Frankies on the Bay

We went to Frankie’s a couple of weeks ago for a Darth Vader character breakfast! The people were so friendly and the service was great!
I loved the ambience of the old time coal mining.
The food was good, I highly recommend trying it and also, going to a character breakfast that they offer!

Very good place to eat in OC. Many different entrees. I recommend this restaurant for breakfast lunch or dinner. We especially liked their breakfast.

We were going to have dinner there tonight until we read a Unilocal review and found out that they don’t take credit cards. Any restaurant that doesn’t take cards in this day and age doesn’t deserve my business !!!

We had a great time having breakfast with Spiderman. Our waitress was awesome and the food was fantastic. We will definitely be returning to Frankie’s.

You need to try their curly fries! So crispy and yummy! The burgers were very good in the pretzel bun and our server was very nice! Please note they do not take credit cards but have an ATM inside (even though it didn’t work for me) also the name of the restaurant can be a little deceiving as it it’s not on the bay… It’s in Bay Ave! Nice little place was theme as a Coal mine.

OCNJ is our home away from home. Whether off-​season or in-​season, consistently delicious satisfying portions served with a smile.

I’d like to preface my review by saying that my family, being from PA and a short drive from Hazleton, really wanted to love our experience at Frankie’s. We read wonderful reviews and were looking forward to our dining experience there. Frankie’s is a very cute and clean place just steps from the bay with a cheerful outdoor area for dining as well. Very pleasant curb appeal! We ordered take-​out last Friday night, the night before the OC block party. Ashley took our order and upon checkout, she was pleasant and gracious. Two in our party ordered the eggplant parm and two ordered chicken parm. We began to eat and as we did, I was immediately puzzled by my order of eggplant parm. I saw a few purple outer skins of an eggplant but the consistency nor taste was that of an eggplant. It was a thick, bland, meat-​like processed patty and tasted nothing like eggplant. I looked at my mother, who had ordered the same, to see her expression. At that point, she looked at me and we both asked each other what it was! We checked the takeout menu again and saw no description of the eggplant parm. Being vegetarian, I called Frankie’s to ask what was in the eggplant and was told that it was made differently there; the eggplant was on the outside and the breading was in the middle, reversed from the usual eggplant coated with breading. I wanted to make sure this wasn’t a meat patty and was assured that it wasn’t. Nonetheless, neither of us could continue to eat it or finish it. It just wasn’t very good at all. My husband and father both had the chicken parm and both said it was OK. Salads were good with the exception of the croutons which had an odd, stale taste. The balsamic dressing was very, very good. The bread was OK. I just wish I had known, either from the takeout menu we had picked up from Frankie’s or from whoever took our order, that the eggplant was «different». I should have read the previous Unilocal reviews prior to ordering. Anyway, I am not sure we’d go back as there are many other eateries in OC with delicious offerings. If we do return, we each agreed that we would not order the same items we ordered last Friday evening. What I’ve shared is our own experience and I hope others in the future have a much different experience. I wish the owners all the best.

Just had a yummy lunch at Frankie’s with my sister we had a delish meat ball sandwich and a fabulous Philly Cheesteak
Fries were great too! Ashley our waitress was very personable and professional!
If you are familiar with Frankie’s in Hazelyon Pa same family!

Hit or Miss! Frankie’s is not the place to go if you’re looking for ambience! It is simple and clean. It is the place to go if you’re looking for good food and great service! We have tried their dinner and breakfast and both were fabulous experiences. If you’re a pancake fan try the banana walnut pancakes with warm cinnamon apples.
After these two great experiences, a couple of days later we brought two friends with us for dinner. We had a different server and, you guessed it, the whole experience quickly swirled down the drain! She brought our salads and my first bite told me that there was way too much garlic and salt. My guests expressed the same complaint and our server’s response was ‘Caesar Salads are supposed to be seasoned like that’. I didn’t eat mine and the others managed to eat about half of it. We didn’t insist that the salads be replaced but in retrospect, we should have. Needless to say, we won’t be going back, ever!

Consistently good food from simple eggs sandwich to crab legs. Very good service. Staff remembers regulars. Good. Consistent. Good service.

Such an adorable place and super friendly staff! Brought the family here for breakfast during our visit to OC. The food was delicious… Great breakfast!

The simple review, really good burgers, fast, friendly service. Our waitress was eager to explain the menu items and make recommendations. The HUGE, fresh made, thirst quenching ice teas are cold and served in giant mason jars.
Being on a lower carb diet, we got our burgers without the bun. Usually this will earn us a concerned look from our server, but not here. The burgers were served on crisp, fresh lettuce, mine was topped with a perfectly done egg, crisp bacon, a healthy amount of American cheese and crowned with ripe, juicy tomato slices. (I just drooled a little)
I usually get a side salad with a burger (diet) but my curiosity got me and I couldn’t resist the call of the sidewinder fries… I was not disappointed. Thick, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside and freakin delicious.
Cole Slaw… It’s Purple! Also, it’s delicious. My wife isn’t usually a big fan of slaw, but she finished it with a smile and so did I.
Our son is a big fan of Frankie’s breakfasts and Hero brand coffee so we looked over the breakfast menu, which they serve all day… amazing selection. I’ll have to try the cannoli pancakes…
Bottom line is, even without the bun, the portions were plentiful enough that you will leave with a smile and you’ll already start planning your next visit… Ours will probably be tomorrow.
It’s Bring Back The King weekend (Elvis) so they have some awesome breakfast specialties. I might go back for the Burnin Love.
Oh, bring cash. No credit cards but they do have an ATM machine inside.

