Frankie's Italian Kitchen & Bar

Frankie's Italian Kitchen is the new restaurant in the Georgian Court Hotel, where the William Tell and the Beatty St. Grill used to be. We get very excited when new restaurant opens near our work (someone needs to take over the old Dix space!), so it is no surprise that the day I went to Frankie's two other groups of co-workers came in.

I have worked down the street from the Georgian Court for a couple of years now but I had never gone to the William Tell. The Beatty St. Grill had been a favorite of a few co-workers. I was happy to see the bartender of Beatty St. had been kept on as a waiter in Frankie's. I feel bad that I don't know his name, but he was always the highlight of the Beatty St. Grill.- happy and always quick with a joke every time we went in there. He said that the pub side of Beatty St./Frankie's Kitchen was not going to be open for lunch for a while but would be open at night. They have an excellent patio and always do some sort of BBQ for game nights.



The interior of Frankie's Italian Kitchen is nice. Nice chairs and booths with a lounge in the front and table and booth seating in the back. Standard Italian posters on the wall with a nice neutral/gray colour palette.



Courtney and I arrived at 11:30 and it was empty. It quickly filled up as the time moved closer to 12:00.  Another plus for the 11:30 lunch time!  The menu offers appetizers, soups, pasta, pizza as well as some sandwiches and mains. We couldn't decide what to get so we decided to share a pizza and a beef dip. I often judge restaurants on their beef dips.

Beef Dip Italiano- Shaved top round stacked on a hoagie bun with melted Fontina cheese & au jus $11



Hm. The fries were great! Nicely seasoned and perfect amount of crispy. The sandwich itself was not a win. It was just uneven. It came with caramelized onions, but only on one half of the sandwich. We had cut the sandwich in half and my side didn't have onions and Courtney's had all the onions. She doesn't like onions, so we switched. That worked well for us but not for a consistent sandwich. It was kind of dry and not really moist and flavourful as we were expecting. As we were leaving we ran into a group of co-workers and they said they had heard the same about the beef dip. Where were they at the beginning of the meal?

The pizza saved the day! It was so good. I wish we would have ordered 2 pizzas instead. Good idea for the next trip...

We ordered the Funghi pizza which isn't on the menu on their website for some reason. It was mushrooms and mozzarella on a home made crust and it was around $10-12.



The waiter went on about their home made crust and he was right. It was fantastic. Crisp and thin just as I like it. There was just the right amount of toppings and the sauce was tangy and fresh. It was a perfect size for two people to share. I would get this again.

As we were eating our co-workers came in so I handed off my camera for some pictures and guest reviews! Co-worker A had a daily special vegetarian pasta:

Leek and Aubergine Ravioli


Her review, "The leek and aubergine ravioli was delectable - the chef successfully encouraged the dish towards flavour without drowning the pasta in its own sauce". I want to eat that now! What a lovely description. Sure shows up my "it tasted good" reviews.  (aka, last time I ask a writer for a guest review)

Linda (or Co-worker A+) had a pasta from the regular menu:

Seafood Linguini- Clams, mussels, scallops & prawns tossed in alfredo cream sauce $15



"I feel slightly pressured to say something witty but I'm in a bit of a yummy-food coma so: Seafood Linguini… it was good. Haha, okay, serious thoughts: Light tomato-based sauce complementing a seafood medley topped with perfectly tender lobster. Yum :)"

She provided a lobster close up:



The consensus around the office is that Frankie's is a great addition to the downtown lunch scene. Excellent service, good food and nice ambiance. It was almost a 100% score, except for the sandwich.  We will be back!