Mario & Franks

Bigger than it looks from the outside, Mario & Frank have a good thing going at the tail end of Nottingham Way in Trenton/​Hamilton, NJ. Apparently, there are at least three other shops, as this one says it is number IV. I can understand why they have expanded. Their food is very good as far as old school pizza parlors go. Short menu with the usual suspects, but what they do, they do well. This is a family operation, and during the course of my lunch, I received service from at least three of them. All friendly, efficient, and happy to have one more customer in the house.
I ordered the Eggplant Parm Sandwich. It arrived about 10 minutes later on a white oval plate (no paper here). It was neatly transected amidship, with three layers of lightly breaded, twice sautéed eggplant, just enough mozza (not drowning in it), and dollops of homemade chunky tomato sauce with the right amount of garlic and pepper for a great aroma.
It is my habit lately, due to trying to reduce carbs, to eat almost every sandwich open face, to reduce the bread intake. Thus, I was able to eat each layer of eggplant top to bottom, and enjoy each bite. It was very good. I couldn’t resist a few bites of the roll. The top was shiny and the bottom nicely showing flour and yeast remnants. It was also enjoyable, and left me wanting to abandon my dietary resolution for another day.
The plan now is to find and try the other Mario & Franks locations and see how they measure up. If as good as #4, the discovery will be a great tasty adventure.

This is a really great restaurant to eat at. I use to eat at this place a lot when I was in high school. I love the food especially the Stromboli. The service is great and the workers are really nice and friendly especially one of the owners, Frank. I recommend this place if you want great service and a great meal.

My uncle who is renowned for his frugality suggested a takeout here recently. I hadn’t been here since I was a teen and my tastes were less discriminating. And I was surprised when he informed me it is still the same owners as from all those years ago. The interior and exterior had not changed either, which worried me a little.
But my fears were unfounded. Our to go order of ziti bolognese was very good. And the cost and serving size was better than good. It came with a large decent salad with 2 dressings, garlic bread, possibly soup (he said they gave him both in the past?) and enough pasta for a hungry family of 4. And it was a good dish, the red sauce was good to start, but added ricotta made it slightly creamy. There was ground beef of various sized chunks to complete the sauce. And the whole portion was topped with copious mozz and then baked. All this for about $ 10.
I would like to try a pizza here, but after such a good experience with the ziti I might just stick with that. I would certainly recommend this to families and those looking for bargains. Don’t judge this place by its looks, there is obviously a good reason it has survived for 3 decades in a not ideal location. 3.5 don’t judge a book by its cover Unilocal

We come to this place with friends for the cheesesteaks. They are very good! Only thing I would not ask is for fries.
And I would not recommend them, or any fried product since their flavor tends to be weird for some reason.
Other than that, their pizza is decent and not pricey.
Deco is a bit outdated and kinda dusty place, not in the sketchy side though.

Mario and Franks have been at this location for about 40 years. The hoagies are the best, pizza is good, and daily lunch and dinner specials draw the crowds from near and far. Home-​made soups made fresh daily are amazing and the local police and truck drivers adore their food. Service is friendly, but could be faster, and prices are very reasonable. Frank makes the pizzas and his 85+ year old father helps prepare each soup, every day. A community favorite, though there are no linen tablecloths or glitzy furnishings. Families love to eat here because the food is good and you don’t have to take a home-​loan to pay for the meal. Right next to Grounds for Sculpture, too!

ok cheesesteaks, always fresh tasting, beefy & not bad, spacious dining room too, fair prices, plenty of parking, atmosphere/​ambience is ok. the last steak I got the grill person left the roll on the grill too long and it kinda all went black and I tasted it too, it was the worst cheesesteak I got from them, I didn’t even finish it, maybe it was my fault b/​c I was talking to the grill person. also, the last 3 times I went to get a cheesesteak I waited at least 20 mins, that’s just too long to sit around. I don’t like the pizza. never got anything else, but the prices definitely are fair, and it’s an easy commute and lots of parking room.

I tried their zeppolis which i like. I am a huge fan of their cheesesteaks. they taste great.