Francescas

[golferling]

Went last night. was seated at 6:30 promptly…the one good thing. Waitress, unfriendly,took our drink order, then immediately wanted our food order.
Our table ordered 2 pizzas and an order of chicken marsala, as there were three of us. Also ordered a side salad. Side salad came with about 6 pieces of lettuce, one half of a grape tomato, and a sliver of onion..$2.25. Our waitress did not give us a choice of dressings, just brought Italian on the side. When pizzas came, it was not the ingredients that we ordered. Had waited about 40 minutes then, did not want them to start from scratch. Pizzas nothing special, except, just like most pizzas from this area, they were practically sauceless..tomato sauce must be very expensive now. Consensus…would not bother to go back. a 10 inch pizza, side salad, and an iced tea was $16. and change, not to mention the unearned tip we left for the waitress.

[gomoho]

So I guess it's a good think I've never heard of this restaurant!

[Bonny]

The restaurant used to be Taverna Red in Bailey Plaza on 441.

[BarryRX]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I haven't been there, but there are two reviews on the place on the gourmet clubs website and they are both favorable. No reviews on Yelp yet.

[Bonny]

I had some friends that went and loved it. They posted pictures of there food on FaceBook. Looked delicious.

[jhrc4]

The joint is owned by Pasta Faire, basically the same as Taverna Red...new name same " Joint " . Yet another disaster in the making...The beat goes on, and on, and.....ON

[Bonny]

The owners do have a new partner.

[xkeowner]

For clarity the correct name is Francesco's Ristorante.

Our favorite Italian restaurant is called Francesca's Trattoria which is located in Gainsville and features Northern Italian style dishes. Yes it is a drive but we think it is worth it occasionally.

[rubicon]

Why is it that the better restaurants are some distance from The Villages?

[NottaVillager]

Since they just opened maybe we should give them a little slack to work the bugs out.

[Futurevillager2013]

I just went there tonight. I ordered the New Yorker pizza. It didn't come out the way I ordered it but the waitress was very nice and said it would take another 4 minutes to prepare a new one. Sent it back and the right one came back and it was delicious. My husband ordered veal parmigiana and he thought it was good but not the best he ever had. I would go back because I like the atmosphere, service and food. Last time I ordered chicken cutlet parmigiana and was able to cut it with a fork. I will be a repeat customer.

[jackz]

Went this past week with a club from TV with over 50 people and had our own room. They limited our selections to 4 or 5, which was understandable.

Someone mentioned the salad. It was almost nonexistent. A few tired looking iceberg lettuce leaves, a piece of tomato and two small pieces of onion. My mahi mahi was so dry it was almost uneatable and burned on the bottom with a hard crust. Our pizza was overpriced and was small enough to be confused with an individual pan pizza. Bottom line, 1 and done. We will not return.

[perrjojo]

Why is it that the better restaurants are some distance from The Villages?
Cuz many on a fixed income aren't willing to pay the price. You get what you pay for, I guess.

[coolparrot]

We went with a party of 12 with a reservation. Everyone agreed that the food was good. The service was good only after we complained. When we arrived the waitress took our drink order. we got our drinks and didn't see her again for more than an hour. When we asked her why she said she had customers in the other room that had to be serviced and paid before she could service our table.... Something is very wrong with that picture. When the owner came to our table at the end of the meal, he was told that we were very disappointed he said nothing!!! I hope that they get their act together soon. Most of the people at our were reluctant to go back. Our party of 12 goes out once a week if the service was good we certainly would have gone back.

[DougB]

I had some friends that went and loved it. They posted pictures of there food on FaceBook. Looked delicious.

How are the bartenders? :jester:

[Bogie Shooter]

I had some friends that went and loved it. They posted pictures of there food on FaceBook. Looked delicious.

How are the bartenders? :jester:

I hear, just normal looking.:jester:

[Bonny]

How are the bartenders? :jester:

I haven't been there yet, but I'm assuming they kept the bartenders who were all great !!:pepper2:

[Shirleevee]

I haven't been there yet, but I'm assuming they kept the bartenders who were all great !!:pepper2:

Went back for a third great dinner.........bartender makes a great Old Fashion!

[ilovetv]

Cuz many on a fixed income aren't willing to pay the price. You get what you pay for, I guess.

I think it's more like people here analyze and scrutinize a $10 meal as if it were their last $10, and it's their last meal.....besides some being utter cheapskates.

It's hard to get good workers when customers leave little or no tip and pretend to know that the servers are getting full minimum wage plus tips, when in reality they're getting the tipped minimum which is $4.77/hour.....and then they expect workers to be all sunshine, rainbows and lollipops and personally attentive, while the floor manager might be an apathetic doofus besides.

I overheard an interesting conversation last night in a store here. A guy who said he worked at Cody's told a couple (he met in the store) that the woman ought to come and apply for a job at Cody's: "Heck, Cody's is hiring......it's pretty much like 'If you walk in the door, you're hired. A lot of the other servers smoke constantly during shift and so they don't pay attention to their customers, but the bosses don't fire them because they need workers.'" The woman went on to say that she takes good care of her customers and might apply.

The mention of workers out back smoking constantly during their shifts explains a lot. If the employer ruled out applicants who smoke, they'd have few or none to hire. And the reason they're smoking most of the time is because what they really crave is POT. This is a big drain on the workforce these days!

