franks, great titchfield street, w1

Franks must be part of a little chain. There's an identical Franks on Goodge Street. And the Eastern European's running the place have that vaguely resentful air of employee's, not owners. Somehow doesn't seem like a franchise thing. I wonder if there are anymore anywhere.

I love the bleakness of some cafes on a wet afternoon. They're getting ready to close. Even if it's not for another four hours. They're wiping everything with cloths. Everything's getting squared up. Waitresses put on their coats and head for the tube and the godawful journey home. Salutations are exchanged in some inpenitrable language. The few other customers also don't have a good reason to be there.

where do these pictures come from? and does anyone ever look at them?

good condiment cluster. sadly boring menu. i wonder why people don't take more advantage of their menus. take the chance to tell some little story about the place.

a branded 'franks' cup. another sign that this is a chain. nice cup of tea. but not cheap at 80p

Comments

[James]

Perhaps there IS another one! Well, I certainly recognise the logo on that cup as it's the same as Frank's in Uxbridge tube station. It was also 80p. The plot thickens. But according to classiccafes's gazeteer, the place in Uxbridge is owned by a married couple, and the husband is called Frank. The guy making the lovely and very hot tea was quite old and looked like he owned the place, although the waitresses were miserable Poles or something. Maybe one can just buy cups with names of people who commonly run restaurants like Mario, Frank .. um .. Costa! Anyway, it's a very nice place (nothing like those places you normally get in stations), has knackered leatherette quasi-booths and is populated by assorted nutters. Decent fry up and some nice-looking snacks too.

[Patrick]

I was on work-related business near Uxbridge last week.

The highlight of the marathon tube trip to Zone 6 was the chance to visit Frank' inside the station, which as James said, is featured in the classic cafe gazetteer.

I think it's more of a "semi-classic", as it has the same '80's(?)marble/polished-stone floor and wall tiling as the branches in Great Titchfield St. and Goodge St.

The guy behind the counter confirmed that all three cafes have the same owner.

The Uxbridge branch is unusual in that most of its natural light comes in through the skylight. It was good to see it was well-used, as I noticed a recently closed cafe outside, which looked like an independent operator. There's a cluster of the usual corporate places just outside the station, so Frank's is doing well to survive

[Patrick]

I was at the Gt. Titchfield St. Frank's last Saturday.

I got chatting to the owner, an affable old-school Italian called, surprise, surprise, Frank. He told me that he opened the Uxbridge branch in 1969, and the Gt. Titchfield and Goodge St. branches in about 1987.

So far as I'm concerned, these type of places are the "classic cafes" of the future. The Gt. Titchfield branch got the thumbs-up from my Swiss-Italian girlfriend, who's normally quite scathing about London cafes !

I'm no design expert, but the marble-effect (or is it polished stone?) floor and wall tiles, and counter, seem to be typical of cafes set up in the 80's.

This is plumbing the depths of cafe nerdery, but the painted writing on the cafe window is in a style that can be seen on a lot of wooden menu-boards, particularly in West End cafes. Does anyone know if this type of writing has a name ?

[swaggies]

We found Franks at Uxbridge after a fruitless search for camera around this area of London. It proved to be an oasis with very good coffee and lovely bacon and eggs

[John Edwards]

Have been into Frank's a couple of times. Not a bad bacon sarnie if a little pricey. Nevertheless, the caff has a slightly sombre ambience about it. Good coffee.