Frankie and Benny's is a New York Italian themed restuarant. It is a chain which currently has 180 restuarants spread across the UK.

Frankie and Benny's originally began when Frankie Giuliani was just a little boy. He moved with his family to an all Italian neighbourhood in New York in 1924. Before long Frankies father managed to get a restuarant up and running in which the whole family pitched in and contributed their own favourite recipes, but the best recipes always came in the form of 'Mammas home-style cooking'. Frankie started high school where he met an American boy named Benny and made a life long friend. When Frankies fathers retired in 1953 Frankie and Benny took over the business where they combined 'the best of popular American food with traditional Italian dishes'.

I have been to 3 different Frankie and Benny's (Basildon, Chelmsford and Braintree) and they are all very similar in terms of appearance and service.

The restuarants are usually quite big and spacious. Many of the tables are inside booths which are quite private and have comfortable seats. There are framed black and white photos all over the walls (old celebrities and more personal photos), giving the place an authentic 50's family run business feel. They have music from around the 50's playing in the background with tunes that everybody should enjoy from the likes of Eddie Cochran, Bobby Vee, Fats Domino, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and The Drifters. It's has a very relaxed atmosphere. There is also a bar area where you can just have drinks if you want to.

The staff are always smartly dressed and I've been given a speedy, helpful and polite service every time I have visited. The dishes have always been tasty and served soon after ordering. The portions also seem reasonable and I always leave with a full tummy and a smile on my face.

There are 5 different menus - breakfast menu, lunch menu, main menu, childrens menu and drinks and wine menu.

We usually order from the lunch menu as we generally visit during weekdays in the early afternoon (lunch time!) because this is when the restaurant is at its quietest. After school isn't usually too bad (but obviously still busier) but weekends and school holidays tend to be busy so it might be worth booking ahead. I personally can't stand weekends as I find it too noisey and harder to relax.

The main menu has appetisers, main courses and desserts. Appetisers include loaded potato skins, crispy coated chicken strips, chicken wings, little Italy mussels, soup of the day, bruschetta, mozzarella and tomato salad. Prices range from £2.95 - £5.95.

Main courses include spagetti bolognese, spicy sausage pasta, spagetti carbonara, chicken carbonara, BBQ chicken bake, cajun chicken pasta bake, lasagne al forno, Hawaiian pizza, margherita pizza, Calafornian pizza, meatball pizza, New York deli pizza, American hot pizza, meatball siciliana, calzone al pollo, beer battered cod and chips, BBQ chicken and ribs, salmon fishcake, oven baked pesto salmon, salt and pepper scampi, sirloin steak with garlic tiger prawns, mixed grill platter, sweet curled bacon steak, classic hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon cheese burger, Manhattan burger, Mediterranean veg burger, grilled chicken breast sandwich, chicken and pepperoni sandwich, meatball sub, chicken caesar salad, club salad and cajun salmon caesar salad. Side orders are also available and prices range from 75p - £3.45.

Desserts include vanilla cheesecake, banana cheesecake, caramel pecan cheesecake, sorbet, cookie and cream explosion, sticky toffee puddding, brownies and ice cream, cinnamon waffle crunch, tiramisu, banoffee sundae, east coast sundae and knickerbocker glory. Prices range from £3.45 - £6.95.

The lunch menu is almost the same as the main menu but has less to choose from (from what I can gather the lunch menu is a handful of dishes from the main menu). The lunch menu is only available from Monday to Friday, from 11am to 5pm. You can choose from either a main course for £5.95, 2 courses (appetiser and main course, or main course and dessert) for £7.25 or 3 courses for £8.45. Quite a good deal in my opinion.

The apetisers which I personally recommend are the mushroom alfredo, loaded potato skins and tomato garlic pizza bread (although I wouldn't recommend this if you are having a pizza for main course as it is very similar to a pizza and is the same size as a pizza!). The mediterranean veg burger is lovely, one of the best vegetarian burgers which I have had outside of my home and something I am happy to eat practically every time I visit Frankie and Benny's. My favourite desserts are the cookies and cream explosion and brownies and ice cream, although I still have lots more to try! My other half recommends the vanilla and banana cheesecake.

The only real downside of the menu is that it doesn't have a huge amount of vegetarian dishes but as I already mentioned I do have a 'thing' for their mediterranean veg burgers so I'm happy enough to feast on that for the time being! Lets keep our fingers crossed for more vegetarian dishes in the future.