It's hard to get good workers even when paying $12/hour with benefits. Work ethic has been dying in this country for the last 30 years.

And about the fixed income, that is true. However, almost everybody is on a "fixed income" when they're an employee (can't just give themselves a raise when needed/earned), and restaurant owners aren't even on a "fixed income". Restaurant owners have more like a falling or up-and-down income due to seasonal fluctuations in clientele, etc.

The non-chain restaurant owner certainly doesn't have a "fixed income", because he has to pay everyone employed there before he pays himself and his family's bills, even if the workers are useless and do little besides smoke out back while there.

[Bonny]

I think it's more like people here analyze and scrutinize a $10 meal as if it were their last $10, and it's their last meal.....besides some being utter cheapskates.

It's hard to get good workers when customers leave little or no tip and pretend to know that the servers are getting full minimum wage plus tips, when in reality they're getting the tipped minimum which is $4.77/hour.....and then they expect workers to be all sunshine, rainbows and lollipops and personally attentive, while the floor manager might be an apathetic doofus besides.

I overheard an interesting conversation last night in a store here. A guy who said he worked at Cody's told a couple (he met in the store) that the woman ought to come and apply for a job at Cody's: "Heck, Cody's is hiring......it's pretty much like 'If you walk in the door, you're hired. A lot of the other servers smoke constantly during shift and so they don't pay attention to their customers, but the bosses don't fire them because they need workers.'" The woman went on to say that she takes good care of her customers and might apply.

The mention of workers out back smoking constantly during their shifts explains a lot. If the employer ruled out applicants who smoke, they'd have few or none to hire. And the reason they're smoking most of the time is because what they really crave is POT. This is a big drain on the workforce these days!

It's hard to get good workers even when paying $12/hour with benefits. Work ethic has been dying in this country for the last 30 years.

And about the fixed income, that is true. However, almost everybody is on a "fixed income" when they're an employee (can't just give themselves a raise when needed/earned), and restaurant owners aren't even on a "fixed income". Restaurant owners have more like a falling or up-and-down income due to seasonal fluctuations in clientele, etc.

The non-chain restaurant owner certainly doesn't have a "fixed income", because he has to pay everyone employed there before he pays himself and his family's bills, even if the workers are useless and do little besides smoke while there.
Remember, just because you "overheard" something in a store, does not make it true ! I highly doubt that servers are constantly outside smoking.

[ilovetv]

Remember, just because you "overheard" something in a store, does not make it true !

You're right. However the guy said a lot of things to indicate he does work there, and I know how many times I see servers and bartenders smoking out back behind Red Sauce and crossing the street to go over to the public restroom area by the lake and over from Cody's, to smoke.

And I see how often workers at many of these bar-restaurants act like they need a cigarette, badly.

And, I have had terrible service at that particular restaurant enough times to avoid going there anymore, so I have reason to believe what the guy said was mostly true. And when I have terrible service, as a former server myself I do not blame the server. I blame the people who hire and don't correct them and keep paying them.

[Bonny]

You're right. However the guy said a lot of things to indicate he does work there, and I know how many times I see servers and bartenders smoking out back behind Red Sauce and crossing the street to go over to the public restroom area by the lake and over from Cody's, to smoke.

And I see how often workers at many of these bar-restaurants act like they need a cigarette, badly.

And, I have had terrible service at that particular restaurant enough times to avoid going there anymore, so I have reason to believe what the guy said was mostly true. And when I have terrible service, as a former server myself I do not blame the server. I blame the people who hire and don't correct them and keep paying them.
He could also just be someone that "used to work there" as well. Servers sometimes get a break a may go out and smoke.

[red tail]

Why is it that the better restaurants are some distance from The Villages?

maybe they don't like discount coupons? :$:

[NoMoSno]

And the reason they're smoking most of the time is because what they really crave is POT.

Wow, never knew tobacco is a gateway drug to POT :oops:

[lolyla]

I disagree. It's very different from Taverna Red. That place, I liked.

[Skip2MySue]

Went for dinner with 6 others and we all raved about the food, service and would definitely return. We all had a variety of dinners with 2 having Mahi Mahi, 2 having clams and pasta, 1 lasagna and 2 had the italian trio. Variety of appy's with delicious Cesare salads, soups and regular salads. Nice fresh baked bread served also. We were too full to try dessert. Maybe they worked the kinks out from they're initial opening period. We all left very pleased with the evening and looking forward to returning for another fine meal. :BigApplause:
Skip 2

[annaconner]

Four of us had a really good meal on Wed night. The food was just that little bit different from other Italian I have tasted

[GatorFan]

I also went this week with friends. We were pleased with service and food. Manager was super nice and thanked us for coming. We will go back.

[dporta]

We went there based on reviews on here and thought it was blah. We arrived and were told there would be a wait and were given a pager to let us know when our table was ready. After waiting a little while, the couple who came in after us had their pager go off. They let the host know they came in after us. The host still wanted to seat them. Had it not been for the couple and us stating that we should be seated first, we would have been required to wait longer.

Everything we ordered was bland. The house salad with balsamic vinegar was bland. The arugula and prosciutto pizza was bland. My husband got the trio with ravioli, lasagna, and chicken parmesan. He said all of it was bland. It reminded us of the restaurant Red Sauce restaurant in Lake Sumter Landing which we also found bland.