Franco’s Ristorante

This is one of my favourite place to have Chicken Alfredo pasta and every time I go there it’s for the chicken alfredo.

Untapped jewel and food oasis in Bridgeport. Untapped is good as the restaurant only seats about 30 people. Been here twice after Sox games and the food is outstanding. Linguini with white clam sauce comes with chopped canned clams and whole little necks. Grilled calamari perfect. Puttanesca was hot and full of seafood. Cheap, too, by Chicago standards… thanks to the «untapped» thing. Easy to get to as well, off the 31^st street exit from the Ryan. Service is uneven but friendly. Owner is always there. No sit down bar, but wine and cocktails available. Small outside dining area on Princeton Ave. Beautiful, quiet Bridgeport location. Discover it and love the great food without the downtown crowds and prices.

Great old school Italian restaurant. Try the pork chop.

Very good. Had the pork chop wifey had the rigatoni We both loved it. Get there early or set up a reservation it does get packed. But it’s well worth it.

This is an Italian restaurant for the «old-​souled» folks. In other words, if you’re a self-​proclaimed «Lincoln Park hopper» or «near north side social butterfly,» Franco’s Ristorante would least likely meet your expectations.
Franco’s is located on the corner of W. 31^st. and S. Princeton, the Armour Square neighborhood. This place is very close to the CTA Sox-​35^th. Red Line station (exit from the 33^rd. street) and the U.S. Cellular Stadium. Hubby and I walked to our destination from the CTA station for approximately ten (10) minutes through the quiet, low-​key neighborhood streets.
We came in with an about-​to-​expire Groupon ($ 16 for $ 30 worth of food, beverages, or alcohol). Although the interiors were slightly outdated, nothing seemed unsanitary or tacky. It certainly didn’t scream «chic» and «modern,» but honestly I could care less because I wanted to put my focus on food critiquing.
The chef was able to accommodate my vegetarian hubby with penne pasta with spicy pesto cream sauce without the presence of prosciutto. The pasta was done al dente. It was flavored nicely and portioned appropriately. He was pleasantly surprised by the taste.
Of course, Rosa J., the seafood junkie, chose the shrimp Diablo with spicy tomato sauce. «Diablo» isn’t an Italian word, but that didn’t bother me at all because that spicy tomato sauce was actually delicious! That spicy level was quite comfortable for my palate.
Somehow we saved room for their homemade tiramisu. I didn’t think they used «rum» like a traditional Italian way of making tiramisu. However, their tiramisu was light and fluffy. I’m normally not a «after-​meal» dessert gal, yet I recommended this version of tiramisu because it didn’t leave any «cloying» feeling in my mouth.
There was an out-​of-​town couple dining in. The young man expressed his curiosity on the Goose Island beer (yay 312 babe). For some reason, the waitress wasn’t able to describe how it tasted like. Come on, sweetie! If you’re selling alcohol in the house, you gotta be able to respond to any inquiry about the alcoholic products available in the restaurant at least.
Anyways, coming down south side can be a trek for me, especially traveling all the way from the northwest side of Chicago. Even though Franco’s may not have professionally-​dressed servers, live band music, and fancy silverware, I still believe it is a solid establishment for the neighborhood residents.

So I bought a Groupon for this place. But actually I live only a few blocks away and never tried this place. It always looked dead inside. Rarely see much people. But I bought the groupon to give it a try. We ordered the grilled calamari and it was bad. It’s was completely burnt. I couldn’t believe they would even have the nerve to put it on a plate to serve. But beside the bad app. The two pastas we ordered was good. Good enough that we will come back but only for the pasta.

Finally, a restaurant in Chicago where the staff actually acts like they appreciate your business!!! The food was outstanding and the service was even better!

Great Italian food. Authentic neighborhood feel. This is my favorite Italian restaurant.

I am SO in love with this place! It’s SO rare to have a place where you KNOW everything on the menu is good. well I haven’t had EVERYTHING on the menu, but what I DO know is that the dishes that my husband and I have had, are all expertly prepared. I LOVE all the soup… I LOVE the salad… and their pasta is phenomenal… Tonight I had their eggplant parm. special and it was probably one of the BEST I have EVER had! Parking is EASY… plenty of tables… nice and warm (and that’s important!!!) and just CONSISTENTLY delicious!!!

I asked my coworker to order from here because I really like this place. There were about 10 dishes ordered. When my coworker picked up the food and dropped them off, we noticed two of the dishes weren’t there.
I called them and even though they don’t deliver, asked them to drop it off. We were in a meeting so I couldn’t go pick it up at that time. Originally she said she couldn’t but ended up doing so anyways. I thought that was really kind.
My coworkers said the food was really good and one of tried a salad that she has never seen before. I’m really glad they loved my suggestion. Of course, I got tier gelato and that was the first thing I are for lunch.

