FRANCESCO’s Italian Restaurant finally in BGC!

Francesco’s is an Italian Restaurant by Chef Francesco Rizzo (chef of the former Paparazzi in Edsa Shangri-La) that serves traditional regional cuisine—from brick oven pizzas, to home made pastas, to ossobucos, to Italian desserts. 🙂

With the success of their flagship branch on Mabini St., San Juan, they finally opened Francesco’s in BGC to provide authentic Italian food to its professionals and food enthusiasts.

Here’s what we think of Francesco’s BGC…

 

The Best of New Italian Restaurants in Manila (2020):

• a mano: Best New Italian Restaurant in Manila!
• Wild Flour Italian: Best of Italian Flavors in BGC!
• Osteria Daniele BGC: Kicking Off the Osteria Game in Manila
• Single Origin Osteria: Your Friendly Neighborhood Italian Resto in Salcedo
• FRANCESCO‘s Italian Restaurant finally in BGC!

First Things First

Francesco’s is located beside Tomatito’s, around the corner where the Buca di Beppo American Italian franchise opened (and now closed).

FRANCESCO’S
30th St. corner 11th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Telephone: +632 8281-1285
Mobile: +63 919 007-8581
Email: info@francescos.ph
Facebook: Francesco’s
Instagram: @francescosph

Francesco’s Menu: Start With | Pizza, La Pasta & More | Panini, Sweets | Cocktails

The ambiance is a bit generic that you are not enticed to go in, targeting BGC professionals for a quick Italian fix.

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Start With

The octopus was grilled nicely—not makunat and still with a bite—and served on a bed of cauliflower puree.

The famous meatballs of Chef Francesco’s, more on the sour tomato taste profile that the kids didn’t like though. 🙂

A nice cold salad with spiral pasta, sliced eggplant, sundried tomatoes and stracciatella cheese.

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Pizza

Their signature pizza with a thick end crust and soft middle topped with tomato, mushroom and sausage.

The family’s favorite! How can you go wrong with truffle, white cream and lots of cheese?

For pizza, the crust is good when you can enjoy it as is, with just simple toppings of mozzarella, tomato, oregano and basil.

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La Pasta & More

Pasta was cooked al dente with just enough pesto sauce and big prawns.

The little ones approved. 🙂

The risotto, which came with a big piece of tender fatty beef cheek, was the best!

Tender veal shank braised in its brown sauce over risotto flavored with saffron and bits of gremolata to break the creamy flavors.

Sarap! Wiped out by the big boys. 🙂

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Sweets

The milkshakes came with toasted marshmallows and pasta straws for the win. 🙂

The best though was the Cannoli—crunchy on the outside with creamy ricotta cheese inside.

A good tiramisu with a spike of amaretto served in a glass to keep its form.

This if you like a lighter ending with a bit of berry sweetness.

Oh, the coffee, done the Italian way, was quite good too (definitely better than the ones served at the Starbucks beside the resto).

Final Thoughts

Overall, the pizza, pasta, ossobuco, desserts and coffee were all quite good. 🙂 All the food passed the kids’ test except for the famous meatballs of Chef Francesco.

Our favorites are Polipo (appetizer), Tartufata (pizza), Risotto (pasta), Ossobuco (main) and Cannoli (dessert). Budget about ₱800/head.

The ambiance and the attitude of Francesco’s BGC team do not seem to favor families because they are targeting BGC professionals looking for a quick bite, not families hanging around for a while (due to the limited space).

There’s a big family market in Serendra and SEDA on the lookout for good food for their kids. I wish Francesco’s BGC retained the homey feel of their San Juan branch and refrained from looking too commercialized.

Congrats to Chef Francesco and the MFT team for the successful opening of Francesco’s BGC!

 

FRANCESCO’S
30th St. corner 11th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Telephone: +632 8281-1285
Mobile: +63 919 007-8581
Email: info@francescos.ph
Facebook: Francesco’s
Instagram: @francescosph

The Best of New Italian Restaurants in Manila (2020):

• a mano: Best New Italian Restaurant in Manila!
• Wild Flour Italian: Best of Italian Flavors in BGC!
• Osteria Daniele BGC: Kicking Off the Osteria Game in Manila
• Single Origin Osteria: Your Friendly Neighborhood Italian Resto in Salcedo
• FRANCESCO‘s Italian Restaurant finally in BGC!

 

Live an Awesome Life,

Founder, Our Awesome Planet

Disclosure: Our meal was courtesy of Chef Francesco’s.  I wrote this article with my biases, opinions and insights.

P.S. We have yet to visit their original branch along Mabini St., but I’ve heard so much about it. Thank you for coming to BGC. 🙂