Frankie & Bennies Highcross Leicester – Restaurant Review

Star Rating: ⭐

Frankie & Bennies, Leicester is one restaurant of many which sat in a wide square full of other restaurants and pubs. This particular restaurant has flat access to get inside, however, it is immediately apparent that the inside of the restaurant he’s very cramped and cluttered with the number of tables and chairs in the location and how they are positioned. The front of house desk is the first thing customers see when they walking which is good, but I have to be on the ball from the minute I walk in and be careful to navigate around the front of the house stand, the person behind it and then navigating through the tight spaces to be able to get to my seat as quickly as possible. On the day of my visit, it was open days at the local Universities which caused the restaurant to be packed full of people which only made the situation even more difficult and even more irritating.

Once I was at my table and me and the rest of my party were sat, I made a point of not moving again, not wanting to endure all of that hassle again. From where I sat, I caught sight of the disabled toilets; as expected they look to be of a standard size which would not cater for every customer with a disability which is a definite thumbs down in my book.

The table that me and my friends sat down, it was a very, very low height. I got as close as I could but my knees painfully on the table, it wasn’t helped by the fact that the restaurant was cramped and busy, I wasn’t able to get a wide enough turn and get a good enough angle to the table and I had to arch my back painfully to be able to eat and drink properly, it wasn’t a very comfortable restaurant experience. Restaurants really need to reconsider the layout of tables and chairs within the restaurant locations to be more thoughtful to customers and their personal space. Further to this, the extent of tables needs to be higher for customers like me to get underneath and have a more comfortable dining experience compared to how it is at the moment.

My bad mood intensified by the dullness of the atmosphere, nothing was happening, I had to endure customers knocking into me, purposefully or not while trying to enjoy my time with the friends I was with, listening to them, but I could not tune out other people’s conversations, which were beyond boring. The staff members who waited on our table were really nice, polite and had patience; only when I looked closer at them did I realise how dead and robotic they were looking,  to be honest, I didn’t blame them, they were working in a restaurant that was full to the brim due to the busyness of the city at that particular time, but I admire them for the positive and go to attitude.

Unfortunately, the food was very poor, it was edible and had some good taste to it but the overall standard was disappointing and not of good quality. I was very disappointed but I had come to know about the standard of food from Frankie and Bennies in Birmingham as well. I did have a milkshake however that was very good and I think that’s salvaged the visit it a little bit more.

I don’t think I’ll return to Frankie and Bennies Leicester or any Frankie and Bennies restaurant for a long time.