The ambiance at this place is nice. It’s super cute, and my girlfriend and I had high hopes. Our meal started out well. The bread with olive oil and Parmesan was delightful, and the wine was delicious. It went downhill after that. The mushroom soup was so sweet that even many shakes of pepper couldn’t save it. The romaine salad with peppercorn ranch consisted of a bunch of brown lettuce, several bits of tomato, and a very meager coating of ranch. Honestly, it would have been ok had it not cost $ 8. …$ 8!!! Our entrees were edible but that’s about it. I ordered the spinach tortellini special. It was definitely not special. I thought to myself that I could easily buy a frozen dinner, nuke it in the microwave, and get a similar result. My gf got the shrimp diablo. The pasta itself was ok but, again, nothing special. And the 4 – 5 shrimp were shrimp cocktail quality. She later said it was gross. Had the quality of the food been good, it would have been a good deal. In Chicago, where Italian food can be cheap, delicious, and plentiful, Franco’s is not a good deal. We will not be returning.

First of all, let me tell you what Franco’s is not, since I’m a little nonplussed by some of the other reviews.
It is not the Olive Garden, and it is certainly not one of the modern, gigantic, luxurious Italian places that you’d find a mile or 2 north in University Village. Peering into the window below the neon sign of a fork and spaghetti, that should be immediately apparent to you. If you want a lively atmosphere and an attractive young waiter to recommend you wine and let you swoosh it around and smell it, then don’t go to Franco’s. It’s that simple.
Think of it this way: Rather than being an Italian themed American-​style restaurant, Franco’s feels much closer to a restaurant in Italy. It’s is a small, slightly cramped, café style, family owned Italian restaurant with space heaters by the windows and a customer base of older Italian families as regulars.
It seems like their goal is consistently making good food, and they hit it out of the ballpark almost every single time. My testament to Franco’s is that it is, by quite a wide margin, the best Italian food I’ve ever had. That is also often the consensus with friends who have dined there with me.
If you want delicious Italian food, this is your place. It’s not cheap, luxurious, or an «experience», and there’s no reason to expect it to be.

Above average food portions.
Got the oven roasted chicken with potatoes — - seemed like the chicken was lightly fried than roasted. Also got the grilled octopus. Thought it was alright. Gio’s in Bridgeport has better ones in my opinion.

I’ve been living in the area all my life… I never been to this «diamond in the ruff» until I bought a groupon! I must say, the service «Heather» was phenomenal. The food was exceptional. The restaurant is kid friendly, Oh did I mention the food was great! I will be visiting this place more often… with or without a groupon!

We drove around on a Friday evening, looking for a place to eat in the South Loop area. I used my trusted Unilocal to look for a decent $$ price range restaurant where both my husband and kids would be happy with. We stopped at three very popular places all within a couple blocks of each other in the S. Loop, and all three had about an hours wait! We were all really hungry and didn’t want to wait, so after the third place, decided to head towards home and eat at a neighborhood restaurant. I’m glad we did because we all had an authentic Italian meal that seemed to hit the spot. We stopped at Franco’s because it’s affiliated restaurant, Franconello’s, which was in the Beverly area, was where my husband and I had our first date almost 20 years ago. Sigh… Anyway, my son had the salmon special, served on mashed potatoes and a side of spinach. I, of course, ate the spinach, but he really enjoyed the fish and potatoes. My daughter had a child’s size portion of pasta with marina and meatballs. She’s picky but ate enough of it, so I know she liked it. I had the fettucini Alfredo, which was not on the menu, but they made it for me anyway, and it was delicious. I forgot what my husband had and I never got to taste it because he ate it so fast. We also had the bruschetta and the calamari, and the bread was warm and delicious with their oil and cheese. We will definitely be back again. Unfortunately, Bridgeport is not as popular and booming as our neighbors, The South Loop, Pilsen, Univ. Village, etc. (thanks to our wonderful Alderman), but fortunately we can still go into a great restaurant and be seated and served almost immediately so close to home on a Friday night.

