Frankies 17

I didn’t know this place closed! I came here back in february, and here is my finally finished review for it:
This place held us hostage!
Came here on a friday night for an impromptu dinner for six. The wait was about an hour. But we said ok why not? So we walked around, drank some coffee, then came back to be seated.
Everything started off OK. We ordered. Got some waters for the table. Sat and chatted. And chatted. And chatted. And chatted.
AY! Where’s our food!!!
The waitress came to our table several times and kept promising the food would arrive soon. But It took over an hour for us to all get our food. Starving at this point we all ravage our pasta dishes. You know when you’re so hungry that even foods that you’ve sworn off or are «meh» about taste like butter-​soaked beer-​battered deep-​fried (insert your favorite meat)? I was at this point. And even at this point, I just felt the food was «meh». Not saying it was bad, but I guess I expected my taste buds to do more of a dance after that long wait.
After that, no need to try or wait for their desserts. We got the check and bounced.

So sad this place has closed!
After putting it off for months, I made a point to get here before they closed. They’re reopening into a Tapas place, but at least there is still Supper.
The service is great. I went on a Thursday night hoping that I wouldn’t have to wait long for a table, and I didn’t. Waited about 15 minutes and we were seated. The menu is small. Not a whole lot of choices, but that means whatever is on the menu, is that much better. We started with a warm mozarella that was melted to a point that it was spreadable. It sounds weird, but it was so good. The bread was nice and cripsy and the mozarella, nice and cheesy.
I had the cavatelli with sausage and my friend had the polenta with sausage and peppers. His was amazing! I loved his dish so much. The sauce was so good and extremely flavorful. I wasn’t a huge fan of my dish. It was lacking flavor, but I did dip my cavatelli (for homemade pasta, it was pretty good) into his sauce and it made it so good. The sausage in my dish was good, but the pasta itself just didn’t have the flavor burst I was looking for.
We skipped dessert, but the service was great. They’re a little slow, but not because they’re just slow, but because they’re relaxed. It’s a very «chill» place, so they don’t rush you out and they take their time to go around. If you ask for something, they’re more than happy to serve you.
Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of my dish, I would have definitely gone back to try some of their other dishes. So sad to see them go, but super excited to try the new food!

This was hands down one of the most unique Italian food experiences I’ve had in New York. Caveat, since it was my first time here, I wasn’t very adventurous when I came to ordering and just went with what was «popular.» That being said, all hail the sweet potato and sage ravioli in parmesan broth!
The skin of the dumpling was thin but supple and chewy. The filling was a perfect balance of flavor. The natural sweetness of sweet potato paired amazingly well with the light and savory parmesan broth… In other words, I’ve never tasted pasta that contained so much personality.
Plus, the service was great. My friend and I were waiting for the third member of our party when our server came by and told us politely and apologetically that since there were other people waiting, we had to leave the table – which was fine by us, since most of us were ready to leave anyway – but the fact that she said it in sincerity vs. snobbery made all the difference. And why would we delay another group of diners from enjoying the exquisiteness of Frankies 17? Exactly.

So I’ve only been here for brunch, but based on my most recent visit, I won’t be going back.
The service was really bad last time, the menu has changed (and the waiter didn’t tell us, but that goes back to the lack of service), and it’s uncomfortably warm in the winter while cramped next to either a wall or other diners.
I hear their West Vill location is roomier and has a different menu, so I might not rule it out completely, but I def won’t be back to the Clinton St location.

So after my tearjerking experience at Le Cirque, I sort of lost faith in the whole restaurant week thing (though I know you’ll see me doing it again)… I had cancelled reservations to Apiary, and came to Frankie’s instead.
We got the two dishes that stood out to us like sore thumbs. The house-​made cavatelli with faiccos hot sausage and browned sage butter ($ 18), and the house-​made pappardelle with lamb ragu and tarragon ($ 19). The cavatelli tasted almost like gnocchi; the ones dusted with Parmesan cheese were especially palatable (more cheese would’ve been better). Good thing there were the sausages to pick up the flavor. The pappardelle was also cooked al dente, and my golly, the lamb was off the hook. Lamb is unfortunately often served tough, dry, and chewy, but Frankie’s made an example for them all; their lamb is moist, soft, and tender, like it was braised and fell off the bone and into the plate. It also didn’t taste gamey at all.
Oh yeah, our appetizers: the avocado and pesto crostini turned out to be smaller than I had expected for $ 4. The hot pine nut polenta was tasteful; perhaps it’s again the Parmesan sprinkled on top that made me feel better about eating concentrated corn products.
Overall, it was a delicious meal at a candle-​lit restaurant, where we entered at 7pm on a weeknight and did not have to wait.