My husband and I had been to this location when it was the Bongo Café. We had a great breakfast then, and we were skeptical walking in.
We were absolutely thrilled with Frankie’s! The decore was adorable. The hand-​written special items they carried listed on the beams was a really great touch. Detail like that shows me the owners care.
However… That doesn’t hold a candle to the food. I would venture to say this was the most delicious breakfast I’ve had in ages. I got the «Holy Cannoli» pancakes. They were incredible. The pancakes were light and fluffy. The cannoli filling was sweet, smooth, and creamy. When it came to the table, I was sure I was taking ²⁄₃ of it home. I couldn’t stop. I finished it. Good thing you do a lot of waking at the beach! My husband got the «Coal Bucket Bliss» and loved it. The French toast was awesome and the bacon perfectly cooked.
Along with the breakfast the Heros Brew coffee is to die for. It is some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. I couldn’t get enough.
I also want to shout out to our waitress Gabrielle. She was very sweet and attentive. Gave great suggestions and made us feel well cared for. There were a few regulars welcomed by name, families of various sizes, and employees with great service and attitudes. If you are in OCNJ, you need to stop in to Frankie’s on the Bay!

I was put off the minute I saw the menu. It’s not arranged very well IMO. They have a «cute» coal theme that ties in with the name to their dishes\sections. This would work MUCH better in a Coal Town than it does in a Shore Town, IMO. Even after Kendra explained what a Jambut was I still wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about. This menu needs an overhaul. I’d include some pictures (not of coalminers, but of your food) which may help explain what you’re selling. You are in a vacation town and will (hopefully) be serving lots of new faces each week. Why have a menu that needs explaining to every new customer?
Despite the menu, and the food that most of us didn’t like, they get 1.5 stars here for the friendly smiles. Kendra and the staff were very nice. That, and the clam chowder, which was good from what I heard. I don’t do seafood so I’ll take their word on it. The lobster Ravioli was also good, according to my bro. He isn’t very picky tho, and was the only one of the 4 of us to enjoy\finish his meal. I’m rounding down to 1 star rather than up to 2 due to the vast quantity of mystifying 5 star reviews.
The rest of us… me, mom and dad, promplty put our leftovers in the trash. Chicken Parm, Eggplant Parm, Linguini, Meatloaf volcano, their «moonshine» iced tea drink, all left us wishing we went somewhere else. We loathed our experience here aside from the friendly service, clam chowder, and lobster ravioli. I will note: my brothers clam chowder was warm, and my parents was piping hot… Not sure why that would be? Server even warned my parents that it was hot, but not little bro who noticed right away his was warm, not hot.
The pasta dishes come with a salad… well, they are supposed to… my parents opted for soup instead, which turned out to be the highlight of the meal. My salad never arrived. Sadly, after I got a sample of the pasta and chicken parm, I was disheartened and didn’t even want my salad. If my meal was good, I’d get it to go, but that was not the case and I missed out on their homemade balsamic dressing… my chicken parm was absolutely terrible… I would guess I had two frozen chicken patties covered with cheese and sauce. The patty was mushy, not crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. They looked almost identical (size\shape) which makes me think they came out of the freezer. The linguini was equally bad. Overcooked and chewy, no amount of hot pepper or cheese would help this stuff.
My mom’s eggplant parm, which the server indicated was not your standard eggplant parm (they put the eggplant on the outside, and the breading in the middle «like an oreo»). Fine, but the «breading» is about a half inch thick and seems like a meat patty. I assume its some type of stuffing. What it isn’t is eggplant parm like you have ever had or ever wanted before. 2 thin skins of eggplant covering this mystery patty. It was incredibly unappetizing.
The Meatloaf Volcano should be called the «Erupted meatloaf Volcano» as it seemed like a shepherd’s pie erupted on my dad’s plate. He loves meatloaf, he didn’t enjoy Frankie’s version of it at all.
Burgers…6 oz, 13 bucks… no idea if these are fresh or frozen but I would guess they are frozen, otherwise they would\should say fresh on the menu… Not a fan of pretzel rolls or ciabata for my burger… or much else really… pretty pricey for a little frozen burger… Also interesting that every burger is priced the same. Lettuce, Tomato, and Onion is the same price as Bacon, BBQ and Blue Cheese or Roasted peppers, claw crab meat, cheddar * sweet thai spread. Sounds like they are rounding the prices up.
Specialty drinks… iced tea with strawberry, iced tea with raspberry, iced tea with lemonade and strawberry. My moonshine drink (iced tea\lemonade\strawberry) was overly sweet. I’d stick with strawberry or raspberry tea next time, which there probably won’t be… Looks like the only free refills are water, hot tea, and hot coffee.
Friendly service, good soup, good lobster ravioli, and possibly good salads. If you stick to these items you should be fine. Personally, I’ll never go back here for dinner, but may try breakfast.