Horrible. Well at least food was. Service was good, of course we were the only table in the restaurant most of the time we were there. We had fried calamari. Tasted Like they hadn’t changed the oil in a quite a while. Our kids shared one kids pasta and a side of meatballs ($ 8 + $ 6.50 = $ 14.50 for a 4 yr olds dinner. And that didn’t include drink or dessert which brought it up to $ 22.00! Again, they are 4!!!), we shared the bad fried calamari app and an equally bad Seafood dinner pasta, mediocre bottle of wine (not much to choose from) and blah tiramisu. Wanted so bad to like this place since we have so little to choose from in the neighborhood. But I should have listened to my husband who was sceptical of a place that had been around for 20+ years but had only 20 something reviews…

Went here for date night last week and we were not impressed. It is a cute little restaurant, but they really should have had more than one waitress. We sat for at least 10 minutes before our bread was brought out.
The food was average Italian fare, but it is a small menu and a little pricey. I was also annoyed that they have a $ 3 entrée split fee, even though it didn’t affect me.
The restaurant is full of elderly people from the neighborhood, and since the waitress spent a long time at each of their tables answering questions and chatting the service became incredibly slow. There were bus boys coming out of the back (right near where we were seated) with their plastic black dish holders every 10 minutes which absolutely ruined the ambiance.
Not a terrible experience, but I will not be going back any time soon.

Franco’s was one of the first places I ever visited based upon its Unilocal reviews. I was a newbie back in the summer of 2009 when the BF and I were at a game at US Cellular. Before heading back to our hotel downtown, we wanted to grab some local grub, so we entrusted Unilocal… and we were not let down!
We worked up quite the appetite walking the streets of the Bridgeport neighborhood to find the place (and then fortunately were able to walk off our filling meal while on our way back to the train).
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but Franco’s was not what I expected… but in a good way. It was a quaint little hole-​in-​the-​wall place that felt like we were stepping into someone’s home more than we were into a restaurant. It has a cute vintage bistro type of ambiance, and I dig that because it wasn’t trying to be some pretentious Italian novelty. If I lived in Chicago, I think Franco’s would be my destination of choice for a gathering of friends or a book club discussion (I know… totally random). So on to the food…
It was VERY good. The BF and I decided to split the Rigatoni Arrabiatta with a side of Italian Sausage for a spicier kick. It is somewhat familiar dish for us, so I feel that I can gauge the flavor well in comparison to others we’ve tried elsewhere. Everything tasted almost homemade, but yet better – Even the bread was above par. The portions were the perfect size for us to share, and I felt the price was extremely reasonable – only about $ 15 for the main dish plus the side order.
The service was great too – there was only one server covering the whole room, and she kept busy, however, we were never left waiting for anything, even though we were tucked away in a quiet little corner (it was kinda romantic). This place is a little off the beaten path, but I would definitely dine here again before or after a Sox game, as it’s a nice departure from the typical experience downtown.

Franco’s is a lovely oasis in a restaurant desert. Mainly my partner in art crimes and I needed a place as close to our recent show as possible. We were in need of food (ok, wine) in the midst of last minute reception setup. Franco’s did not disappoint.
I had the roasted chicken and potatoes and enjoyed every bite of garlicky, rosemary infused chicken and spud-​like sustenance. My veggie gal pal was equally impressed with her beet salad and pasta, and the little lady’s husband enjoyed his penne pasta which involved prosciutto and other goodies. The best part? When we inquired about the absence of bread on our table it was because it was still in the oven getting ready to be devoured. Can’t beat that. Service is super friendly and they have wines in an affordable price range that won’t make you want to kill someone. I will definitely be back soon.

Having been to Franco’s sister restaurant in University Village (Franconellos) I knew that the food was going to be good but what surprised me was the cute ambiance of this location.
We sat inside but there are also seats outside along the side street. There is a small bar upfront and about 10 tables in the entire place. It was slow on the night we were there. Just us and another table but that was okay by me as the service was good (thank you Mandy) and the food even better.
Bridgeport is full of family run businesses and Franco’s is no exception. The owner was there and greeted us warmly when we walked in. We had a cocktail (nice and strong, I might add) while waiting for our food while the owner asked us if we lived close by (hmm…I kept wondering if she just had never seen us before, or if there was something I was doing that made her think I wasn’t from the neighborhood…)
There were several specials of the day and since you can’t go wrong with a special we ordered the Eggplant Parmesan and the rigatoni with sausage. Both were delicious but the rigatoni won in my book. We also shared a caprese salad that was interesting as it had horseradish in the sauce versus the more traditional balsamic vinaigrette.
At this point we were stuffed and weren’t going to have dessert– when the owner came over with the biggest piece of tiramasu I have ever seen and two forks! She said it was their specialty and made at their Beverly location. Well– what’s a girl to do? Yep. You betcha. I managed to find the room. Probably the best tiramasu I have had– rich and creamy!
Loved the cute trattoria like atmosphere, loved the friendliness of the people who worked there and loved the food. It is a little pricier than other places in Bridgeport, though. Dinner for 2 with drinks was about $ 82 before tip, although in all fairness– $ 22 of it was in drinks.
Bridgeport has lots of these little gems hidden away. I think I’m on a personal mission to find them all!