Frankie and Benny’s

don, t go there if you are hungry waited 75 mins for warm steak and chips steak was grissly and just thrown on plate all greasy they didn, t have enough lamb shanks for 2 of my friends so they ended up with burgers this was early evening on a friday it took 20 mins to sort out the bill !! over priced burger bar if you ask me rather go to macdonalds next time would not go there again

The food here, is absolutely phenomenal.
The restaurant has a pretty nice atmosphere, good deals, 25% off your entire bill on a Monday, and the service is reasonably friendly.
As aforementioned, the food is incredible, though it can be quite pricey, but there are cheaper options. I personally enjoy the Chicke and Ribs, which is delicious.
Nice restaurant, I go quite a lot.

Not the best place to eat, service slow and not very friendly, comfy chairs though ha

Franky and Benny’s is in a great location in Southend High street, and they provide a good selection of food, ranging from a variety of burgers to pasta dishes.
The food itself is tasty and good value for money however service is terribly slow. The waiters and waitresses are pleasant and attentive however most of times I have eaten here it has on average taken an hour from when I placed my order to the food being delivered, which is incredibly frustrating if you are just ordering a burger and chips!
If you have the time and are a patient person I would say give it a go just because they have comfy seats if nothing else but otherwise there are plenty of better restaurants nearby I would recommend going to instead.

Had a 2 hour wait for our food which, when it arrived was very uninspiring.
Was overcharged for our meal.
Won’t be coming back.

American/​Italian style chain diner that serves pasta dishes, a variety of pizzas, ribs, steak and similar meals. Almost everything on the menu is extremely unhealthy, so don’t come here if you’re on a diet! Also serves alcohol and cocktails so good for a boozy dinner out.
The food at this branch wasn’t great the last time I visited — this seems to be usual for Southend, unfortunately! It’s also quite expensive for what it is — I wouldn’t go back to this branch.

Nice clean restaurant with a fun atmosphere. The staff are ok but don’t expect them to be extremely attentive as the restaurant is always extremly busy. I’d recommend you book in advance but if you don’t there’s a great bar at the entrance where you can enjoy hand made cocktails before you eat.

Expensive for what it is. Not good quality. Tatty looking now. Better off going across the road to the Eatery or Varsity.

Nice pleace to go with friends or family and open throughout most of the day.
There is a large selection of mainly American/​Italian type fastfood with starters, main courses and deserts to choose from.
Service is efficient and the staff are normally pleasant. On occasions if it gets busy the staff can be stretched and it loses it’s efficiency slightly, however this isn’t a major cause for concern and I guess is to be expected.
Younger children receive a free colouring pack which keeps them entertained for about 10 minutes before getting bored.
There is wheelchair/​pushchair access.
There is also a bar of which you can sit at before or after your meal.
The toilets are clean and tidy and also smell nice which in my book is a bonus.
There is background music from the 50’s and the walls are full of old black and white pictures which is a nice touch.

Such nice food — american italian, so burgers, pizza and pasta, with other dishes such as fish and steak. They also do a great value lnch menu during the week and have a fairly new breakfast menu. Lovely décor with red leather booths. Coctail menu and dessert menu also great.

Although a bit pricy, the food is certainly worth it, and the selection of drinks is amazing.
Catering for Italian American cuisine, F&B’s serves everything from steaks to pizza’s and will prepare it just the way you like it.
The service is excellent, and the staff will check to make sure your order meets your expectations.
There is ample seating in the restaurant, though it does tend to get a bit hectic during the evening’s and weekends, though this doesn’t affect the service.
The only downside is there’s no parking available for the restaurant, but there are many places to park and pay nearby, (this doesn’t really affect me as a non-​driver).
The music and lighting in the restaurant is just right for my liking, and you can easily sit with a group of friends and hold a conversation without having to yell at each other.

a nice sized restaurant with two differently designed areas (one more an american diner area and the other more cocktail bar).
food can be a bit pricey, but this depends on what you order. they have a good selection of food to offer on their menus too, im a particular fan of their steaks!
a good selection of wines and the mrs loves the cocktails as well, which makes a great night out.
in the day, they cater for families and the staff are friendly, well presented and welcoming.
good service, good food and reasonably priced.

