Francesco’s Ristorante Pizzeria

Love this place! It’s so awesome to see Francesco in the kitchen and to be able to see your meal being cooked! Every time my family from out of town visits this is always a staple! Wine selection is also wonderful :)

Excellent Italian restaurant. Particularly love their Lasagna. Their bread with garlic oil is also excellent. Good service.

Fantastic restaurant. Amazing Italian food as good as anything in Italy. The Chef is the best in town. Great atmosphere and service. Can’t go wrong here.

I forgot what this is called but it was the first appetizer. It’s basically a bruschetta with chicken. I didn’t love the white sauce you can see on top. It was supposed to be pesto but it tasted like a mustard cream sauce. I drizzled some of the dipping sauce on top and scraped off some of the cream and it was much better. 5 stars though for the service and for the bread they brought to the table. They brought two baskets actually and both had different bread and a different dipping sauce which I thought was interesting. I preferred the dip with the Parmesan over the one with the balsamic.

Francesco’s Ristorante still the best. Yesterday they were celebrating their 4^th anniversary and it was a true party with their clients. I wish Mr. Aiello all the best in the world, he and his staff are the best!

As a regular, I really like this place, been here several times with friends and family, I live less than a mile from this place. Tonight we had an incredible waiter named Karim, excellent service. We ordered Grigliata Gamberani had it two or three times before, was supposed to come with Arugula, however came with watercress or something else. The second dish was a simple pizza ordered with mushrooms a $ 2.25 upcharge, mozzarella cheese a $ 3.95 a upcharge, and some bolognesse sauce a $ 4.95 upcharge. Total price for a pizza $ 26.00 I was floored by the price when all the specialty pizzas are $ 14.96. In addition the pizza was very soggy, this is the 2^nd time I’ve ordered pizza here and it’s been soggy.
The female manager stopped by and couldn’t care less, but kept saying sorry, it’s the cost for upgrading a pizza. Told her we were regulars and again couldn’t care less.
I wasn’t looking for anything free not my style, but not looking at paying $ 26.00 for a pizza. It’s a shame because we frequent this restaurant alot, but have lost my business based on the manager who has no clue.

First time I had lunch and was impressed.
The meatballs and spaghetti was served pipping hot and the flavor was amazing!
The bread was tender and dipped in oil seasoned as well. The salad was a fresh mix of greens and the balsamic vinaigrette was a good compliment, too.
The restaurant is small but warm and friendly.
The open kitchen adds to the ambience and the aromas make you crave the delicious Italian food that comes out of there.
I’ll be back to try more menu items.

We ate here as part of a celebration dinner so we had a big party of 20 – 25.
I’ve got to say — I was impressed. We got a fried calamari appetizer which was HUGE!
I ordered a Penne Calabrese — roasted red peppers and sausage — as the main dish. With a small house salad to start. The flavor was rich and spicy and again, the portion was extremely generous. The leftovers were enough for a full second meal.
I found out later that the chef/​owner is from the same town in Sicily as my grandfather… so that was an added plus.
Overall — the prices were reasonable, the portions were HUGE, the taste was good and the atmosphere was nice. We will definitely return!

Went for lunch with a friend today. We both had Chicken Parmigiana and a Caesar salad. A very good Caesar salad with a house made dressing and just enough. The Chicken Parm was very good. All in all it was a nice lunch.

We stopped in a 5 on a weekday and were made to feel a little awkward. They asked if we had a reservation and when we said no we were seated in the very back of the restaurant. We were only uncomfortable until the food came, however. We got the Italiano pizza as an appetizer and it was unbelievable. Bigger than we expected so we asked to pack it up after a slice each in hopes we would still have room for our main course. I got the spaghetti carbonara and my husband got chicken parm, both delicious. Prices were reasonable. We will definitely be back for that pizza. So fresh and gooey!

