Francesca's Italian Kitchen

Dining at Francesca's was a pleasure. Both the beefcheek and lamb options were meltingly tender and full of flavour. The pizzas can be ordered half and half with lovely thin crusts. The desserts (tirimisu, panacotta and chocolate salami) were an excellent way to finish. Service was friendly and super quick. Even at that early dining hour the restaurant filled quickly - we can see why. Thanks Francesca's!

Always an enjoyable dining experience at Francesca’s. Consistent in professional and friendly service along with well presented and flavoursome good quality food.

We had an amazing dinner with our friends at Francesca’s Italian Kitchen last night. The lamb dish was exceptional. We will be back. Thank you.

We came here for a birthday dinner and a glass of bubbles for the birthday boy was a wonderful start to the evening. Our meal was absolutely delicious, can't wait to go bavk

Great location in the heart of the city. We ordered the polenta fries with aioli to start, super soft and crispy on the outside. I ordered the merino lamb shoulder ragu, it had the right balance of salt and citrus and the meat was melting in your mouth! My friend had the beef cheek gnocchi and she said it was beautiful. The team were also very attentive to us throughout our seating. Cheers for a great dining experience

It is a very delicious lunch. We had the pork sausage pizza, lamb pasta, cloudy bay clams, market fish, tiramasu and chocolate moose cake. Portion sizes were really good and we were full to the brim. The Tiramasu was a definitely a must eat. I'd go back just for that alone. Wood fire pizza was also quite special. Service was excellent, especially with two kids 7yrs and 7months.

Yummy authentic Italian food. Highly recommend. Lovely atmosphere.

Absolutely gorgeous! We had the most wonderful two hour lingering lunch - I could have stayed all day sipping wine and nibbling on that pumpkin and goat cheese bruschetta. The lamb shoulder absolutely melted in my mouth, the quattro formaggi pizza was Italy on a plate, and the tiramisu at the end was the coda on the final movement of a beautiful symphony of flavour. Looking forward to hitting rewind so I can experience it all over again sometime soon!

From tortelloni to tiramisu, the entire menu at Francesca's is standout. Fresh pasta, melt in your mouth flavours, and a cosy dining atmosphere make Francesca's a must try!

Their service and food are exceptional.

I would definitely recommend trying as much of their menu as possible - choose a selection of starters, a couple of mains to share, and definitely leave room for dessert!

My girlfriend and I went to Francesca's for our 1 year anniversary and we couldn't have chosen a better place to celebrate. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere amazing, service was great and the company was delightful. Overall it was a great night out and I'd recommend Francesca's to anyone.

We had 4 different main meals and each one was as delicious as the next! Potato skins were a crispy tasty addition. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room for dessert so will have to come back again.
Perfect place for lunch before a show!

Three of us came for lunch and ordered potato skins for an entree to share - delicious! Our mains were Pasta Norma, Gnocchi with Beef Cheeks, the Antipasto platter and a green salad. Everything tasted excellent. Again with the desserts we couldn't fault the food or service. One of us had the ice-cream with coffee and liqueur while two of us shared the tiramisu. It just melted in our mouths! Thank you Francesca's Italian Kitchen, we will be back.

Fantastic attentive service and an exquisite menu with something for everyone.

Our table ordered the House made potato gnocchi with broad beans, broccoli and gorgonzola, the cauliflower risotto with pecorino and almonds along with the kale & apple salad and pear & gorgonzola salad for vege content.
Each dish was a taste sensation with rich flavours and textures. For dessert you simply must order the Canoli, the custard cream is simply divine!

I will be returning in the very near future to work my way through the menu.

I can now see why this place is hard to get into. Food and service were 100%

Outstanding food and service. We had a 3yo with us and the staff were friendly and smiley towards her and without prompting let us know that anything can be adapted for her both size and ingredients. The gnocchi was light and full of flavour and the beef cheek that was with it just fell apart. Highly recommend.

This was my first visit to Francesca’s Italian Kitchen and it won’t be my last. From the second we walked in the door the service was excellent, very polite and stayed on top of everything through the duration of our stay even when it started to get busy. The food was truly amazing, we ordered 2 starters; polenta chips with truffle alioli and a garlic flatbread, both were outstanding. For mains we ordered two pastas; the lamb and the beef cheeks, the meat just melted in your mouth and the pasta was cooked to perfection and we also ordered a salami pizza which was absolutely devine, best pizza I’ve ever had to say the least. We ordered a tiramisu to share for dessert, it was very decadent and would have to be the best tiramisu I’ve ever had.

The whole evening was excellent, I will definitely be recommending it to my friends and family and I will definitely be back.

Loved it. Excellent food and service. Best risotto I've tasted in years, great tiramisu, melt in your mouth beef cheek. Can't wait to go back.

Three of us had a lovely evening at Francesca's Kitchen. We tried the clams, salmon, mushroom risotto and potato gnocchi with beef cheeks. Everything was delicious and the service was excellent. We are so pleased that First Table allowed us to discover this gem of a restaurant, as we will certainly be going there again.

We had the best dining experience here before seeing the play Wicked next door. The 3 of us managed to sip away on their delicious Italian Prosecco while devouring starters of the potato skins (so crispy) and Cloudy Bay clams which had the best flavour and sourdough bread. Two then had the beautiful risotto with duck leg and I had the gnocchi which were like heavenly fluffy pillows with the melt-in-your-mouth beef cheeks. The Tiramisu was to die for and the vanilla pannacotta was so well presented and tasted exquisite. We finished it all off with some hot drinks and very full stomachs. We will definitely be back as Francesca's is now our favourite restaurant!

Francesca's never fails to deliver on either its Food or Service 10/10. I rate this as one of the best restaurants in Christchurch. Always a good atmosphere and even if you manage to get a First Table booking at 5pm there is still a buzz about the place and you are not sat on your own eating. We have eaten here at the Christchurch establishment and also the one in Wanaka and each time the experiences have been outstanding, We had the Beef Carpaccio and Polenta Fries as a starter and the Parma Pizza and Lamb Ragu for mains. WOW - SO TASTY!!!! I'm sad that this time round I did not have time for my all time favourite Tiramisu because I was too full. Everybody needs to try out Francesca's - A total joy to visit!! Book it now!! :)

Mamma mia! Delicious! Our well travelled group all agreed authentic Italian at its very best. Probably the best Italian in Christchurch - my fish was exquisite and I wouldn't share because I wanted the lot to myself. Service was fantastic and will be back. Ciao

The Staff were attentive and provided excellent service. They were there when you needed them, but did not over-serve the table.

For starters we had:
- Polenta fries with truffle aioli. They were served in a small terracotta pot. The portion size was generous given how filling the polenta was.
- Cloudy bay clams. The clams were a decent size, they tasted as fresh as I'm sure can be managed and the broth they were served in was delicious.

Mains:
- Beef cheek gnocchi: My partner had this (and I helped her finish). Again, the meat was incredibly abundant, tender and full of flavour. The gnocchi was some of the best I've ever had. It was soft and creamy and every now and then, the outside would be the slightest bit crispy from what I assume was pan frying - this added a really nice texture to the dish. We knew this was sort of the signature dish and would definitely come back for it!

- Mediterranean Lamb Pappardelle
The meat was abundant, super tender and very tasty. This was a richer dish but incredibly filling and somewhat hearty. I don't usually go for the pasta option in an Italian restaurant but I would try this again.

Thanks for a wonderful evening Francesca's!