Frankie's on Melrose

11/13/09

Wonderful restaurant: (response to "Filthy")

by lilyhearst at Citysearch

I have just returned home from having an amazing meal at Frankies. Everything we ordered was fantastic. The mussels in red sauce was so good, that when the mussels were gone we asked to have the sauce wrapped up to take home along with the bread for dipping. The caesar salad was perfect. Both my friends ordered the veal parm and said it was the best they have had. And the New England clam chowder, which was a special this evening, was wonderful. And this review is coming from a girl raised in New England and who also lived in NYC, so I have good Italian food and chowder experience to compare it to!

In addition, the waiter was both friendly and helpful. And Frankie himself came to the table more than once, to check in with us and make sure we were enjoying our dining experience.

I have to disagree with the review titled "filthy". And I have to assume that "Edmond Dantes" does not have very much experience with lobster. I also doubt that his waiter said that green part of the lobster was the brains. The green line in a lobster is called the tomalley. And is my grandfather, from Boston's, favorite part. Officially it is the digestive system, gland, "liver" of the lobster, and chefs often use it as a flavoring in lobster bisque and seafood stews. Some consider it a delicacy, like foie gras. While others prefer to remove it, as it is also the "filter" part of the lobster. In either case, whether one chooses to eat it or not, it is a normal part of lobster.

I find it interesting that the extensive negative review above, came from a person that did not even have the courage to give his real name, and instead calls himself Edmond Dantes, the protagonist in the book / movie The Count of Monte Cristo.

Frankies is a very good Italian restaurant. And extremely reasonably priced. With a well established wine list. I recommend the restaurant to anyone looking for classic Italian food, at a good price, in the Melrose area.

• Pros: great location, classic Italian food, friendly service

11/09/09

Filthy

by Edmond Dantes at Citysearch

I went to Frankie's on the recommendation of someone who loved it. Now, I wonder why she loves it so much. It is the filthiest restaurant I've ever been in. The bathroom looks like someone got shot in there, the carpets are 100 years old with stains & the paint is a dirty orange at least I think it's supposed to be orange. I put that past me though hoping the food would make up for it. I went with two other people who were visiting from NY. One ordered the Eggplant Parmesan, the other ordered the Julia's Chicken & I ordered the Lobster.

I kid you not, no joke, the Lobster came out Green. I asked the waiter what's this? He said it's your lobster. I said why is it green? He said those are the brains sir.

I couldn't eat one bite. Whatever happened to presentation or class? The friend that ordered the Eggplant Parm said it was soggy & lacked flavor. M other friend enjoyed the Julia's Chicken which is Grilled Chicken & vegetables. Hard to screw that up. The Barolo red wine we ordered was extremely overpriced & after the waiter poured the wine & got our order we didn't see him again until the check came. He even had someone else bring the food out. Then when we got the check we saw that we'd been charged for something we hadn't even received because the waiter "forgot" it. Instead of taking it off the bill they made us a salad to go, but we wanted the item just taken off since we were ready to leave. They insisted on not & for the sake of just leaving we paid it. I will never come back to this place it is a filthy cesspool that should be condemned.

• Pros: Alot of windows
• Cons: Dirty, Classless, Dingy

02/10/09

Worst Italian food in LA

by mobacca20 at Citysearch

Hair in salad. Sand in Clam Linguini. Ripped off on price of wine. Insulted by bartender. Charged for everything. Need I say more?