I have been torn on what to rate this Ristrorante. After reading all the great Unilocal reviews, I decided to take my family to Francesco’s. We arrived at 4pm a little earlier than most dinner rush hoping to beat the mob of evening patrons.
Location– The signage is not great so it’s a little hard to find when there are tree’s blocking the view. If your coming from Altamonte Springs on ¹⁷⁄₉₂ its hard to get into and traffic is crazy but from Winter Park its an easy right turn pasted the gas station.
ATMOSPHERE– When you walk in there are a row of booth to your right and an open kitchen where you can watch the chef behind glass, to the back of the restraunt there is a small wine room with 4 – 5 tables tightly packed and another smaller area with tables as well; it’s a tiny space, I would love to say it’s spotlessly clean but when sitting at our booth my father noticed the fans covered with what looked like thick gray hairy catipillars of Dust. If music was playing in the background we couldn’t hear it over the crowd of people talking. The italian theme over all is very nicely done and well thought out, I will give them that.
CUSTOMER SERVICE– The Host did a nice job. It was the two waitor and waitress we had didn’t seem to care much, the women talked so fast and then before we could even ask a question said «Said someone else will be hear to help us» She seemed very uninterested to be at work. The young man, took our drink order and took almost over 30 minutes to come back to take our order? My Dad had to hunt him down to order, which by the look on his face he was then a little upset because his boss happened to be right there.
FOOD– I ordered the Vitello Siciliano (Fresh veal medallion sautéed with capers, artichokes and fresh grape tomatoes in white wine sauce) for $ 18.95 This was the only thing worth 5 Stars it was so good, I just wanted to order another even though I was full and the Cheesecake is just heaven, heaven from Italy. Of, Course my parents ordered pizza that was just as good they said.
I would have to say you don’t go for the service you end up going for the Food that is made by Kitchen Angels, because its that good.

The nasty young male hostess that other people are complaining about on Unilocal ought to be fired. A cloture of disrespect to the customers seems to have taken over the place. When walking into the restaurant the ‘opera singers’ were standing in front of the entrance and instead of singing they were loudly exchanging jokes about customers. Upon entering we asked the female hostess to check if we could be seated before our reservation time because our plans have changed. She said she needs to check with the young male hostess. We watched him talk to a couple of other groups with negative annoying attitudes. He drew the attention of everyone who was waiting in the reception area with his poor attitude. Then he told us that they can’t accommodate us being 30 minutes early which is fine to say but then he pointed us to the door! We left in disgust.

My wife and I were there for Valentine’s dinner… wow!
Atmosphere — ⁵⁄₅
Service — ⁵⁄₅
Food — ⁵⁄₅
Entertainment — ⁵⁄₅
We will be back often and bringing guests! Thanks, Francesco’s, for a wonderful, memorable night!

We had high hopes after reading the reviews on here. The whole experience… awful from the moment we walked in the door.
The male hostess was very snooty. He asked if we had reservations (it was 5:00 on a Friday, but it wasn’t busy at all) We said we didn’t and asked if we needed one. His reply was sarcastic as can be and I would have walked off right then if I wasn’t so hungry. He said something like, «well it is a Friday night and we are pretty famous if I say so myself.» Then proceeded to tell us they did have tables available. I was so confused on why he had to be so rude about it, when there were clearly tables available.
Then they took us to our table. The female hostess placed us at a small table right in the middle of the room next to the only other table where people were sitting. The kicker was that she asked us if the table was ok. So, since she asked, We asked if she could move us to another table since none of the other tables were taken. She said oh no those are all reserved. At this point I was just fed up, why did she ask us if the table was ok, if there was nowhere else to put us. (By the way, NO ONE sat at any of the other tables in that room while we were there)
Then there is the food. We ordered pizza and mine was completely burnt. They had to know it was burnt because our waitress avoided our table until we were done eating. I don’t understand why they didn’t just serve us the unburnt pizza first and say that they accidentally burnt the other one l, so they are fixing us a fresh one. I would have appreciated that much more than serving me what they did.
I feel like they think they are a high end restaurant on Park Ave., they are greatly mistaken. They are located in Maitland, on the edge of a small plaza, in between a gas station and a Walgreens. & the food… I have had better pizza at Domino’s.
If you go, I really hope you have a better experience than we did, but we will definitely not be back.

We have been here a lot of times for a restaurant we don’t like much, mainly because we want SO badly to love this place!
First, you MUST have a reservation at any peak time. Second, you must be prepared for the fact that they will basically never have your table ready at the time of your reservation. Third, do not expect much in terms of service… and then MAYBE you will have an o-​k experience.
We have had mixed experiences with the food — the appetizers, pizzas, and pastas are quite good and relatively authentic. The best part is the bread that comes out in the beginning — they give you the typical oil/​balsamic mix — but the added grated parmesan is just addicting. The few times we sprung for an entrée, they were borderline bad…
If you want to try the place, my recommendation would be to go, sit at the bar (looks onto the open kitchen –kind of cool), drink wine, and eat a pizza or some appetizers.

