Frank's Restaurant & Pizzeria

I have to say that a restaurant like Frank's can have some charm based on its history, but everything from the curb appeal to the presentation is lacking, here. This all-food, no ambiance place needs a major makeover.

3rd Friday might have contributed to the craziness, but there was no hostess, and a wall of people was forming.  We eventually seated ourselves at a recently vacated and cleaned table. They were slightly understaffed.

Some things were just unfresh, sloppy, inadequate, unclean. The beer ad was filthy, the pepper shaker wasn't even close to full (aka empty), and you could just see a lot of grime on the menus. Stained and water damaged. Once more, when we got the Parmesan cheese, it had about an eighth inch left and it was taken away for another guest. This probably means they don't clean or stock their condiments every day.

The mood was tense there. Guests were hungry and were waiting for awhile to be served and staff was (literally) running around to keep their heads above water. Our waitress was awesome, despite. There was a busser I noticed who stood there with no mission other than bussing. He shouldn't have stood there, looking unproductive. I mean, come on man. If you're going to be unilateral in your responsibilities, you might as well hide in the back!

Now the food was incredible, but the bread basket was... cheap.  The red plastic basket came with a bevvy of butter and saltines and packaged bread pretzel sticks, and it was topped with (I'm not kidding) two pieces of sliced white bread in a sandwich bag. We never touched it.

The entrees were a different experience though. I had a pepperoni cheese pizza and some garlic cheese bread. The wife had some chicken Parmesan (that came with a salad that was "good, even though it had no tomatoes", some spaghetti that was "not great, but good" and a baked potato that she never opened the foil for because it was not inviting and she was pretty much full by then) that was burnt, but she liked it enough to bring the leftovers home.

Word to the wise, coupon or not, pay up front when you're ready with the receipt. I know if I come back, it will be for the pizza and it will be to-go. There is no atmosphere, here.

The pizza is delicious, but I have never encountered such terrible service.  If you are in the mood for their pizza, order carry out. I have been to Frank's 3 times:

The first time I went with three other people.  We waited at least an hour for our pizza, maybe more, and our waitress was not attentive.  But the time passed quickly because it was a good night out.

The second time I went on Father's Day with my dad and two siblings.  After waiting an hour and seeing other people get their pizzas, we tried to flag down our waitress, but she kept running past us without even glancing our way (our drinks were empty and had been for a while).  Finally we got her to come over and she said our pizza was almost up.  We waited another 30 minutes (during which time I asked twice for more tea, finally getting some).  When I saw the manager standing by the kitchen I went up and explained the situation.  She checked on our pizza (the excuse was that it had been dropped) and told us that our meal (which we received in another 30 minutes) was on the house.  I was pleased with her reaction but it wasn't worth the 2 hour wait.

The third time I went was on a weeknight, and I was with one other person.  We sat ourselves (as per the sign) and waited for the waitress to come over.  She did not.  Instead, two waitresses chatted at the front and a third bussed a table.  Twice I made eye contact and my guest attempted to wave them over.  After 15 minutes we stood, embarrassed, planning to leave.  At this time all three waitresses noticed us and one asked if we wanted something to drink.  We declined and left.

I have been a waitress for 6 years; I've worked at coney islands, bowling alleys, nightclubs, bars, poker rooms and a country club.  I am very, very forgiving of servers who seem to be having a bad day or have more tables than they can handle or who are not being helped by management or other staff.  But I've reached the conclusion that Frank's either has no vetting process for their hiring, or that the servers are all related to or friends with the owner and simply do not care to do a good job.  It really is a pity.

I picked up a pizza carry out from here. Defnitely some of the best pizza around! The cheese tasted different than your usual pizza. The only downside was that it took 40 minutes to make, and they only accept cash. But I would definitely go back!