I love love love loved my brunch at Frankies 17. I am not going to lie, we were trying to get to Clinton St. Baking Company but they told us 1.5hr wait so we turned and headed to Frankies 17. THe BEST decision I’ve ever made that morning!
Would you plaese look at the photo of their French TOAST? IT was magical. And they serve Stumptown coffee, DONE deal. Its little tight in-​side but beautifully decorated. I will definitely be back for some more — THANK GOD for Frankies 17.

This is my pick for a date night, showing visitors great simple italian cuisine in NYC or whenever I feel like a nice meal out. I love this place so much that I’ve even got their cookbook! Every lover of Frankies should own a copy!
The menu is seasonal, but there are some items that seem to stay on the menu, namely the meatballs, gnocchi and the sides. When they have the brussel sprouts salad, it’s always a great salad to start.
Their homemade pastas are also fabulous. Fresh, solid and doused in delicious homey sauces. I definitely feel like an italian mama is cooking for me whenever I eat here. I ALWAYS order the House-​made cavatello with hot sausage and butter sage. Currently they have the House-​made Pappardelle with Lamb Ragu & Tarragon on the menu — this is rustic and delicious! I want to venture and try other things on the menu but the homemade pastas get me every time! It’s like calling out to me «pick me pick me! I’m so delicious!»
The wine list is also quite good. I quite fancy their house red or a cheaper bottle of the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Goes well with the fine cuisine at Frankies.
If I ever have room for dessert, I go for the chocolate pie. Its only a small slice, but just enough where you aren’t dying from too much chocolate.
The only downside is the wait! There’s always a wait because people love this place! Thankfully, there’s a great bar (culturefix) a few doors down where you can wait till you get the best phone call of the night.

Love their salmon! Frankies executes it just right, where the outside is seasoned and blackened while the inside was a medium rare and silky. My sister and I split this dish but regretted doing so since we were craving for more.
We also split a prosciutto pizza, which was delightful and our appetizer of bread with olive oil & balsamic vinegar was a great starter dish. I also like how you can order wine by the ¼ of a bottle. My sister and I weren’t sure how much wine we were going to drink and it was more affordable to go by the ¼ as opposed to a glass.
Frankie’s is a great place to dine at to catch up with a friend or if you’re on a date.

My friend and i were in the mood for italian… and Unilocaled a few places and decided on frankie’s 17. It was a little bit of a walk, esp. since i’ve hurt my left foot a week ago. But that’s a small price to pay… it was worth it!
I kind of already had an idea of what i wanted to have and that was the homemade cavatelli w/​sausages! And my friend ordered the sweet potato & sage ravioli… They were both YUM… and the serving was just right = not too much and not too little… it was perfect! We weren’t bloated when we got out of there!
All in all, it was lovely. It’s a really cute spot. GREAT FOOD + SERVICE!
I will be back… and that’s a promise! :)

Took myself to lunch here Friday after a particularly scarring waxing (too much time lapsed between this one and the last one i got… TMI sorry:))
Anyways, once I survived that, I figured I needed a treat. So I walked to Frankie’s 17 and oh man was it SO worth it.
Got the prosciutto and pecorino sandwich with an iced americano. First off, amen to the fact that they use stumptown here YUM! Andt the sandwich — holy moly. So good. Just the right amount of prosciutto balanced with a thin layer of pecorino romano and a dab of mayo. And the bread was thin and crusty yet still substantial… and had salt on it. OMG love love love.
My waitress was pretty attentive, but I felt pretty bad for her as she was the only one working the floor.
All that for about 17. Really not bad considering.
AND, the bathroom always smells good, is well decorated and consistently spotless.

Cute place for breakfast. Small and simple but those are the kind of places that NY-​ers hunt for when they just want something delish!
I had french toast. Now honestly, it wasnt the best french toast that I have had in my lifetime but it was fluffy and cooked golden.
Its a good backup if you dont want to wait in line for the Clinton st baking company.