The best food from the best people! Everyone needs to try Frankie’s! You also need to get their Hero’s Brew coffee. Such good flavors, it’s changed coffee for me forever. Great family environment while you’re at the beach. Home cooking away from home.

We went here for lunch and there was only one other table here. Rainy cold day in OC so not a lot of vacationers have been around. We saw some of the other reviews and wanted to see what all the issues were with the service.
Couldn’t have been more different with our experience. Kendra was «the bomb» and was very helpful with menu choice items. Gave us the lowdown on how their restaurant works. This is a good choice if you like to customize your order cause this is how they operate. I tried Scamutz for the first time which is pretty much their version of fresh mozzarella.
The specialty ice teas were very original. I had the «blood orange» unsweetened ice tea and it was great! Red cabbage cole slaw is worth noting even if you don’t like cole slaw you need to try this.
Nice family atmosphere. I would definitely go back over and over. My choice for during a bike ride to stop for lunch and/​or dinner.

Just tried Frankie’s for the 1^st time for lunch. My wife had the «Explosive» burger on a pretzel roll w/​sidewinder fries — the topping combination seemed quite daring, it had to be good — well it delivered.
I tried the «Aquifer» burger on a pretzel roll with the potato wedge fries (wasn’t sure what a sidewinder was, so I went with what I know). The burger was quite tasty, the wedge fries were good (would have been great had I not tried my wife’s sidewinder fries — they are pretty awesome), there was also a small cup of purple slaw (not really my thing, but my wife thought it was very tasty).
Overall, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in Ocean City and am looking forward to another visit as there are a couple other burger selections I’m interesting in trying.
I’m glad they advertised in the Saint Damien Parish bulletin, otherwise we likely would not have given them a try.

We came here for breakfast and were very pleased. Their servings are large and their food delicious. The breakfast sausage is sweet and yummy and their bread is wonderful!!! Will definitely come back. :)*

Today I went to Frankies on the Bay (Old location to Bongos).
From the outside I didn’t know what this was, but with the name Frankies I figured it was italian. Hours later, I still don’t know what it is. Felt more like a small Diner.
We waited about 20 minutes outside for our name to be called. I figured it was lunch time so we would have to wait. Finally we were called, and went inside…7 or 8 empty tables! Why did we have to wait? Whats the point? People will come, see a 20 minutes wait, and then leave. Made absolutely no sense. Short staffed in the kitchen maybe? I don’t understand.
Our Waitress was very nice. But when a waitress has to explain the menu, then you might want to fix the menu. You can have Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner at all hours of the day– Hence a Diner. But the menu is sloppy. She actually asked «Do you need me to explain the menu». Yes we did need her to do so haha. Fix that!!!
CASH ONLY. Be prepared. They say its cash only and have an ATM. Yeah, $ 3 charge for the ATM. I understand the tax reasons/​CC % reasons for only accepting cash, but don’t charge your customers $ 3 to use the ATM. You’re saving money by only accepting cash, why take more? You’re prices aren’t low, they are a little on the higher side, so you’re getting enough from your customers.
Food: My date ordered a sandwich (Chicken Cheese Steak). Came with only a couple slices of pickles and a small cup of coleslaw. She said the sandwich was good. I ordered the Eggplant Parm with Linguini. It came with a salad as well (Which is the one hi light of the meal– the salad was the best pre-​meal salad I’ve seen). Usually its just some iceberg lettuce with a cucumber. This was a little better. The Eggplant was cold in the middle because it was some sort of meatball center or meatball patty. Maybe I didn’t read the description correctly, but since when does Eggplant Parm have meat in it? Didn’t fit. And it just wasn’t great, and I never ask for food to be re-​heated, so I sucked it up.
Overall I was confused by everything. You have an italian name in your business name, which also is next to the BAY in OC, on a road called Bay, but has nothing to do with seafood (If you aren’t from around here to understand that, it can be confusing to some), a diner like menu which is sloppy, a coal theme, empty seats that make you still have to wait for a table, and cash only with an ATM that charges $ 3 to use. I don’t get it. That food wasn’t awful, but could always be improved.
I won’t be returning for Lunch or Dinner. To many other options around OC. Maybe Breakfast is the best way to do. Seems like people knew the family personally so they were happy to be there. I just didn’t find it to be great and I’m upset I had to wait and was charged to use the ATM.
PS– The bathroom was very nice, clean, and big.
*This is my experience and yours may differ.

My wife and I decided to try this new resturant in Ocean City. The place had a good crowd for a resturant that just opened. The service was friendly and excellent. My wife ordered a California cheeseburger on ciabatta bread and I ordered a small meatball and scamutz (Aka fresh mozzarella) hoagie. They were served with cole slaw and pickles. It was a very cold winter day and they were serving complimentary cups of soup. We got Italian wedding. Not sure if they offer the complimentary soup all of the time but it was a welcome surprise on a cold day.
Our meals were very good and we will be eating here again!