Frankie & Benny’s Bury Review
Reviewed by Michelle Wright
Frankie & Benny’s is one of our family favourite restaurants, so when we were invited to pop along to their restaurant at The Rock in Bury, we jumped at the chance. We have always been a big fan of this chain; they are always bustling with a great atmosphere but not too noisy, its quirky downtown American Italian/rat pack decor seems timelessly cool and the staff are always friendly and accommodating. We had been invited to sample their new menu – don’t panic, some of their classic favourites are still on there such as their totally mouth-watering lasagne but there’s also a few changes and additions! From extensive market research, the Frankie and Benny’s team have really listened to their customers who advised the menu was too big, they needed to make certain key dishes what they are famous for – all without losing the family friendly casual dining experience that they are recognised for. They have taken all this on board, added a few presentation twists and maintained highlighted their special sauces. This whole new menu retook and transformation has been loving called ‘the red sauce revolution’.
A fabulously warm welcome awaited us on a very rainy Friday afternoon. Our party consisted of two adults, two children aged 8 and 9 and a baby of 10 months, and the girls were delighted to be shown to a circular booth with balloons on the table.
The girls quickly settled down to work through the activity booklets that had been delivered to our table and within minutes had decided on their menu choices whilst I parked up my sons stroller in a designated area called ‘the buggy park’ – an area not far from the tables but not in anyone’s way.
My little boy Oscar was happily playing in his high chair as my mother and I worked our way through Frankie & Benny’s new menu.
Whilst still making our menu choices, our drinks orders were taken at the table and we were advised that our soft drinks would be refillable – bonus! The girls had spotted non-alcoholic cocktails on the children’s menu, so two of those were added as well! To get us started we ordered two lots of dough balls, which in hind sight was probably too much between us all. The dough balls were nice and soft but we all noted that the garlic butter was a little too runny – almost like oil.
When our drinks arrived we placed our food order of sausages and mash x 2 and a beef burger from the children’s menu, and from the adults lunch menu, a philli burger and a beef burger both with chips.
It didn’t take long for the food to arrive the girls eagerly tucked into their meals – certainly no complaints there! Our burgers were presented on wooden platters and our chips were in small brown bags to tip out. I loved this quirky touch, great if you don’t want to feel over faced by lots of food as you can pour out as much as you want. The dishes were also presented with a great tasting sauce, simply known as ‘Benny’s sauce’ – a great accompaniment with burgers! The food was hot, tasty and basically fabulous – fresh and packed full of flavour.
With empty plates and full tummy’s we decided to have a few minutes break before contemplating a dessert – well, this was the mind-set of the adults in the party but the girls had chosen theirs already!
In our ‘break’ I went to change my son and found the facilities clean and easy to find… my only criticism would be that the safety belt on the baby changing table was broken – something easily fixable but very important.
Our desserts came very quickly after ordering – a chocolate brownie and ice cream, ice cream, ice cream Sunday and a Candy Shop… all completely delicious but the one to take the limelight was definitely the Candy Shop! My daughter was presented with a wooden tray containing a bowl of vanilla ice cream, a small jug of chocolate sauce, a packet of popping candy and 3 small old fashioned glass gars of sweets (and a striped candy bag to take home the sweets not used)! The girls LOVED this – it was quirky and fun and they loved being able to create their own dessert masterpiece! A fabulous idea!
The staff are always great at Frankie & Benny’s – nothing is too much trouble, but one quality I liked in particular at the venue in Bury was how they interacted with the children. Many other restaurants I have been to seem to ignore children and talk to the adults, but at Frankie & Benny’s they go to the effort of joining them into conversations and have fun banter with them – a big plus for a family like mine.
I would recommend Frankie & Benny’s without any hesitation. Their new menu is refreshing but they haven’t lost any of the great family friendly welcoming values they are known for.
What are you waiting for? Get down there now and have a great dining experience!
Rating: 5/5
For more information, to view the new menu or to book a table visit
www.frankieandbennys.com/restaurant/frankie-bennys-bury-rock
Frankie & Benny’s, 15-17 Rock Place, Bury, BL9 0JX | 0161 762 5610