Super delish! Adorable atmosphere and really nice staff. Now, let’s get down to the food!
Ricotta with Local Honey & Black Pepper — my fav crostini. Delish!
House-​made Cavatelli with Faiccos Hot Sausage & Browned Sage Butter — de-​freakin-​licious! SO GOOD. great flavor, spicy sausage and cavatelli cooked to perfection. Def. recommend
Tried a bite of the House-​Made Gnocchi Marinara & Fresh Ricotta that my friend ordered — soft and pillowy, scrumptious!
Def. a must try!

#50
Candlelight playfully adorning brick walls, what a sweet place for a date.
Filled up on 3 formaggio selections, house-​made cavatelli, & tiramisu.
Warning: the cavatelli is VERY rich. It might be too filling if shoveled down throat. Chew slowly to savor.
Just add wine and your date will be smooth sailing, granted you’re a pretty sight to behold and your social graces withstanding.

The intimate, narrow space of this restaurant is divided into two adjacent rooms, with exposed brick and flickering candles. My one criticism of the space is that the coat hooks on the wall are way too high– if my tall friend hadn’t been there with me, I wouldn’t have been able to reach it, and I’m not particularly short.
The wine list is pretty decent, and the food menu is divided into appetizers, specials (entrees), charcuterie, cheeses, crostini, and sandwiches.
At $ 3 per piece, the crostini is on the pricey side and the avocado & peston crostini was decent but nothing special. Luckily, I really like avocado but I felt like there should have been more pesto to bring out more flavor.
The sweet potato and sage ravioli with parmesan broth was surprisingly light. The broth could have used a little more flavor and the pasta portion of the ravioli was a little on the mushy side, but I love sweet potato so I still enjoyed the dish, although I didn’t find it particularly memorable.
The pork shank with beans and kale came in a huge portion. The large piece of meat on a bone arrived steaming, tender, and quite unctuous. It was perfectly cooked and the porky flavor shone through, but there didn’t seem to be any other flavor that the chef added to bring it to the next level
Finally, the infamous prunes with mascarpone were good, but I wouldn’t say it was as great as everyone described it. The sweetness of the warm prunes were balanced out by the cool mascarpone, but overall it wasn’t particularly amazing.
Very solid overall, although not spectacular.

Small and cozy, with impeccable service and a fantastic menu, what’s not to like about Frankie’s? Italian is normally not my first choice of cuisine (*gasp*), but Frankie’s was spectacular. The menu was small, but it offered a great variety.
We made it just before the dinner rush on a Friday. Seating did not take long. First, we ordered crostini’s —http://media2.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/3V6CdQM5­BGWYuIi9pvKn_A/ms. We tried the following ones: Cremini Mushroom & Truffle Oil, Ricotta with local honey & black pepper, and Avacado & Pesto. The corstini’s were nice and crunchy. All three were good, but my favorite was the Ricotta with local honey and black pepper! It’s sweet with a bit of savory – a must-​try!
For entrees we had the House-​Made Cavatelli with faicco’s hot sausage & browned sage butter (
) and the Sweet Potato & Sage Ravioli In Parmesan Broth (
). The Sweet Potato & Sage Ravioli was insanely good!!! The aroma was mouthwatering, and the dish was surprisingly light but still creamy and tasty. The Cavatelli was good too. They looked like worms, but the texture was just right, the spicy sausage was a good mix too. We also had side of roasted cauliflower, which was a bit too salty but still delicious.
All in all, a great dining spot in the LES!

An excellent Italian date spot in a neighborhood of many excellent Italian date spots. There’s usually a wait on weekends, but it’s almost always a good decision on a school night.
The menu is small but stocked with superlative options. My pasta of choice is the cavatelli: invariably wonderful (when is browned butter not?) and thanks to Faicco’s hot sausage, contains a surprising amount of heat. The crostini, salads and soups are all winners as well.
I’ll readily admit that I prefer Frankie’s elder brother, 457, but perhaps only due to sentiment, as we’ve known each other longer.
Or maybe I’m just a geezer pleaser.

Same
Menu
As Brooklyn
And a little
More intimate with the narrower space.