I have not tried a Frankie and Benny's breakfast yet but plan to soon. I like the sound of the vegetarian breakfast and American pancakes! I've also heard good things about their cocktails which I have yet to try - I'm usually driving so can't drink... although I've recently learnt they do non-alchoholic cocktails too.

Frankie and Bennys doesn't have any play areas for children which is good in some ways because kids tend to get distracted from their food if there's a play area around. Children also seem to be surrounded in noise and general annoyance so no play area means less children which means more happy adults! Especially those who don't have children or those who have gone out for a bite to eat without the little ones...

The obvious downside to not having a play area is if the (lovely) little critters start playing up!

Besides that I think they cater well for children. Each child that visits the restuarant is given a fun bag when they are seated - the bag changes every now and again but at the moment it has a crayon with interchangable colours, a book of puzzles (this is used as a colouring in book for my 2 year old!) and a little board game. There are usually helium balloons tied up at the entrance - if the staff don't automatically offer your child one then they should be happy to get you one if you just ask.

There is a childrens menu and there are 2 options - a childrens menu for young children and a junior menu for older children. The prices for the childrens menu include a main course, dessert and unlimited drink. A childrens menu costs £3.95 and a junior menu costs £6.25 which I think is brilliant value for money. Main courses from the childrens menu (the menu we have to choose for our daughter) include spagetti bolognese, chicken pasta, jacket potato (with bolognese), hamburger, sausage and mash, chicken strips and fish fingers. Some of the main courses come with fries. The only vegetarian dishes are magherita (or cheese and baked bean) pizza or jacket potato with cheese and beans, both of which my daughter has had and really enjoyed, but I would like to see one or two more vegetarian dishes on the menu - perhaps a pasta dish like macaroni cheese or tomato pasta? Something else that I find brilliant about the children and junior menu is that you can order optional salad or vegetables to go with the meal and it's totally free of charge - my daughter was given a big bowl of chopped carrots and brocolli the last time we visited which are her favourite vegetables.

Desserts from the childrens menu include ice cream sundae, bananas and custard, brownie sundae, sorbet and fruit salad. My daughter has enjoyed the simple combination of bananas and custard and has got in a right old mess and totally loved the brownie sundae which comes in a big glass with loads of ice cream, chunks of brownies and lashing of chocolate sauce. I must say the ice cream sundae which we were served in Basildon was a little disappointing - you can choose from vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream which is supposed to be served with chocolate sauce and chocolate buttons. The woman serving us just assumed that we wanted an ice cream sundae and that we wanted vanilla, so she brought it over in a glass which was half full of ice cream (about 2 scoops) with about 5 chocolate buttons chucked in and no chocolate sauce. Anticlimax! Didn't hear my little one complain though!

Overall I think the prices (particularly when buying in a deal) are very reasonable. The last time we visited we ordered 2 two course menus (2 veggie burger main courses and 2 desserts), a childrens menu (a cheese and bean jacket potato with veg and corn on the cob, with a dessert and unlimited drink) and 4 cokes for just less than £23.

You can pay your bill by cash or card. If you want to pay by card then a member of staff will bring a chip and pin machine over to your table which is very safe, easy and convienient. If you want to leave a tip you can do so on the machine. You'll also get a printed receipt.

None of the Frankie and Benny's I have visited have had particular spectacular views - Basildon is over looking a carpark, as too is Braintree. Unbelivably Chelmsford is over looking a roundabout and flyover! This has never effected my experience though - there is enough going on inside to distract me from looking out of the windows every five minutes, besides I can't remember the last time I went to a restuarant with good views. I have also noticed that the only Frankie and Benny's with an outdoor dining area (which I have visited) is in Basildon.

When I visited the toilets in Chelmsford there was an Italian language tape playing - I learnt how to book a train ticket whilst taking a wee, now that's classy!

One thing that I must mention is the birthday song. You can arrange for the staff at Frankie and Benny's to bring out a birthday cake or ice cream with sparkler in. The lights dim down and 'Happy Birthday To You' blasts out of the speakers, followed by 'Congratulations' by Cliff Richard. It's a nice gesture if you're celebrating a birthday (although I did it to my other half and he's never forgiven me) but is very loud and annoying if you're just trying to have a quiet meal - especially on weekends when it seems to be constant.

Frankie and Benny's in Basildon is situated in Festival Leisure Park which is also home to a bowling alley, cinema and night clubs so you could make a night of it and Frankie and Bennys in Braintree is situated very close to Freeport shopping village so you could make a day of it.