Franco Manca

Not my favourite Franco Manca in term la of design layout inside restaurant but it doesn’t matter when you get one of their famous sour sour pizzas. I defy any other pizza place to have a crust that is as soft or tasty as the topping part itself. So good. Whatever your flavour it’s a cert to enjoy.

always love a good franco manca pizza

So I decided to try this place as there are rave reviews. It was a long wait about 20 mins. To be honest, I feel it is more a 3.5 star place. The ambiance is cozy and the staff friendly! I tried pizza number 4 but to be honest I can’t drum up to same enthusiasm as other reviewers. The pizza dough was really delish, but I wasn’t impressed with the ham (off day maybe)?. I’d give it another go if I were in the vicinity of a Franca Manca but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

Ahhhh Franca Manca, once a small pizza shop in Brixton Market, now a London pizza institution. If you haven’t heard of Franca Manca you have definitely been living under a rock, a non pizza filled rock!
I didn’t actually know that there was an FM in South Kensington so it was a lovely surprise when looking for a cheap-​ish place to eat that it popped up on my Unilocal feed (it’s very hard to come by anything ‘cheap-​ish’ in South Ken).
We headed over and as expected it was packed — we only had to wait around 5 minutes for a table though and the waiter continued to apologise for the wait throughout those 5 minutes which was nice.
Being quite a small restaurant you are sat rather closely to other tables but not close enough to be stumbling over each other, or knocking elbows when you eat.
Both Alex and I opted for the number 4 pizza with extra tomato! The number 4 is topped with ham, mushrooms, mozerella and buffalo ricotta.
The food arrived quickly — like 5 minutes quick. I do LOVE Franca Manca pizzas and the ricotta on this type of pizza just makes it — mix it with your crust and it’s just heaven. The only thing for me is that the dough is a bit too doughy and I usually end up leaving quite a lot but the pizza overall, with its fresh and delicious toppings, is one not to mess with and for just £6.50 it is unbelievably good value for money.
Just as a side note, we also had the olives. I didn’t like them — way too buttery and they left a really funny taste in my mouth BUT again persona preference.

Crazy delicious pizza served in a very small restaurant with shared tables — don’t go for the atmosphere but if you want efficient service and really tasty pizza– this is the place!

Best pizza in the city.
Or, if not the best, than one of the best. But damn it’s tasty, and well made, and there’s clearly love in these pizzas. The dough is fresh and chewy. The toppings fresh and delicious. The pizza fresh and hot.
It honestly doesn’t matter which one you get, it’s good. So good. And so cheap for a full pizza all to yourself. No need to share with anyone, it’s all yours baby.
The staff is quick and it’s always packed here, but we came as a table of two and they sat us right away. Damn, now I want some more. Damn, this pizza is great.

The pizza was the best I have ever had! Not only was it made fresh inside the kitchen, and you could observe them make it, the dough was made of sourdough! They had many choices to choose from, and the staff were nice, and friendly. It is a very fair price for what it is worth, I would definitely recommend this pizza place!

Great & unique pies — flavorful toppings & crust
Quick & efficient service as the space is crowded
Good selection of wines by the glass

I went here based on the recommendation of a friend who lives down in London. Arrived around 7pm on a busy Saturday evening and was luck enough to get a table straight away. The menu is very small but the standard of the food is sensational. I opted for the cured ham, mozzarella, buffalo ricotta & wild mushroom washed down with a No Logo Pale Ale all for £11 which is unheard of in London. With there being plenty of Franco Mama’s scattered across London, i highly recommend you check one of their places out.

Best pizza we had in London so far! super busy even on a Wednesday evening but the staff was very welcoming and we really enjoyed our meal even if we had to share the table with som strangers! Will def. come here again!

Friendly staff & great pizza! Very busy place to eat-​in, but take-​away pizza was done in 15 minutes & I was on my way. Great & fresh ingredients, but the crust had a little bit of a funky taste

I am so glad that I stumbled upon this place. Warm, friendly environment with kind and attentive staff. Oh yeah, the food is also great and priced for the budget conscious.

This South Ken branch opened in late 2014 and has been jam packed every time I’ve passed by.
The menu is reassuringly short. 6 choices with quality ingredients and safe combinations. I had Pizza 4 — Gloucester Old Spot Ham (Home Cured), mozzarella, buffalo ricotta, and wild mushrooms. I am a sucker for ricotta and will try it wherever possible, and it did not disappoint. It was creamy and heart warming, as ricotta should be.
Now, Franco Manca sells itself through its sourdough, but that unique taste didn’t come out as strongly for me. Considering they spend a minimum 20 hours letting the dough rise, I was expecting it to be a kicker of a taste (it was good, the crust was soft, the base was thin). What blew me away though was the home cured meat. Glorious texture, glorious taste — would go back just for the meat.
Glad to have so many branches around London to enjoy an inexpensive artisan pizza. But definitely do go at an odd hour or expect to wait in the new branches! I will try a tomato, mozzarella and basil next to get to the proper sourdough taste.
USP: Excellent toppings.
Go with: Somebody that you want to talk to as you wait in line.
Price: Low: £4−7 per pizza.
Comparison: A simpler, cheaper, more local Pizza Pilgrims! Major win on the meat.

I love it, the best addition to my neighborhood! Amazing pizza (in particularly the meat special or #4), great prices and friendly staff.
they don’t take reservations so there is always a bit of waiting to do as the place is small, but the service is so fast that it is never unbearable, and the quality of the food and the prices compensate it.
A big plus is that they also do take away!

Absolutely delicious. Warm welcome. Fast service. Good prices. We queued outside for a while but it was well worth the wait. The only problem is the noise. The restaurant was full of very loud people perhaps because the music was quite loud and we also had to shout to talk.

Excellent pizza, great prices and friendly staff. Can’t really ask for anything else. The place does get busy so you can wait for a table but it is well worth the wait. Highly recommend

Friendly staff, great atmosphere, delicious sourdough pizza and unbeatable prices (10 pounds for pizza + glass of wine). Only downside is waiting times, recommend going outside of peak

Nice little place. Always busy which is a good sign. Oh and the pizzas good too. Staff are always friendly.

It’s Franco Manca, no need to say it’s awesome. The same concept as the Brixton one, sourdough pizzas, simple menus, delicious pizzas, busy and super friedly staff, this time in South Ken, less queues than the Brixton branch. What’s not to like? Ps: do yourselves a favour and order a bottle of Ciu Ciu wine, it’s gonna rock your socks off.