Frankie and Bennie's - Bishopbriggs, Glasgow

Frankie & Bennies - Bishopbriggs, Glasgow

 

After a long hard day at work, we ventured to Frankie & Bennies. We don’t usually like to review chain restaurants as we much prefer the vibrancy and atmosphere of independently owned eateries, but who doesn’t love a F&B’s once in a while?
 

 Mr Eats: The location of this Frankie and Bennies is a bit out the way. It’s sort of just plonked in the middle of a retail park which I don’t like. Inside was just a typical American/Italian restaurant, with black and white photographs up of New York etc nothing too special.

 

 For my starter I ordered Meatballs Italiano, which are two beef and pork meatballs with a garlic ciabatta on the side. It came in a basic Neapolitan sauce with onions, it looks more homemade than restaurant made, which in this case isn’t a good thing! It was a bit sloppy. The meatballs were hot in the middle, but cold on the outside which gave me the impression that they were heated up in the microwave, but they were tasty regardless. The garlic ciabatta was more just.. bread, and more crisp than toasted.

 



I choose to get New Yorker Burger which is a beef burger with jalapeno cheese, BBQ sauce and bacon. The chips were your bog standard chips, no fancy double fried, just plain and simple chips. As always from American style places, the burger was more than a mouthful. I liked the buns that they used, as it was leaning towards a brioche bun, but not as sweet. The salad was nice and crisp, and wasn’t soggy which often happens if it’s left sitting on a burger for too long. Both the meat and the bacon had either been overcooked, or had been precooked because they were both really dry. Despite there being a lot of cheese on the burger, I could feel the texture but had no taste at all – it was pretty much just a lubricant which actually helped with the dryness of the burger. It came with a side of a sweet tomato relish which was really flavoursome, I didn’t add it to the burger but it went well as a dip for my chips. Mrs Eats gave me her corn on a cob which was cold but firm and juicy. I like a char on my corn, but it seemed like the char was focused to just one side which made it a bit inconsistent in taste.

 

 

 

 



Overall I think it came to around £12 for mine. For a starter, burger and chips I think this is a pretty reasonable price – but with what I actually got on my plate, I’d have rather paid less! I probably wouldn’t go back due to the poor menu selection, and from my experience it is poor quality. They’re not trying new dishes, I like to see different twists of classics, but they’re playing it safe and going bog standard. Disappointing, but I guess that’s what you get with some chain restaurants, no freedom to play around with dishes. I would believe it is someone told me that that was the exact same menu that they had 10 years ago!

My 5 point sum up:

 

-          Overcooked

-          Not enough flavour

-          Poor menu selection

-          Reasonable price

-          Wouldn’t go back

 

Mrs eats: I really love going to Frankie and Bennie’s, as I think it’s just a nice, simplistic restaurant to go to when you don’t want somewhere fancy, but want more than a takeaway. I’ve been to this Frankie and Bennie’s before so we went one Sunday afternoon as a wee treat for us. We chose from the Specials Menu which is available Sunday – Friday, and it’s just £9.95 then an additional £2 per starter and dessert.

 

For starters I ordered the Cheddar & Bacon potato skins, I’ve had these before and really enjoyed them, and this time was no different. The potato skin was lovely and crispy whilst the bacon and cheddar added tons of flavour on the inside. It came with a side of sour cream which was really delicious when dolloped on the top. I love this starter!

 



 Again I chose a main which I’ve already had before, the Cajun Chicken Melt. This is a chicken breast with cajun spices topped with bacon, monterey jack cheese and BBQ sauce. I really enjoyed this last time, but on this occasion the meal was lacking. I couldn’t taste any of the spices from the chicken, the bacon wasn’t ‘crispy’ as it states in the menu, and the cheese looked as though it had been sat around for a while as it had solidified in a gloopy  mess on top of the chicken instead of a lovely melted cheese blanket like last time. The BBQ sauce was a bit more runny than usual and not as full of flavour as i'd have liked, but the cajun mayo that comes on the side is to die for – I could happily eat another 5 pots of it. The fries were typical American style fries. But sadly a let down, as I was really looking forward to this main. Although, I would order it again, as I know the potential that the meal has.

 



 I wouldn’t write off this Frankie and Bennie’s, as I’ve had experience in the past where I enjoyed it. Unlike Mr Eats, I feel that the small selection of foods is a good thing, as a large menu sometimes makes it overwhelming to choose from. Plus, sticking to traditional meals makes it easy for people to know what they’re ordering, as sometimes restaurants try too hard to change it up. For £12 plus drinks, I would definitely come again as a last minute stop, as I think that’s a bargain for a 2 course meal.

 My 5 point sum up:

 

-          Disappointed

-          Great offers

-          Amazing cajun dip

-          Reasonable menu selection

-          Would go again

 

Thanks for reading, and remember... Enjoy your meal

Mister and Missus Eats x

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