Frank

08/19/09

Raised prices 30% or more!!!!

by newyorkfilm at Citysearch

This has been my favorite italian restaurant for years in NYC. I have brought dozens of people there and order take-out quite frequently. Unfortunately, their most recent price hike is more than I can stomach. My favorite meatball is now $15! The omlette went from $5.95 to $9.95!!! The shaved fennel went from $8 to $11. It is a shame that in these hard times, rather than showing appreciation to their regular customers, they try and squeeze every last penny out for a plate of pasta. Che peccato!

• Pros: good, consistent food
• Cons: crowded and now, pricey

04/24/09

Great Ragu sauce

by shert at Citysearch

Rigatoni Al Ragu was like heaven. Tons of food, delicious real Italian gravy, meaty. The wine choices are good too. Daily specials are always tasty. The down fall is it gets really crowded and there isn't a lot of space so you get bumped a lot, but that kind of adds to the feel that you're in someone's kitchen. Bravo!

• Pros: Food, ambience
• Cons: small restaurant

02/07/09

The food is great, if you can tolerate the little furry friends....

by sirhcyaj at Citysearch

I used to go to Franks with my lady for the black pasta special until she squirmed at the site of furry dudes around. I thought she was joking but I must have saw at least 3 with my own eyes. I loved this place so much that I decided to nonchalantly pull the waiter to the side and say "hey just to give you they heads up you have furry dudes running around in here you may want to look into doing something about" He said the come in from the garbage outside and didn't even apologized on behalf of the Restaurant. I will never go back although I will miss the black pasta...

• Pros: black pasta
• Cons: too many furry dudes running around

12/21/08

Obsessed...

by NYC1223 at Citysearch

with the burrata mozzarella (expensive, but totally worth it). Crowded, but that's part of the experience.

11/29/08

Somebody please beat the hostess over the head with a sausage...

by jcandkceatout at Citysearch

My date and I went to Franks last Tuesday to enjoy Frank's wonderfully silky tiramisu. We were seated in the dining room close to the computer that was feeding music to the speakers throughout the restaurant. We wound being one of 2 tables left at the end of the night. Apparently, the hostess who was young and had light brown hair (the description is here to assist management in identifying this vile person) felt like she could change the music from whatever they were playing that was pleasant to music that resembled a baby lamb being massacred by its own mother while its father was urinating on him. I can't stress enough how bad this music was. It was so bad that the illegal Mexicans wanted to cross the border once again. It was the one time in my life where I thought that being deaf would be a blessing. My date, who was having a wonderful time listening to my melodical voice ended the date prematurely because of this wretched hostess who obviously enjoys listening to children suffer. I've been to Franks many times in the past and always enjoyed it but if they are going to allow this kind of music to be played, I'll have no choice but to just get up and leave. It was that bad. I'd rather have Yanni or Paula Abdul sing at my wedding.

PS - the tiramisu was really really good.

• Pros: Really good tiramisu.
• Cons: Really terrible music and lack of concern from the hostess over the patrons enjoyment of the music.

11/28/08

Terrible service, unethical business

by JamalCrawford08 at Citysearch

This place is terrible, unethical, and dishonest. Let us know that the "specials" would cost more than any other entree on your regular menu.

I could sense that the waiter kid was trying to push the idea of ordering some "special" entree that was probably the most costly and neglected to tell us what the other "specials" were.

The table was also too cramped, and it was only after the night that I found out we could have waited for a table in their other room. The cramped table by the bar made things miserable for us.

Never again. Guess what? There are numerous places to spend good, hard-earned money on for dinner around the East Village area. You're not the only game in town, so wake up and improve your business, a##holes. I will take my money and friends elsewhere for dinner in the future.

• Pros: Nothing, really.
• Cons: Unethical business practice.

11/02/08

Illegaly Ripping Off Customers! STAY AWAY!

by FinerDiner123 at Citysearch

First off, you should know that the food here is excellent, and the service is above par.

However, after inspection of my bill, they charged me $1-3 more for each item ordered. The menu prices (in house and online) both reflect less than what I was billed for. Not only is this highly illegal, but quite dishonest and disgusting. They claim they are "updating the menu". However, in retrospect - no business should charge more for their dishes without publicity notifying customers of the price increases.

Plus the restaurant only accepts cash, which makes the whole operation all the worth more shady. You are better off going to a restaurant that accepts credit cards.

Do not go here unless you planned to get robbed. Although the food is great, there are just as good (and more honest) alternatives in the area.

• Pros: The Food....thats it
• Cons: The Management and Its Operations - STAY AWAY!

10/19/08

Super shady

by Flicka22 at Citysearch

I have been here many times before and the food has always been pretty good, the service kinda blah whatever, but now I will never go back. I ordered the ravioli of the day, spinach and cheese. It was not at all bad, it was a special written on the board and I had failed to ask the price but figured it would be in the range of all the other pasta since it was still pretty basic, no bells and whistles. my friend ordered the gnocci in tomato sauce also not bad, but not something to write home about. When we got the check, we were both amazed. My no bells and whistles ravioli cost $17.95! More than some of the Entrees! They took advantage of the fact that is was a special and that no one asked for the price to squeeze a few extra dollars out of me. When my friend talked to the manager ( I was too angry to do so) he said I am sorry in a way that said, yeah not really sorry and yeah not the first time someone has said something. I think that is a really unethical way to run a business and don't think the food is really worth it. I want to enjoy my food and not think that I am just some cash cow the restaurant is trying to scam at every chance it gets. Super shady indeed.

• Pros: not bad food
• Cons: beware of being scammed

09/24/08

The Olive Garden of Italian Restaurants

by natassija at Citysearch

I agree with the comments below. What was so wonderful about this place? The service was awful and my rigatoni tasted like Spaghetti-Os with meatballs. We tried three different glasses of wine all semi-recommended by our too-busy-to-suggest waiter and all three were terrible. Pure vinegar. There are so many fabulous italian restaurants in this city with fantastic service. We were do disappointed to find the Olive Garden in the batch on what should have been a great night. And all by reading the reviews we saw posted here. We should have left the minute the bad service began.

• Pros: We were close to other restaurants to have a better meal. We didn't finish our food
• Cons: Tasted like Chef Boyardee, the waitstaff and hostess were awful, bad wine, wobbly tables

09/19/08

not worth my time or money

by smurfetta at Citysearch

I can't believe this place has so many good reviews, service is rushed and somewhat neglecting. After I realized one of the entrees we ordered was not going to make it to table, it took a while to catch the eye of our waiter who was sitting at one of the tables close to us playing with his phone. Food was ok, if you decide to go definitely avoid chicken liver bruschetta, it is bland and tasteless.