Francesca's Bryn Mawr

Hi,
I'm going to City Lit Theater on Saturday night.
http://www.miafrancesca.com/restaurants/brynmawr/ is across the street.
Anybody been there?
Thanks in advance.
Dave

Yes,

It's a typical Francesca's experience. The menu is small, and most things are decent. The food fresh and made to order. We always get the carpaccio. It's always good and a generous portion.

I find their meat dishes overpriced (all over $20), but their pastas to be reasonable. (under $15)

Everything's is ala carte.

I'm sorry to not be more descriptive. I've been to this location twice, the last time was in December. It's solidly above average, but nothing is standout besides the carpaccio. It's quieter than Mia Francesca. It's similar in size and ambiance to Francesca's on Taylor.

Calamari, mussels, and the roasted chicken are generally good at the Francesca restaurant group.

Francesca's is good, BUT there are other nearby options -- like Ben's Noodles up the street right near a sushi place that opened recently plus the Edgewater Beach has a restaurant that's basically for residents, but it has a funky charm to it.

Thanks for the tips. It's not a definite choice. I need to negotiate with the other couple in our group - they can be finicky.

kafein wrote:We always get the carpaccio. It's always good and a generous portion.

One of my favorite things at all the Francesca's.

If you tell them at the Bryn Mawr location that you're going to the show, they're very good about making sure everything is served in a timely manner and warning you off dishes that will take a long time to cook.

I once dropped in there at 40 minutes to curtain time, hoping to get an appetizer to stay my hunger. They managed a three-course meal and I got to my seat with five minutes to spare.

Also, you can park your car with their valet while you're at the play.

Thanks again. They also have a 15% discount deal with the theater.

Francesca'a Bryn Mawr is very good indeed. It's two blocks from the domicile, and we have ordered delivery as much as we've eaten there. It's quite good and reasonable, almost to the point that we take it for granted, but not quite. The pasta dishes are great, seafood superb. Even the bread is above average.

Great. Thanks. Now I just need to convince the others in our group....

Personally, I'm a fan of Francesca's on Bryn Mawr. If there is a restaurant in our regular rotation, that would be one of them. You can't beat it's proximity to the theatre! Other options that aren't too far away include Cotes du Rhone and Pepitone's. I've been to the latter once. (I thought the space was nice, but have no recollection of the food. That is not a negative reflection on them -- moreso on me being a space cadet.) I have not been to Cotes du Rhone. Last time we went to City Lit, we ate at That Little Mexican Cafe. Our group liked it, but I felt that was overpriced for mediocre food. (That's what I get for living in Rogers Park near Clark Street's many affordable and good Mexican options.)

Cotes du Rhone
5424 N. Broadway
773-293-2683

Pepitone's
5437 N. Broadway
-293-3730

That Little Mexican Cafe
5424 N. Broadway
773-293-2683

Thanks again. I'm also leaning towards Hai Yen.

I like the space and the general simple "authentic" appraoch (shared by most Francescas). I'm a huge fan of carpaccio (indeed, I'm a sucker for most raw beef preps, whether German, Viet, Italian, Ethiopian, Korean (raw beef-off anyone?) ) but my one carpaccio experience at the Byn Mawr branch involved one of my pet peeves -- a very much pre-made carpaccio glued to an ice-cold plate. This happens all too often with carpaccio. I'm into food safety like the next guy, but I don't want meat paste on an icy plate. This is a problem with sashimi at times as well.

Always liked the food, but stopped going after experiencing extremely poor service two visits in a row.

JeffB wrote:one of my pet peeves -- a very much pre-made carpaccio glued to an ice-cold plate. This happens all too often with carpaccio. I'm into food safety like the next guy, but I don't want meat paste on an icy plate.

All of the Francesca's do a daily carpaccio, and in my experience this aspect varies widely depending on the time of day, how busy they are and even the "flavor" of carpaccio they're doing that night.

At all the Francesca's the meat is sliced in a frozen state, arranged on a plate taken from the freezer, then wrapped in plastic wrap and held in the refrigerator until one is ordered-at which time the toppings are added.

That pretty much explains it.

It's been quite a while, but I always had good service and good, if not spectacular, food. Always felt that hot and cold apps and salads and pizzas made a better meal than their main dishes. Though the roast chicken was always crisp, moist, and good.
The bruschetta is kind of a crazy American steroidal version of the dish. Mountainous and messy. But also quite tasty. Have always liked their mushroom risotto and pizzas as well.
I've eaten in the bar far more often than the dining room, which may or may not explain any difference with others' experience with the service. Decent wine list as well.

We wandered up and down Bryn Mawr last night for EdgeArt, a collaboration of businesses hosting local artists for the night. We ended the night with dinner at Francesca's. Half price bottles of wine led us to a lovely Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (can't remember the winery). We split the salad of the day: marinated artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, shaved parmesan. I had the appetizer portion of the risotto that was gorgonzola/roasted vegetables. Mr. X went with the spaghetti and meatball special. Pleasant, efficient service; good food, comfortable setting. It was a nice evening in the neighborhood.

This restaurant is one of my favorites in this neighborhood (my parents live there so I've been around). It's not as cheap as some of the other options, but the quality is pretty much always top notch and the portions are ridiculous so even though it's a bit more money, there is still good value.

Sorry, but I met some friends of mine at the Bryn Mawr location in May and my meal was simply awful. I had pasta with mussels and clams - mealy, overcooked, some mussels unopened and just not good tasting. We shared pizzas to start and I thought the crust had the flavor and texture of poor store-bought crust and the pizza was overflowing with cheese. Since my friends picked the spot, I kept my mouth shut. It was my only visit to this location (and I hope it stays that way).

I went last month for a business dinner and had the truffle pasta. It was so insanely salty that I couldn't even finish a free meal. Very disappointing.

We used to go there from time to time and never had any complaints about the food but stopped going after getting horrible service on two consecutive visits.

Too bad. It's a really pretty place.

As I've noted before, Francesca's on Bryn Mawr is a regular in our rotation. I can't recall having any bad experiences with the food. If we've had service issues, they are not sticking out.

Pie Lady - did you say anything about the pasta to the server or manager? I feel like they would have tried to make amends. (We witnessed as much when we were there last week.)

No. I didn't want to make a fuss in front of my co-workers. Plus, I finished quite a bit of it before it was too much to take.