3.5*s just cause our waitress was a little incompetent and it was a little pricey for what it was… and A-​ok for my overall experience here. We only had to wait about 15 – 20 minutes for a table on this particular Saturday night, so it really wasn’t that bad.
I started off with a glass of Lambrusco… one of my favorite reds cause of the slight fizziness it has… it makes me happy everytime I drink it. :)
We asked for suggestions and was recommended to get the chef’s selection of antipasti, the escarole salad, the sunchokes, the cavetelli with spicy sausage and the slow-​roasted rib-​eye… all to share amongst 3 people, which was plenty by the way.
The antipasti was nothing special, you do get to try a little bit of everything that included a selection of the charcuterie, 2 different cheeses, broccoli rabe and mushrooms.
The escarole salad was good, but then I’ve had better salads then this, although really well dressed… just a little too oniony.
I liked the cavetelli the most, which was definitely had the mere spectacle of being homemade. I liked the spicy sausage that came with it… it added a kick to that I would consider a standard dish.
The rib-​eye is the dish that troubled me the most… I don’t understand what the rave was all about, it was served cold, a tad too salty and the cheese that came with it was not complimenting it at all. I was a little thrown off by this suggestion.
Anyhow, I was really full after dinner and opted for dessert elsewhere.

Apparently one way to find oneself going to cute places is to give into the urge to be sociable. I marginalized the guilt of not staring at my laptop screen pretending to understand what my thesis was about by going out with fellow classmates. Shared guilt is always better than feeling guilty alone.
And what a great place to moan and groan over cryptic comments from advisers and inability to process research! Dark, moody lighting, good wine, fresh antipasti and a lovely selection on the menu. Since I had been overeating the past few days because of Thanksgiving, I opted for the butternut squash soup and the arugula/​peccorino salad. With the complimentary bread (which was so friggin’ awesome — flavorful and such a good texture, perfect with fruity olive oil and a little salt) — perfect counterpoint to too much turkey and stuffing.
The service was fantastic — everyone was smiling, pleasant and helpful. No intrusive behavior and no rushing of the table even though we were there for a lot longer than some of the people around us.
This is a great place to come with friends, a date, or even your family for a good meal, good wine and encouragement to converse.
I’m a fan!

I just re-​read my initial review. I’m making a face. I used the word «quaint.»
Ew. Well at least now I know better. I think.
I’ve been here a few times since my first visit, and most recently last Thursday (yes, you figured me out ;)) While I was seated, waiting for Ms. C, I enjoyed a dish of olives and a nice glass of Rosso Conero, I thought to myself, ‘This is the type of place where I could enjoy a meal alone.’ Now, I’m not really one for dining alone, so that really says a lot about Frankie’s. The space is small enough so it feels sort of communal, but separated enough so one is able to enjoy their meal in peace.
I like to say this location is the «Manhattan outpost» of the original Frankie’s 457 in Carroll Gardens. It’s a nice option for those Manhattanites who refuse to trek to the County of Kings (yes, I’m looking at you). The two Franks– Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo (owners/​chefs) really did an excellent job with this place. From the helpful and friendly staff, to the exposed brick walls and pressed tin ceiling, to their approach to Italian cooking.
The menu has some staples, but for the most part it rotates based on what’s available (or, so I seem to think). They use local food merchants – butchers, cheese makers, produce and yes, Stumptown Coffee (weeee!). They make a serious effort to be part of the growing local food movement and that’s something I can fully support.
The plates are small enough so you don’t feel like a pig. Although, you can certainly stuff yourself on cremini mushroom truffle oil crostini, roasted beet and avocado salad, vegetable antipasti, and, say more bread AND dessert. Uh, not that I’d know anything about that…
Oh, and while there you should most definitely pick up some of their own custom blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s cold pressed from Nocellara del Belice olives, which come from the Northwest part of Sicily. It’s seriously gulp worthy and it makes an excellent gift.
*As C. mentioned in her review, it did smell of sausage and they might need some better ventilation near the open kitchen area. I admit it was stinky for a vegetarian. However, it just made me think of my dad and his favorite Frankie’s menu item that he *always* orders when my parents visit – Home-​Made Cavatelli with Sausage & Browned Sage Butter– and that made me smile and miss him.