One of my favorites! I have been coming to Francesco’s for a while now. Since the food and service are always great, I wanted to write a review.
I love the lasagna. Always perfect. A while back I had the lamb shank which was one of their specials and I can say that it was one of the best I have ever had. I’ve never had a bad dish there. Looking forward to my next visit.

Spaghetti Vongole is garlic heavy but really delicious. I got a great helping of clams in the dish. They did not skimp!
The caprese salad was only OK. The plum tomato is small. If you’re used to a caprese with big slices of tomatoes, you will be disappointed. They have several other salad options to choose from.
Nice wine list of varying price points. We had a bottle in the $ 30 range and it was excellent for what we paid. I would confidently order wine here again.
The back patio has a few AC units to try and keep it cool. As long as it isn’t sweltering out, and you’re dressed casually, you should be fine.
Note: the parking here is behind the restaurant. The entrance to the parking lot is south of the building.

This is probably one of the best pizzas I’ve had. I came here on my lunch hour and ordered a plain cheese pizza. It was so good we finished the entire thing. You can tell that all of the ingredients were incredibly fresh.
You also get a side of bread and dipping seasoning with your order. I think it’s an olive oil/​balsamic/​parmesan blend but it’s really good.
I’ll definitely be coming back!

When we first walked in, it wasn’t too busy. It was early dinner time. We walked passed so many empty booths, I was wondering which one we were going to stop at to be seated, but the hostess lead us to a small, secluded room that already had a large party of about 8 – 10 people. They were pretty loud as the room was closed in. I was relieved when they finally left.
My husband chose this place because he heard it was the best in town for pizza, so he ordered the Carne Pazza. He said it was good. My daughter had the lasagna and she said it was good, nothing special. I had the grilled shrimp and grilled calamari steak. The shrimp was perfect, but the calamari was a little bland. It was a little tough/​chewy, so I think I should have been given a steak knife, but I managed with my butter knife.
I don’t know Italian culture or the language, but the menu definitely wasn’t in English and some of the words were difficult to pronounce. Good thing the descriptions were in English.
We ended our dinner with the Strawberry Tiramisu and a cappuccino and they were both really good. We would probably go back only if we were in the neighborhood. It was a little expensive for what it was.

Francesco’s has the recipe for success: good location, gorgeous restaurant, menu with plenty of options. Here’s why they lost stars, but also what they did well.
I dined with a friend’s younger daughter on Saturday evening. We called well in advance for reservations, but when arrived, were seated outside. Outside was 50 degrees, but I was told by the hostess the patio was ‘enclosed’ and there were space heaters. What enclosed means is canvas tied to poles, and the giant standing space heaters that you see at Disney crammed up against tables. The patio was severely overcrowded and most diners had their jackets on. It was clearly detracted from quite a few dining experiences, so I feel justified with this complaint.
Secondly, the service is slow. It’s very attentive, but our waiter took almost 15 minutes to arrive while two other server assistants checked on us, and gave us bread to start, before we’d been greeted and given drinks. We also ordered a bottle of sparkling water (A simple request, I feel) and it took another 15 minutes, after water, to arrive. This server didn’t seem to have many other tables, so I didn’t understand the massive delay. While he was exceptionally friendly and provided attentive service otherwise, between the hostess trying to gloss over our concerns about the patio, other diners seeming upset, and slow service, this restaurant has some weak points that need to be worked on.
We ordered the Pollo Crostini to start, which was an excellent choice. Great notes of Balsamic and delicious pesto cream, it’s an appetizer even a 13 year old loved. We both picked the Gnocchi for dinner, as well as the Italian Wedding Cake for dessert at the server’s suggestion. The Gnocchi was overcooked and a bit chewy, and also the gnocchi balls were quite a bit larger than in any dish I’ve ever had. The sauce was flavorful and filling, but this ended up being taken home to someone with a less discriminating palate, who also commented on their general chewiness and size. Small tweaks would make this pasta dish quite wonderful. The cake for dessert was a bit dry, though the ricotto filling more than made up for it. A very tasty dessert, though I wish I’d gone with my original choice of Tiramisu.
I believe this place is worth visiting, though for the money, I do know of several Italiano restaurants very close by that have some stronger points.