Frankie’s Ristorante

I enjoy great Italian food and this I did not enjoy. Gave this place 3 chances on 3 occasions but each visit was worse than the one before. Table for two crammed in the back every single time. Lasagna was so burnt it was crispy but they put the burnt side down and smothered it with red sauce to hide it. How about you don’t serve burnt food to your guests that are paying for good quality. When you have great food, you don’t need to smother it with so much sauce until you can’t see what it is (look at all the pics posted) and you’ll see what I mean. Service is not good. Food is bad. Place is stuffy. Plenty better Italian spots in the area than this one.

My review is based on our experience. If I was to rate the food I would give it two stars. My whole dish was greasy and my husband said his risotto was dry and not creamy. This is the second year my family and I have gone to Frankie’s for dinner on Christmas Eve. We had reservations but they were running behind and so we sat at the bar. We were given the specials menu and not the regular menu. I asked the bartender if we could order off the regular menu since the specials were not anything my child wanted to eat. I was told no. Asked again and he asked the other bartender and she said that was all they were offering. Thought that was strange because I didn’t think the other children would be eating rabbit, fish, octopus, ect. My daughter said she would try the fish but she was not happy. After we placed our order and had eaten our soup, I noticed that other people in the restaurant had the regular menus and were ordering from them. I wanted to change my daughter’s order but the owner said no changes. We asked to speak to him and he ignored us. The owner eventually walked by us and my husband stopped him to explain why we wanted to change our daughter’s order. He was incredibly rude. He didn’t care that his employees made a mistake. He only cared that he would have to eat the dish my daughter didn’t want. He did eventually change out my daughter’s order but made the bartender eat the dish. I have never in my life experienced a restaurant not willing to make the customer happy especially since his employee and by extension the owner was at fault since his employee didn’t even know what they were serving that day.

Tonight was our first visit to Frankie’s. My wife and I had reservations for 7:00 p.m. We arrived about 6:40 and were promptly seated by the owner. Even though the place was packed, he took a few minutes to talk to us. He then took our coats and returned with our claim check. Immediately, our waiter arrived. Travis, our waiter, listed the drink and food specialties.
Cindy and I ordered a couple of martinis before dinner and two glasses of wine to drink with our meals. Frankie’s has a fine list of cocktails and wines by the glass and the bottle. Cindy ordered a Lemondrop and I a French Martini. She had a glass of Domaine Chandon Pinot Noir and I a glass of Paso Creek Zin. As you can see, they have a nice selection of California wines. They also have a good selection of Italian and South American wines as well as other domestics.
Bread with specialty olive oils was provided with the meal. Our portions of Pollo Pamesan and Risotto were plentiful and affordable. The waiter boxed our leftovers.
Food and drink fantastic. Service impeccable. This is a place to which we will return.

We went here based on a recommendation. Great service by Travis. Management was attentive and kept things perfect. The food delivery was super efficient. The grilled octopus was fabulous. The Gnocchi was absolutely amazing!!! The Risotto special was cooked perfectly but paled when compared to the Gnocchi. Excellent wine choices and the specials were spot on. The tiramisu was done well but we prefer a little more lady fingers in ours. All in all we’d love to spend more time at Frankie’s.

My wife and I have been here about 20 times, seriously. This place is absolutely fantastic! I ALWAYS get the pappardelle noodles with vodka sauce and sausage. Every single time. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten. The ambiance is great. The service, my god the service! Absolutely top notch. The owners and staff always recognize us and are so friendly. You MUST try this place. It is an absolute gem!

The best pasta I’ve ever had in my life!
I ordered my own dish of pappardelle with vodka sauce and chicken. It was perfection. The noodles were cooked perfectly. The vodka sauce was amazing. My friend had the ricotta stuffed gnocchi sign vodka sauce. I don’t like ricotta but her dish was delicious as well. I had a dirty martini with proper blue cheese stuffed olives. My friend had a delightful glass of moscato, another great offering by the restaurant.
Highly recommend coming here for a special occasion, date night, or when you want to treat yourself!

Delicious food in a warm, comfortable atmosphere. The lighting brings a really cozy feel and the ambiance makes you feel like you’re dining in a street café. Service is excellent! Definitely check this place out if you’re in the area.

Been here a few times already and both food and service have been consistently great. Best Italian around.

