Lil’ Frankie’s

The food was so delicious, I had to make up a whole new ‘happy food dance’
MEZZI RIGATONI POLPETTINI RAGU (baby meatballs in ragu) and FRESH ARUGULA salad. Mmmmmmm Mmmmmmmm Mmmmmmmm (droooooool)

Lil Frankie’s is such a cute, quaint Italian restaurant. The food is delicious, the staff is super friendly, and dining while looking out at the street was a nice way to wind down the day. Highly recommended.

If you want to seat so close to strangers that if they spit when they talk your food would get it…
If you want burnt pizza…
If you don’t mind loud talk and can barely hear whoever you with…
If you don’t mind waiters butt all over your face when they are passing by then… that’s the spot for you
But I wasn’t feeling this place… can’t you believe people eat pizza with forks lol

In a city full of pretentious and over priced eateries, Lil Frankie’s does basic Italian so perfectly. It’s a good sign when my favorite dish here is their aglio et olio. Perfect seasoning and texture every time. They do a mean vongole as well! I have never had a pasta here that did not satisfy. Their pizzas and appetizers are also great. Their wine list is extensive and hit a wide range of prices. The staff are friendly and overall the place has a very homey atmosphere, crowded at times but where in New York isn’t?

Finally visited the critically acclaimed Napoleteana in NYC. This one is hidden amongst the line of bars and restaurants on the Lower east side, has no huge signs and does cash only as expected of a famed Italian business.
The pizzas menu is simple but do hear out their special pastas. They have a fair beer and wine list, not very expensive. Got a nice communal table designed to seat folks both inside and outside, pretty near. We tried the pizza bianca and their special summer squash gnocchi. The crust on the pizza was very chewy and well done. The mozz, herbs and hint of truffle oil all blended in great. The gnocchi was clearly fresh and home made though a heavy portion (can easily be split between two), especially considering that it was in a rich creamy sauce. Service is friendly and the complimentary portion of olive oil the server got us was definitely top notch.
Am a fan, will try and visit back to try their red sauces and spaghetti. Hope to visit them hours past midnight (open till 2 am), when the food has an even higher chance of earning its missing fifth star.

So good. A couple of my favs are the margarita pizza, limon pasta, and the baked eggplant. I had to come back during my visit for my fix. It’s a small little restaurant, ingredients are insanely fresh, the service is great. They only take cash so it was an inconvenience to leave in the middle of dinner and run to an ATM, and the space is VERY tight.

I love the simplicity of the pastas. The pastas are done al dente so if you prefer soft pastas I guess you won’t like this place. :) My favorite was the spaghetti with garlic and oil (I lOVE garlic… but definitely not good to eat for a date! It’s so garlicky, mints afterwards still don’t help!).
My friend had the gnocchi pomodoro and also said it was super yummy and tasted like home.
The pizza was also delicious but I think the pastas out-​shined the pizza.
My only complaint is that the space is too small for the number of tables they had. My bum was basically up against the guy behind me. A little awkward but I forgot about it as soon as I started eating.

Solid 4 stars for this cute Italian establishment. Bar scene or restaurant style, they serve good cocktails, fine wines and spot-​on grub. The eggplant in particular was melt-​in-​your mouth delicious. Service was so-​so though, especially towards the end of the night when the wait staff disappeared. Ambiance is crowded tables with music and on the Wednesday evening when I went, some loud obnoxious party guests.

Luckily we had a reservation otherwise you’d be waiting a long time at this cash only venue. The starter was one of the best, simple but tasty, a oven roasted eggplant, they cut it open, pour oil and salt on. It is a must have dish here.
We also ordered two pasta dishes which were good. The portions were a bit too big. The pizza there looks great and next time i go, i’d like to check that out.

I was quite impressed with Lil’ Frankie’s having no expectations coming in.
First and most importantly, they have a legitimately delicious basil mojito. My date scoffed at me for ordering a mojito at an Italian restaurant because who would order a mojito from an Italian restaurant? But against even my own better judgment, I did and I was pleasantly rewarded.
Secondly, their food is actually so tasty. I had the chicken with mashed potatoes which I have absolutely no critiques of. The chicken was perfectly tender and the mashed potatoes were light and fluffy. My date ordered a pizza special (can’t remember the exact name but was essentially the margarita with Burrata cheese) which was delicious despite the cheese on top being cold. Not sure if the cold cheese was by design or by mistake but I still can’t complain.
Lastly, this place has bangin tunes on a Friday night.