How i miss this place!
When i lived in Southend this was mine and my sisters must have treat!
Once a week we would take the kids and go out for lunch at Frankie and Bennys, the food was always amazing! The burgers were to die for and the kids loved their spaghetti bolagnaise!
All their food was reasonably priced to, i think only once we ever had a problem with food in there and they were very quick to sort it out and gave us one of the meals for free without us asking.
The staff are always well dressed in uniform, happy, polite and very quick. You never have to wait long for a table and in mid week there is no waiting around at all.
They do have music playing in the background but it is at just the right level for you to be able to hold a conversation while eating also.
They do occasionally have little events there aswell i remember a couple of years ago they had a free christmas party for children all you paid for was the food and drinks all the entertainment was free and the kids loved it.
The restaurant itself was always clean and tidy, you would never have to wait long to have plates cleared away from the tables.
On the whole it is good food, reasonably priced, great atmosphere and even the chance to learn a little i think it was Spanish when going to the loos!
If you go there make sure you try the potato skins with cheese and bacon with the sour cream dip ~ its gorgeous!!!
Highly Recommended!

Thank you Wok ‘n’ Grill, we arrived in Southend town centre at 4pm on a Saturday, finding a close by car park and thinking we would need no more than 2 hours to enjoy a meal at the ‘Eat as much as you want’ restaurant. Our timing however was out, they were changing the buffet from lunch to evening menu and would not be ready until 5pm; the waiter suggested we could grab a seat and buy drinks, but with a tired 4 year old in tow and the clock ticking in the car park we decided to sack this option completely, and headed towards a choice between Pizza Hut or Frankie & Benny’s right opposite each other at the Southchurch Road/​Chichester Road junction. Pizza Hut was busy, so with not a second glance we found ourselves wandering through the doors into F&B’s, it was ominously empty. A waiter at the back of this voluminous eatery waved us towards picking any table we wanted. We picked a window seat looking out onto the busy road junction that is a busy shopper’s route into the main High Street some 100 metres away. A fun view as it enabled us to ‘people-​watch’.
The menu was big physically but had ample choices on it to make you think about what you really wanted, one of those where you could have three options up until the waiter arrives with notebook in hand and then you know its decision time. Wife chose Lasagne Al Forno (£8.45), I chose the Chicken Amerciano Sandwich (£9.25), while my son picked from a set kiddies menu at (£3.95) a Spag Bol, drink included.
We gazed through the large windows at the shoppers heading home mixing with Southend’s ‘Great Unwashed’, also the many idiots dicing with death at the pedestrian crossing, right outside, expecting the world to stop for them rather than waiting a few seconds for the ‘Green Man’. Also noticing the restaurant was at least now half full, and indeed a couple of large parties of young teens were turning up, assumedly celebrating exam results, so there was a nice buzz about the place. I had ordered a pint of Boddingtons (£2.95) which arrived along with a medium coke for my wife priced at £1.99. I get staggered by the price of soft drinks in most places these days.
The food arrived promptly, hot, and together, (accept for my wife’s side order of fries which we needed to remind the waiting staff, they were promptly delivered). My wife loved her Lasagne, my son’s spag-​bol was more than adequate for him along with a small bowl of veg. My Chicken Americano Sandwich was simply a large piece of very tender chicken smothered in Monterey Jack Cheese and Pepperoni slices in a sesame seed bun with a simply fantastic BBQ sauce. The fries were tasty and crispy too and ideal for dipping in the sauce.
We went for the puddings too, my eye’s popping out at the listing of Mama’s own Cherry Crumble, while my wife went for the East Coast Sundae a combo of everything chocolate including Maltesers, Crunchie, sauces, ice cream etc etc. and my son the Brownie Sundae. My crumble arrived in a very small bowl with an equally small jug of custard; but appearances can be deceiving the portion was small in circumference but deep in measure and was just right to top off a very good meal.
The bill came to £39.69, and by the time we departed with 5 minutes left on the parking, the restaurant was filling even more, and we were all suitably bloated, and we passed the Wok ‘n’ Grill thanking them for their decision to change the buffet which directed us to Frankie & benny’s in the first place.
Conclusion: I have been to Southend’s F&B’s a number of times since it has been in town and have mixed reviews each time. The negatives in the past have been around mainly poor service due to a busy restaurant. Today we timed it right, got great service, ate fab food and even left a tip.