I was in town for work and I enjoy trying local fare. I ordered carry out, so my involvement with the staff was minimal, but still impressive. The inside looked nice and clean.
The calamari with marinara was very good and the vodka cream sauce (ordered the rigatoni alla vodka) was everything I expected based on previous reviews-​amazing.
My only complaint (and why it did not receive 5 stars from me) was that the prices listed on the website were all several dollars lower than what I was charged when I went to pick up the order. Being on a corporate budget, I was ordering based on my limit. I realize that if it were that important I could’ve simply asked when I called and I’m sure it’s just a matter of updating the website.

I thought I would really like this place… Ambience was very cozy and warm, great music, friendly hostess.
I ordered a beet and asparagus salad which was very good. I then ordered the fish special, Ono (should have taken a clue from the name). It was extremely dry, over cooked and tasteless. A few roasted potatoes served on the side which were mediocre at best.
Dessert was flourless chocolate cake, which is usually delicious at most restaurants. Sadly, that too was lacking in flavor. Not sure why that was, but first time I didn’t want to finish a chocolate cake.
Maybe other dishes were good because of all the great reviews this restaurant has gotten, but I wouldn’t order this dish again.

Our favorite! I highly recommend the Ricotta Gniocci with Vodka Sauce– OUT OF THIS WORLD! They are little delicate ricotta filled pillows :) The staff is outstanding here and make you feel like you are a part of their family. Hands down our favorite Italian restaurant and date spot :)

What a wonderful gem in the south burbs.
My wife and I have been here twice now and couldn’t recommend it more highly. It stands up to our favorite Italian restaurants in the city.
Food is handmade, fresh, and from the highest quality ingredients.
Both meals started with the grilled octopus. We really like variety, so getting the same appetizer says a lot about how much we liked it. We’ll probably get out again next time.
Don’t miss the specials. Tonight, I had the chef’s risotto, featuring duck thigh and caramelized onion. I was full ¹⁄₃ into the plate but just couldn’t stop myself from cleaning the plate. My wife had the squid ink pasta, it was fresh and cooked perfectly, but as good as it was, I certainly claimed the prize of best dish.
Our service on both trips was excellent. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. You can tell how much they care about their customers.

The Real Deal. Genuine family Italian. The vodka sauce on pasta is off the charts. Real family atmosphere. Chef is from Rome. Great wine. Good value. I hate Italian chains and love family restaurants. If you are in the area don’t miss this.

Authentic Italian cooking at it’s best! Absolutely love this place! We come here often for dinner and have never been disappointed! Whether I’m out with friends or a romantic evening with my husband Frankies is our go to place. Each item is a wonderful tasty surprise and staff is top notch! A family member is always on the premises, and they are so welcoming and truly care that you have a wonderful dining experience!
I just had my first large party there! It was my future Daughter-in-law’s Bridal Shower and it was amazing — we received many compliments from our guests :)
Angela (their event coordinator) gave me great ideas and numbers of companies to contact for their services (loved her recommendation of Bokay Floral in Frankfort!).
Having your party there will guarantee an elegant and tasty affair!

We went here with a group of 8 of us last week. I have been here several times in years past and but not in over a year. There is a reason for that. First off the menu is relativley small so for I am limited for what I like to eat. Second I found this food to be so-​so half the time. Not a place I would pick as a first choice as there are many other Italian restaurants around that are better than this one.
Although the décor is fairly nice and the service and staff are good the food for me is mediocre part of the time or part of the meal. I will say this and that my wife had the chicken parm and I tasted it for the first time. It was pretty good. I had the wild caught salmon which was a special. It was supposed to be fresh but I am not sure. It had bit of a fishy taste to it and was overdone as it was a bit dry. The sides of roasted potatoes and chefs vegetables were very good. I had a grilled octopus appetizer which was actually very good.
So once again another meal here that was partially good. When I was asked how the food was the waitress seemed to not hear me or ask if she could replace the meal. That is my fault as usually I will return a meal. This time I guess I did not because this was the experience I was expecting. Not sure I will be back unless it is chosen for me as part of a group.
I will say that everyone else in our group said their meals were good. Those choices were gnocchi with a meatball, risotto, chiken parm and chicken Vesuvio.