:this review is based on a party of 20:
Yikes. 9:30 pm reservation on a Saturday was sat at 10:15 pm. The entire party was actually told the reservation was at 9pm by the birthday girl, so by 9:30 we had ¹⁵⁄₂₀. They will not seat you until your entire party is there, I understand that concept to degree. Finally we were sat, it took about 20 minutes for our waitress to address anyone at our table. By the time we did get our food it was 11:30. I ordered the eggplant app and the ravioli special, unfortunately we only received the first.
The most positive thing i can say about the entire experience is their wine bottle policy. They’ll open anything up for you and leave it, you drink as much as you want and they’ll assess the price based on what you left over. I’d love to come back and give that a try.
The most disturbing part however was when we asked for a $ 40 bottle of wine from the other waiter in that section (our second bottle) and were brought a $ 300 bottle instead. Ryan thankfully caught the mistake before she opened it, but to anyone who didn’t know better, they would have had one heck of a surprise when the bill came.
Giving credit where it’s due: the waitress kept her composure all night despite the volume of customers. I wouldn’t be fair if i didn’t say they tried to make up for the wait and the delay by bringing the entire table free desert. I’ll chalk it up to an off night. Would try again.

This was a hard restaurant to find! The sign … well to be frank I couldn’t see the sign and I ended up walking around the block and then up and down the street (it could be that I’m directionally-​challenged??).
Once inside, the hostess seated us immediately (because I made a reservation one week in advance and replied «yes» to the two text messages they sent the day before and the day of!).
The bread was a little on the stale side but the service was great and we got our entrées very quickly! Hoot, hoot horary! Ahhhhh, I wanted to really like my spaghetti limone but was too lemon-​y for me. What I liked the most was the laid back environment and that our waiter let us be to just chat and take our time being there.

The pizza was burnt don’t get it. The chicken and mash was awful. Only thing good here was their chicken parm it was amzinh !!! Also their bread and olives is soooo good !

What I had: Salame Piccante Pizza
Would I go back?: Yes
Story: Came here before a movie on a weeknight. Pretty quiet on a weeknight but it was on the earlier side. Regardless ordered the Salame Piccante Pizza — delicious — crust was perfect — ratio of cheese to sauce & salame was perfect. No complaints here i’d go back if i found myself in the area.

Ah Lil’ Frankie’s. My love affair with this restaurant started eight years ago, when I would regularly duck through its doors to use the bathroom while on the air at East Village Radio next door. Now close to a decade has passed, the station is no longer there, and I do other things with my Friday evenings, but one thing has stayed the same: I still get a sense of belonging and relief when I step through the threshold of this East Village staple.
I wish it wasn’t so expensive. I wish it wasn’t cash only. I wish loud idiots didn’t think it was a great place to have their birthday dinners, replete with a lot of squealing, before heading to the clurb (totally not the restaurant’s fault, but be warned). But that’s all water under the bridge the moment I sink my teeth into the spaghetti limone. Spaghetti cooked perfectly al dente, smothered in butter, and dusted with cheese… it’s heaven. It’s so simple you could make it yourself, and I do, but there’s something about the way Lil Frankies does it that I just can’t replicate in my own kitchen. That and a salad shared with my dining companion, and I’m a happy girl. If only those girls at the next table over would figure out their check and head to Lavo already, leave the rest of us to savor our pasta in peace.

Visited Lil’ Frankie’s with my fiancé and her family. The restaurant is deceivingly large and seems to stretch back forever. The food here is delicious and the service is top notch. Our server was able to give us some wine recommendations that fit our meals perfectly. Our large table of 8 had a good variety of pizza, pasta, and some seafood. The star of the show had to be the muscles and burrata. I believe they were the specials for the night but they are both a must order for appetizers.
I take off one star because the restaurant is extremely cramped. If just one table was removed from the dining area I think it could be opened up a bit. There was a point where myself and a guy at another table were literally bumping elbows as we ate.
On another important note they are cash only. Thankfully they called us about 2 hours before our reservation to tell us so we had plenty of time to hit up an ATM. Just something to be mindful of.

Let’s start out with the positive. The pancakes were very good and they have reasonable prices. They have a great 3 4 1 deal where you get 3 mimosas, bellinis or bloody marys for $ 8. Who wouldn’t love that?! Me. For one, the website says it’s for $ 6, so I was surprised when I got there and saw it was $ 8. Not a big deal, it’s still pretty cheap, but I hope the restaurant updates the menu to reflect the increase. Ultimately we didn’t even like the bellinis we ordered.
The service was slow and all over the place. We waited quite a while for our orders. When they finally brought it out, he quickly scuttled away before we could tell him that he forgot the maple syrup for our pancakes. We tried to do without, but they were a bit dry. We managed to flag him down to let him know, but then he disappeared. We waited patiently, but after a while we figured he probably forgot. We had to bring it to someone else’s attention so that our food didn’t get cold.
Other than that we were pretty much left to ourselves. I was going to suggest coming earlier when its not as busy, but I remember that our reservation was at 11am. I can’t imagine how bad it gets once the rest of brunch crowd starts coming in. Get what you pay for, I suppose.

