Toasties.. a plain cheese toastie, a cheese and ham toastie.. whichever your filling, toasties are seen as a comfort food, a retro choice of food to some people and were a huge rave at one time when toastie machines were flying off the shop shelves and our parents were in the kitchen clamping down two slices of bread with our favourite go to toastie fillings! Everybody loves a toastie.. and now there is a restaurant right on my door step in Manchester City Centre which sells toasties.. they literally offer almost any filling that you can think of.

Salford born Barry Chui is the owner of Frankie’s Toasties and came up with the idea of a toastie shop whilst sat at home one night, rading the cupboards for something to eat and with only a few items left in the cupboard and fridge.. created the start of his toastie idea. Since then, Barry’s dream was to bring back his childhood memory and open the first toastie shop and now his dreams and unique toastie concoctions are out there for all of us to try. 

Frankie’s Toasties currently offer 32 different toastie fillings which are around £3 to £4 each. They also have a ‘selfieccino’ coffee machine where you can have your favourite photo printed onto your frothy coffee and are a busy little toastie shop based on Portland Street. They opened their doors for the first time on the 22nd October 2018 and I can already see these guys being a huge hit in Manchester City Centre. They have already had people queuing up outside of their doors every day for the last week and a half, eager to try one of their delicious and quirky toastie creations. 

Credit: Instagram - Frankie’s Toasties [all post images]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS 

I made my way to Frankie’s the first week that they opened and I luckily got in line before the que started forming outside of the doors onto Portland Street. When first entering the toastie shop I found it to be clean, inviting and very unique. On one wall sat proudly was Frankie’s logo which is already becoming well known and a small area with a few tables and chairs for eating in. The other wall consisted of translated Mancunian phrases, which was great to see, especially as I visited with my friend who is originally from the South, she found it fascinating! 

Displayed above the counter area is the menu of toasties avaliable, there are plenty to choose from and even some fillings you would have never of thought of but actually sound quite tasty! I ordered the Cheesy Bacon (£3.50) which consisted of a toastie filled with cheddar and mozzarella cheese and streaky bacon. I also ordered the Jelly Nut (£3.00) which was filled with crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam. My friend ordered the Cheap ‘n’ Cheeseful (£3), a straight forward cheese toastie filled with cheddar and mozzarella cheese. She also ordered the Apple and Custard (£3.50) which consisted of an apple pie filling with custard and had a sugar and cinnamon dusting. 

Once I had placed my order, I was given a receipt with a number on and invited to wait to the side until my order was ready. Once your chosen toastie is ready then your order number is shouted and you can move to the front to collect it. 

It was great that you could see the toasties being made behind the counter and could see that it was freshly made.. you can also see the mountains of bread that is packed away ready to be used and I really liked the fact that they do not use a cheap bread, you can see they use a well known brand of bread which looked fresh and you are given the option of white or brown bread. 

As you can imagine there was quite a few people stood waiting in the middle of the room (around 10-15 people) waiting for their toasties to be made to order and although the toasties were generally made as quick as humanly possible (you could see the staff in the  background working none stop), the only downfall was that I had to wait 10 minutes between getting my cheesy bacon toastie and then my jelly nut toastie.. this was the same for my friend and a few others on the day which I visited. 

Apart from the wait after placing my order, I couldn’t really fault Frankie’s Toasties. The staff were all very friendly and the place has a really great vibe about it. 

TASTE

As a lover of toasties in general I really enjoyed both of my toastie creations. The filling of my Cheesy Bacon was delicious and you could taste the individual flavours of the cheddar, mozzarella and bacon. It took me back to my childhood when my mum would make me a toastie with the toastie machines that everybody used to have and that we probably all still do have stored in a cupboard somewhere. The Jelly Nut toastie was also delicious, again I could taste the peanut butter and the hot jam separately but then combined together with each bite of my toastie.. it was sweet, delicious and messy.. great choice for when you have a sweet tooth! My friend also enjoyed her Cheap ‘n’ Cheeseful toastie and could not stop speaking about the Apple Pie and Custard, which tasted exactly like the desert.. except on a toastie.

If you’re keen to take a sneaky look at the menu before heading down you can check their menu out via their website below, where you’ll see a huge range toasties to choose from and which include the Manc Melt (cheddar and mozzarella cheese, tuna, sweetcorn and mayo), the Salford Supernoodle Buttie (chicken flavoured noodle toastie) or even the Chocolate Bar Toastie (your favourite chocolate bar on a toastie). It seems that there is literally anything you can put on a toastie!

COST AND VALUE

Prices are around £3 to £4 each toastie. The prices vary depending on your chosen filling and there are a huge range of fillings available. I think the cost is slightly expensive when you consider that it is two pieces of bread with a filling of your choice. Although I haven’t found any other dedicated toastie shop in Manchester City Centre, there are local cafes where you can order a toastie for around the same price and  which has a lot more filling packed into the toastie. 

The toastie itself is a little small and compact but as  Frankie’s make their toasties on a toastie machine, I imagine that there is only so much filling they can use. 

I would however definitely return back to Frankie’s as my toastie was delicious and I really would like to try out their other creative fillings! 

OVERALL

Frankie’s Toasties has a great buzz and feeling about the place. There are plenty of toastie fillings to choose from and my toastie choices were delicious. Although the que was forming outside of the door, it wasn’t too long until my order was taken, which was pretty impressive. The staff were all friendly, very welcoming and really work hard. The only downfall was that the toasties were a little on the small side and the waiting time between getting both of my toasties was a little too long. I understand they have only been trading for what was less than a week when I visited and I’m sure they’ll have this fixed in no time. 

Overall, I would visit Frankie’s Toasties again and cannot wait to try out another one of their unique but delicious concoctions.. Chocolate Bar Toastie anybody?!

PROS AND CONS

Pros

• Freshly made and tastes delicious 
• Unique and quirky concept
• Happy and helpful staff 
• Wide range of fillings
• Great decor ideas

Cons

• Items ordered made at different times
• Toasties on the small side

FOODIE RATING

I give Frankie’s Toasties FoodieRating of 4/5. It would have been a solid 5/5 Foodie Rating if it wasn’t for the toasties arriving separately and being a little on the small side but they’ve only been open a few days. I’m sure next time I visit it will be a 5/5. Definitely recommend giving Frankie’s a visit.

Want to know more about Frankie’s Toasties? They are a huge hit on Instagram or you can head over to their website here: FrankiesToasties