Frankie & Benny's New York Italian Restaurant & Bar prides itself on a 1950s New York theme, based on its supposed American/Italian roots.

The Lunch Menu does its best to imply a 1950s Manhattan skyline on its wrap-around cover; but, even the black and white tone does little to hide the obvious fact that the photo represents a very 21st century view of the 5th Avenue / Broadway area as it appears today. A period shot of the Manhattan skyline can look beautiful taken from certain angles; but the image chosen here is rather cluttered and ugly, complete with dot.com signage hanging off a building in the foreground. Wheteas an authentic period photograph would have maintain the 50s feel of nostalgia, the current one takes away from it.
In reality the restaurant chain operates exclusively within the U.K. and oversights such as this may be less apparent to its largely British clientele.

Inside, the Lunch Menu continues the Italian theme with cliché green, white, and red text; but, the type font and general imagery are less pronounced than, say, the 'Ed's Easy Diner' menus which push the 50's Americana theme to excess. Frankie & Benny's menus cater for a slightly more sophisticated clientele in that respect.

I like the concept for the menu cover; but, as I have explained, I think the finished item fails to deliver on its premise. The inside is also very cliché and borderline tacky. The photo inset of a pizza, with the overlay text "Let's get LUNCHIN'" delivers a cheaper cafe feel - which is probably not what the restaurant was going for.
The pound sign emblazoned on the cover, to advertise the promotional price of the 'mains' (albeit probably unavoidable) also detracts from the illusion of sitting in a New York restaurant. ( )