the children there are two menu's, one for the younger end and one slightly larger for older children. If you enter the restaurant before 5pm there is a lunch menu in which you can choose one course for £5.95, two courses for £8.25 or three for £9.25 which is a good offer although the menu is somewhat limited. There is a licensed bar in the restaurant so if you wish to have an alcoholic drink with your meal you can do so or just stick to soft drinks like myself!
Our visit
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We arrived at the restaurant at around 6pm so we expected quite a wait for a table as there was nine of us but we were seated immediately on a long table down the centre of the room. The children are issued a small fun pack along with their menus and the adults are handed their menus as the drinks order was taken. As soon as we sat down my daughter wanted to swap seats as she always wants a red napkin as opposed to the green one - of course we have to actually move and not just swap the napkin!!! As soon as the waitress had taken our drinks order another came over with a helium balloon for each of the children which was a nice touch! A short while later we placed our food order, I decided on the American Hot pizza and my daughter opted for the margherita from the childrens menu. One thing to be aware of is that the pizza's on the childrens menu are the same size as the adults! Our food arrived in just over ten minutes which was great considering the amount of people in our party! The food was extremely tasty, the pizza is one of the nicest I've tasted and has a great combination of pepperoni and jalapenos. It was nice to see a table full of different foods as normally I go with my friend and her son so there was a much wider range on this occasion. The steak looked absolutely delicious and the pasta dishes seem a really good size. The waitress gave us plenty of time to finish our meal and waited patiently while the children picked at their food after the adults had all finished. We all decided to have dessert and I chose a cherry crumble and my daughter had brownies and ice cream. The desserts were quite small in comparison to the main meals but they are sufficient enough as we were feeling a little on the full side already! The crumble comes in a small ramekin along with the cutest little jug of custard! Unfortunately we had a significant wait for the desserts which sadly seems to be the norm for Frankie and Benny's and this resulted in the children becoming very restless! When they arrived however they were delicious!
My four year old daughter has a real fascination with toilets whenever we are out (as do many children!) so of course she just had to go! The toilets are very nice and again follow the theme of the restuarant and they are always immaculate in my experience. One thing you will find in the toilets is a small vending machine with chewqble toothbrushes in and I always mean to get one just to try but always forget!
As we finished our desserts we asked for the bill which came to around £140 but for the nine of us I think that was quite reasonable.
I have a very high opinion of Frankie And Benny's at Blackpool, it is by far the best one I have visited. The staff are all friendly and there was limited waiting time in comparison to others I have found. The car park is extremely large as there is a cinema, pub and McDonalds on site also so there is plenty of spaces to park. I would happily recommend Frankie And Benny's as it is a great family restaurant which is reasonably priced and has many choices which ensures it caters for most tastes. I really like how the children receive the fun pack which contains a funky multi-coloured pencil crayon, an activity book and a small jigsaw or game so they have something to do during the waiting period for the food.
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