Trattoria Da Franco

We came here for dinner on a Saturday and made reservations in advance. The restaurant is small and charming, with a cozy, family-friendly vibe. We were lucky to be seated right next to the fireplace, which added to the warm ambiance.The customer service was great, but the food was underwhelming. We tried the carbonara, funghi pizza, and the calamari--the carbonara tasted watery, pizza cheese was dry, and the calamari didn't taste like it was cooked fully. Street parking is available, and paying with cash offers a slight discount.

Definitely feel ripped off after that visit. Walked in because we wanted to see a great musician who was performing there while dining, but we were given a pretty mediocre buffet style dinner with a $200 check for me and my wife. It wasn't clear at all what the cost would be in advance, which is what made us most frustrated about the whole experience. Really poor value - would not recommend.

We were greeted with a "what?" (apparently from our waiter) upon entering the restaurant. The first dish was Old, rancid carpaccio, slimy arugula and mozzarella with consistency of Dove Soap. To their credit, when we said we didn't want to eat anymore, they only charged us for the drinks. Who gave this place good reviews? We honestly thought there was a hidden camera for Gordon Ramsey kitchen nightmares show. If you want to spend tmrw in a hospital, book a table today!

Dear Yelp,I am writing this review at 1:58 in the morning. Now, you MAY -- just may -- be wondering why I have selected this God-forsaken hour to write this review, and the answer is that I did not make this decision of my free will. I was unfortunately unable to write this review eight hours ago when I had originally intended to, as I was in the Emergency Room with an IV stuck in my arm up until about ten minutes ago. Well, sure, but what has this got to do with la Trattoria da Franco? Let's rewind. I'm seven years old, I'm waking up in the hospital, my mother (agnostic, by the way) is thanking GOD because I don't have cancer, and the nurse and doctor are looming over me with a glass of orange juice and a fresh diagnosis of Celiac disease .Now let's fast-forward to about 5:15 PM on Wednesday, June 5th, 2024 AC. I'm sitting in la Trattoria da Franco with my family, and -- ooh, let's pause right here and look up what a "trattoria" is! What's this? Ah, yes, CASUAL SERVICE (thank you, Wikipedia and associated sources). This is important. Let's continue.So, I'm sitting there, we're ordering our drinks and appetizers, and we've already informed the waitress that I have Celiac disease and Cannot with a capital "c" eat gluten. She says that's fine, that they can prepare their penne gluten-free. Awesome, great, we know this because we called. We eat our appetizers (translation: I watch my family eat appetizers because the appetizers are bread and I Cannot with a capital "c" eat bread, blah blah blah, et cetera et cetera). We're looking at our menus. There are two penne pasta, and I, just to be safe, have singled out the one that SPECIFICALLY says it can be made gluten-free (not sure why the other one doesn't say so). The waitress comes back. We order. We clarify again that I Cannot eat gluten, and that, no, sourdough isn't technically gluten-free, and where did that come from? (Please do not give a person with celiac disease sourdough unless they say it's okay, no matter how your second cousin Sally swears by it.)(Fast-forward again.) We get our food. Mine, the penne 4 cheese (in Italian, but I forgot the name, something like quatro formaggio) tastes gluten-free (meaning it doesn't taste all that great). This is not exciting; this is safe, this is fine. I scoop some Parmesan onto that bad boy and make it a five-cheese pasta. It's filling and I can't finish it all, so I get a to-go box and get a dessert because I can't help myself, and I was super excited (REMEMBER: EXCITEMENT IS *BAD*) that they had an Apparently gluten-free chocolate cake! Key Word: APPARENTLY. Now, I'm not blaming the chocolate cake entirely. No, I am blaming both the pasta AND the cake, because that food made me SO ill, I'm convinced I'd have been better off eating a rat in the first stage of decomposition infected with the bubonic plague (and I probably WOULD have been. They actually have ANTIBIOTICS for that -- rest in peace 1/3rd the population of medieval Europe; you would have love vaccines). Okay, so at this point I've eaten half of my "Gluten Free!!" pasta and I've eaten my slice of "Gluten Free!!" cake, and I'm sitting on my bed at home, and... oh. Yikes. I become very, very ill. We call the restaurant. I'm not complaining because what am I going to do? Have them un-gluten the food I've already regurgitated? (Hopefully, this foul language is a deterrent from you eating there any time soon.) No, of course not. What's done is done. I'm calling because, hello! This could have KILLED someone! (Not immediately, most likely, but still? Hello? Semantics?) Not fun fact, untreated celiac disease can and will cause or lead to (drumroll please):* severe malnourishment* chronic anemia* numerous joint disorders* type I diabetes* heart disease* seizures* brittle bones* recurring rashes* "pirate diseases" like rickets and scurvy* and, oh yeah, CANCERNot to mention the short-term effects, which are not fun, thank you very much. Something I re-experienced lately in the ER. Now, if you have celiac, and you get poisoned often, you might be wondering why I, who normally does not have such a terrible reaction to gluten, was in the ER for about five or six hours. Look, I'm not very dramatic about my celiac (I know, I know, I've just gone on an enormous rant about it, leave me in my delusion), and it's not that bad, usually, so I can sort of let my body do its work and I'm set. No. Not this time. I'll spare you the details, but I had the worst reaction to gluten I have ever had in my life because of the SHEER amount of gluten I ingested (something la Trattoria da Franco vehemently denied on the phone, by the way). I was pale like bleached papyrus, I was shuddering, I was nodding off and being violently awakened by my reactions, and...Okay, I think you get the point. TL;DR:IF YOU HAVE A FOOD ALLERGY, DO NOT EAT HERE, because not only is there a chance they won't pay attention to what they're doing, but they will DENY, DENY, DENY.