Let me start off by saying the food here is amazing and so are the waiters. This review is to comment on a new policy the restaurant has started.
Visiting Italy several times in the past, i am familiar with a «table charge» that is often charged to guests, which is waived often to get customers into the restaurants. Lil Frankies owner has now decided to charged a $ 1 «admin fee» per person. We spoke to the waiter and he did inform us, and it also states on the receipt that this money does not go to the staff and they are still being paid the normal low wage and rely on tips. The explanation was that it was basically for the «bread and olives». The bread and olives that you have no say in if you want it or not.
What they are doing is illegal especially since they are taxing the «admin fee». NYC Consumer Affairs had told me the same thing.
As you can see our bill was well over $ 200 so I have no idea why the owner wants to strong arm a dollar a person as if we are in europe. At least if you are going to do it, call it what it is and don’t lie.

By no means is Lil’ Frankie’s in the East Village new. They’ve been around making Neopolitan wood burning pizza and homemade pastas for years. But, this neighborhood gem also offers some delicious specials and dishes, and a super extensive wine list. So come hungry, thirsty, and hit up the ATM beforehand, since they’re cash-​only. From the outside, you’d assume it was a small, intimate restaurant, but step inside, and work your way back through the winding passageways and there’s a back area, complete with a garden as well.
To start, I had their Stracciatella. It’s basically the center of buratta cheese, stuffed in a fresh tomato, and it’s so amazing. The cheese itself is rich, and super creamy, and pairing it with the firm and flavorful tomato atop olive oil and balsamic drizzle makes for a killer combination.
For my entrée, I ordered one of their specials that night, Trout Almondino. This was so delicious, that I apologize in advance if it’s not a special when you’re there. The trout is filleted, and generously portioned, cooked to perfection, and topped with oil, lemon, beautiful herbs and spices, and sliced almonds. The fish is tender and so flavorful, and accompanied by a really nice, fresh spinach salad. I finished the whole thing, was full, but could have still found some room for more, it was that good.

What’s the best pizza in NYC?
well it’s really hard to say. What I can tell you, on the other hand, is the here you’ll find an authentic Italian cuisine.
My friend Fabio and I were walking around since the morning and we needed to rest a bit confort food dinner. Of course we opted for pizza.
This place is a surprise. The serve very good diavola in a lovely atmosphere, that is perfect for a Woody Allen movie. We met a couple from Hawaii that chose some tagliatelle with lemon and cream (they loved it) and the rosted eggplants sounds great (I wanna try to cook it at home thoughh)
Wrapping up, the place is a bit expensive (15 $ for the pizza) but it is worthy. If you are Italian and you’re missing home, trust me, this is the right one.
A couple of more things: beer choice is great, Italian wine seems ok but I didn’t tried and the espresso is finally a good one!

Wirklich ein super italiener!!! Die pizzas waren wie in italien und wir hatten einen superservice! Beim nächsten NYC trip komme ich bestimmt wieder…

Lil´Frankies gehört definitiv auf die Liste meiner Lieblingsläden in der East Village! Barfeeling, gute Drinks und leckeres Essen? Count me in! Nach einem anstrengenden Shoppingtag wollten meine Freundin und ich eigentlich nur einen kleinen Snack. Beim Anblick der «Daily Specials» konnten wir jedoch nicht widerstehen und bestellten dann doch etwas mehr. Wir hatten Baby Octopus, Muscheln, Burrata und Pizza Blanca und alles war köstlich! Dazu saßen wir unaufgeregt auf Barhockern am Tresen und konnten den Abend entspannt ausklingen lassen. Unbedingt zu empfehlen.

mein absolutes lieblingsrestaurant im east village. gemuetlich, authentisch und einfach fantastisches essen. insbesondere die pastagerichte sind zu empfehlen (lasagne!). und wenn man mal warten muss (meistens), dann geniess das gewusel drumherum bei einem guten glas wein lasst mir noch nen tisch frei, bitte.

Okay. Es ist schon etwas dekadent, ausgerechnet nach New York zu fliegen, um dort im Restaurant französischen Wein zu bestellen.
Hier gibt es sehr europäisches, recht teures, sehr leckeres Essen. Zu zweit haben wir hier gut 80 Dollar für zwei einfache, fleischlose Gerichte und den Wein gelassen (was beim heutigen Kurs nicht mehr so viel erscheint), waren aber extrem zufrieden.
Die hausgemachten Ravioli mit Roote Beete und Ziegenkäse waren ebenso lecker wie die Spaghetti in Zitronrn-​Parmesan-​Sauce.