We had a wonderful dinner here Friday night. We started with the caprese salad. Karen had the veal limone I had the pork cutlet milanese with roasted red pepper and arugula and of course a hunk of Parmesan. Sides were penne with bolognese and linguini with lemon/​wine/​garlic. Bottle of wine. Finishing off with a limoncello.

The best fine dining Italian around! Otimo is very good and open for lunch. Not being open for lunch is the only draw back to Frankie’s. The food is great and the service is perfect. Attentive without being overbearing. The menu is not huge like a lot Italian restaurants, but there is something for everybody. Great place with great service. It’s by a car wash, get over it. Check it out and make a reservation!!!

If you want an indepth review please refer to Alisa M’s review of Frankie’s.
Essentially, I had the same experience. The food was made from scratch fresh and so good. My risotta was so full of delicious seafood my only qualm was needing another plate to put all the shells in after… not a bad thing at all!
The house pinot was good as well and nicely chilled. Wife loved the ice wine martini so much that she had two of them! (we aren’t big drinkers.)
Service was outstanding. Vince came by so many times to check on us and was really nice talking with. The singer was enjoyable. Just his energy made us enjoy everything and like Alisa said in her review there were people dancing at the end. Loved how he sang some new songs and his version of Uptown Funk had me doing a little chair dancing… probably influenced by the wine and delicious food too.
To quote a famous governor, «I’ll be back.»

This place is the best around! We came here for dinner on a Thursday night. The place was pretty packed, so we waited at the bar for a table to open up.
The staff is VERY attentive. The place is very nice and romantic. There was a live singer performing also. All of the food is fresh. The waitress even showed us pictures of the chef with a tray of blue tilapia that was flown in that morning! The chef is from Rome. Everything they make is made from scratch! Even the pasta, sauce, desserts— Also, the waitress informed us that if there was something that we wanted to eat that was not on the menu, to let her know, and she would check if the chef had the ingredients. If he does, he would make it for you! Awesome sauce!
We started off with the calamari. The marinara is oh so good! The calamari is also cooked to perfection. Usually at other places, you sometimes get the rubbery texture if it’s overcooked. It was not the case here. The breading was the right amount too. There was enough breading to make it crispy, but not overpowering where you couldn’t taste the squid. I asked for more marinara and ended up scooping the rest that we didn’t finish with a spoon to finish it. Yes, it was THAT GOOD.
The Caesar salad was ok. The dressing didn’t have too much flavor, but the anchovy was a nice added touch to the dish. The lettuce was crisp and it was not drowning in dressing. Wish that they would cut up the anchovies into smaller pieces and mix it in with the dressing.
For our entrees– we ordered:
1. Lobster ravioli in vodka sauce– This was not on the menu and the waitress mentioned that they did have it in the back. The vodka sauce was the best sauce that I’ve EVER tasted! The ravioli was the perfect size and there were chunks of lobster inside. This dish was to die for!!! So good!
2. Seafood risotto– The risotto was cooked perfectly, not to watery or undercooked. The portion is HUGE and with lots of seafood. There was clams, squid, scallops, and mussels.
The owner Vince came by a few times to talk to us and he’s the most friendliest man on earth! The whole place was nice and cozy and makes you feel like a big family. Since it was our first time, he insisted that we tried 2 desserts on the house! We tried the pistachio cannoli and a chocolate …(not sure of the name). Both were so good. Kinda bummed that they ran out of tiramisu, but I’ll keep in mind to come earlier next time. We also got a couple shots of Limoncello after dinner before dessert. Vince told us that his son Frank makes it and man was it good!
My biggest pet peeve is my water not being refilled, but that was clearly not the case here. All the workers pay such close attention to the customers. My water was never left empty and plates were cleared in a timely manner. If I could give this place more than 5 stars I would… and this is the first time out of all my reviews that I’m saying that.
By the end of the night, the people that the tables that were left were dancing and singing with the performer. It was an awesome date night and I look forward to coming here in the future. It’s my new favorite spot! Oh, on Wednesdays, all pasta dishes are B1G1 FREE!
Thank you Vince for a wonderful night!

My client and I went to Frankie’s on Friday at around 5.30pm.
We were treated like they didn’t want our money.
They were out of the wines we really wanted so we got a recommendation that wasn’t good at all.
The food tasted bland and not fresh.
I will never go back.