What an amazing place! I just passed by and decided to take glass of wine, eventually I had the whole menu the food is 5 star! The food is 5 star!! They have amazing Italian vibe with live music. I don't know why this place have such a low reviews but they definitely don't deserve it!!! Come try and review them as they deserve!! Great for dinner and date night or just have a glass if wine atThe bar. Very very very recommended !!!

I feel like my pocket was picked - twice.1. A 20% tip is automatically added to all bills, even for tables of two. I think this is a slimy move, with the obvious intent to skim extra money off people who aren't paying attention.2. Upon placing our drink order, before we had ordered our food, we were asked if we'd like some garlic bread. Since the server hadn't asked about appetizers, we naively assumed it was free. It was not - and it was also pretty lame.The food itself wasn't bad, but nor was it remarkable. look around - You can do better at many other places in Alexandria...

The food and feel of this classic Italian restraunt is authentic. The service is friendly. The waiter let my group of 6 enjoy each others conversation without feeling rushed! No one had any complaints!

Just a few minutes from work is this Gem of a Restaurant with the Best Authentic Italian food, they have a few levels where you can enjoy music and other special events held here on a daily. We were greeted by three ladies who were so friendly. We didn't make reservations which I encourage you to do so, we were lucky to get a seat on a Friday. It was just mean to be!! Daniela was our server who by the way was superFriendly, she went over the menu and gave us suggestions which made it so easy to order. She made us super comfortable, there was also a musician there who came to our table and asked if wanted him to play a special song for us. This place is open to all families, couples (super romantic setting for those coming on a date) there was also a few large parties here but so pleasant to sit and have some amazing food, music and outstanding service. I also enjoyed watching the TV while eating I never get to enjoy it since I'mWorking 24/7.I ordered the pappardelle plain with sauce on the side, the sauce was perfect seasoned, made with so much love! The pasta was perfectly made, Thank you to the Chef for making me a special plate without any meat. This plate is now my absolute favorite, the Best I ever had. My drink was a cosmo one of my favorite drinks made perfectly by Daniela. I also ordered the garlic bread which I'm sad not to have taken a picture of, must try. Ordered the mussels which were fresh, the sauce was perfect with the bread. For dessert I ordered the chocolate cake with gran maniré, with the Best whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Portion is large enough for two people. If you live near by make sure to come and experience one of the best service and your new Italian favorites. If your visiting you must not leave the DMV without coming here. As a frequent traveler I always look for the best Italian restaurants and now proud to say I found one here in my backyard. The service is so outstanding that I noticed how the ladies check if the tables wiggle, one of my NO when sitting at a restaurant. I watched her place some type of plastic underneath. Wow now that's service!! It's so pleasant seeing your staff love their jobs, Thank you to the owners of this establishment for giving your clients an experience that they will never forget. I will be back soon..

I keep finding myself here before a show at Little Theater of Alexandria. It's a cozy neighborhood Italian joint. Food is tasty -- maybe not spectacular, but a solid take on Italian-American classics. Ambiance is a little challenging: the live music can get loud in that room; the dining room is *dark* (great for date night, bad for food photos ‍). It's not the best value, but it's decent and reliable. Good for the occasional splurge.

This was unfortunately an awful experience. It took us 30 minutes to even talk to a server after we sat down, and we had to get up to go find someone to let them know it had been that long. The food was incredibly overpriced and was just fine. The bartender decided to just go home I guess at 7:45? Ambiance was off, the lights were so bright and white for a "nice" white table cloth restaurant. We were there for three hours, not by choice whatsoever. They didn't comp any drinks after waiting for so long, were barely apologetic, and then tried to make us tip 20% after that horrible experience. There are so many much better places in Old Town, and they're way more affordable. Also we definitely were not the only ones with a bad experience as we watched one table get up and leave after not being served for 20 min and another table get up and find someone to ask when their food was coming because they had been waiting for so long.