Lil’ frankies and a big table
When we sat down at a table made of a gigantic tree-trunk slab, I knew the food was going to be good. The walls were decorated a darkish-muted yellow with picture frames, and a mural of a giant sun laid behind my head. I noticed a giant vintage-framed chalkboard that listed all of the specials for the day. I was so excited.
As the 10 of us sat around the tree trunk, I found myself tracing the grooves and the rings of the wood. My cousin Noah tried to count the rings and said that there were 86. I could talk about this table for hours. It was the perfect spot for my family to sit. Best round table ever.
Anyways, we started off with some delicious thick-cut sourdough bread with olive oil and olives. Sourdough is my favorite kind of bread, and this one did not disappoint.
For appetizers, we ordered a tomato salad and a kale cesar. As a tomato-hater, I did not eat the tomato salad. But I did really enjoy the kale cesar salad. The kale was krunchy (see what I did there), and the croutons were tangy. Mixed with a load of parmesan, this kale cesar was insane.
We then had a ton of pasta and pizza dishes. Starting with their famous pasta limone, it was pretty solid. It’s just buttered noodles in a lemon sauce topped with a large pile of parmesan, but it was good. I really enjoyed it. If you are there, get it. But, I think there were some dishes that outdid the pasta limone.
This next dish we had to order a second of because it was so good. The chicken parmesan was one of my unexpected favorites of the night. It came with a giant chicken breast with a side of really good pasta. The chicken was fresh out of the broiler, and it was topped with an insane tomato sauce. Same goes for the spaghetti. Delicious!
The last of our pastas was from their specials. It was a baked rigatoni with eggplant in pomodoro sauce. I really loved this. The eggplant was smoky, and the rigatoni had a perfect crunch from the oven. This was definitely my favorite pasta.
While the pasta was definitely great, this side dish really stole the show. It was butternut squash topped with bruleed parmesan served in a ramekin. I fell in love. It was sweet and velvety, but the cheese balanced nicely. I would have eaten the whole ramekin if I didn’t have stomach issues.
Next, the pizza. We ordered the vodka pasta pizza, the meatball pizza, and a margarita. The meetball pizza was topped with tiny meatballs. I loved it. It was pretty simple, but they nailed it. The margarita was the same thing but without meat, and it was also amazing. The crust is so fluffy, and it’s nice and saucy. Lastly, we had the vodka pizza. In my opinion, it tasted exactly like red--sauce and had no real distinction. Yes, it was good, but not what we asked for.
For dessert, we had a fruit plate served with whipped cream, tiramisu, and panna cotta. I love fruit so much, and so I was so excited when I saw that as an option. Simple, yes, but fulfilling and light. I don’t like tiramisu, so I’ll skip that one, but I will talk about the panna cotta. After Noah stopped jiggling it, I took a bit for myself. The panna cotta was silky and had real vanilla in it, and the side sauce made of raspberry really made the dish. I loved it. I would fly to New York just for the panna cotta.
So, Lil’ Frankies is definitely a place you need to go to. I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical at first. I thought it would just be a boring Italian restaurant. I was proved wrong. Their traditional italian with a few twists here and there hits the spot. But, honestly, even if the food wasn’t great, I would go back just to sit at the round tree trunk table again.
