Frankie's Italian Winnipeg — Restaurant in Winnipeg

My wife and I love Italian food and we've been wanting to try Frankie's. We finally happen to be in the area so we went in for an early supper.

Since I'm taking the time to write a review I'll going to be critical but all in all the staff are friendly, restaurant is nice, and the food is fine but also not great for the price.

It was happy hour which was a pleasant surprise because we wanted to try their meatballs which appear to be "discounted" from $16 to $8 during happy hour. But in reality there's no happy hour pricing but rather happy hour serving size? The normal $16 appetizer comes with 4 meatballs while the $8 happy hour comes with 2. So really there's no discount and we feel deceived. The meatballs themselves were good. Nicely seasoned, well cooked, good size but still it's $4 a meatball, it's what I would expect from a $4 meatball.

Our pastas came with pieces of focaccia which were warm, soft and had nice herbs; served with oil and balsamic. this was also good.

During our meal one of the servers dropped a piece of focaccia on the floor, which is fine. However, we watched 4 staff walk past it or step on it. One of the staff was a manager who even kicked it, looked at it and carried on.

When you celebrate your birthday at be Frankie's I presume your meal comes with a free dessert that they dress up with one of those sparkler candles. What a nice a gesture, sincerely. But the smell is irritating and distracts you from your meal. I'm sensitive to smells so maybe it's just me, I'll live, but I'd prefer if they used a normal candle or just lit the sparkler at the table instead of lighting it and walking through the restaurant.

Our main course arrives, I got gnocchi pesto with chicken and my wife got linguini with seafood.

The gnocchi were quite large and irregularly shaped which made me believe they were hand made. I was excited that these hand made dough boys would be soft fluffy clouds of goodness, unfortunately they were not, if anything they were dense afterthought. The sauce seems to be something that acts more as a veil to hide the gnocchi rather than work to compliment each other. The chicken was just slightly overcooked.

My wife's meal which I believe is the most expensive pasta dish they have at $42, was equally uninspiring. To make a mediocre dish bad though the kitchen didn't debeard her mussels. My wife is particularly sensitive about over cooked seafood but she said you guys did a nice job so good work there.

The whole time our server had been wonderful but somehow after saying weren't interested in having dessert we were abandoned. I realize things get busy and it's fine but we were hoping to get the bill and pay so we could leave at our leisure. I decided to ask one of the hostesses to help us.

As a quick aside they have 3 or 4 hostesses at the front and a manager, which maybe there's a reason for but it's frustrating when you want service and can't find your server yet they have all these workers doing nothing. I realize that's not a completely fair statement but in the moment it's frustrating all the same.

Anyways I ask for help. One of the managers quickly brings us the bill and... leaves LOL. I just asked if I could get the bill and indicated we needed to leave and yet we had just been abandoned for a second time. It was only a minute or 2 afterwards he realized or overheard me complain that he went back to where he printed our receipt to grab the pos and had us pay.

The staff were very friendly and helpful. I understand things happen, people forget, get busy, make mistakes, whatever. It's fine.

However, the food is nothing special for the price point. If you want a good fun pasta for a similar price point you should try Cibo or Cafe Carlo. Or, similar quality pastas can be had at old spaghetti factory at a lower price and your meal comes with all you can eat bread, soup or salad to start, ice cream for dessert and...

I treat my family to Frankie's approximately 12 to 15 times a year but I think it's run its course. Not always were things perfect but in general things were good. There were times when the food wasn't the best nor the service but regardless of the consistency it was always worth it most times. Our most recent visit turned out to be a complete disaster. It was a full house on a Saturday night and we were served by someone who was overwhelmed with too many tables. The very first thing to go wrong was the diet drinks turned out to be regular and were served to diabetics. We ordered a cheese and meat platter, an hour later it was delivered and we all know what cheese looks like when it's left out, a nice hard plastic coating. We then sat for another hour waiting for our mains, our waitress then brought us the usual bread that normally arrives at the beginning of the meal. Another 30 minutes past and finally the mains arrived, as the gentleman placed the food on the table, he reached accross anothers meal and rubbed his sleeve from elbow to wrist all through the meal. It was identified and he was slighted by it, sad sorry and left. He came back and served the second to last meal but forgot the last meal, went back and got that. The server came and asked how everything was and we explained we had cold soup, and sleeve salmon salad, she apologized profusely took the meals and once again we waited, at which time we discovered another meal, ravioli was hardened on top, most likely by a heat lamp, we didn't complain about that one. All remaining meals were concluded then our soup and salad showed up, soup was hot enough to take skin off and the salad appeared to be the same sleeve salad, of course we're not sure but in any case the salmon was dried to a nice level for preservation. Soup and salad were removed from the bill and the waitress continued to apologize but there was no saving this disaster. Hard earned money is too hard to come by these days therefore, I will no longer take a chance here. What once was an excellent place to dine is now filled with incompetence. I haven't had a bad experience such as this in a very very long time and I eat out a lot all over the city...

Frankie’s Italian Kitchen & Bar - A Friday Night Culinary Triumph

My inaugural visit to Frankie’s Italian Kitchen & Bar came highly recommended by my granddaughter, for whom this establishment holds a special place in her heart. Though we found ourselves waiting for over an hour for a table, it soon became clear that the anticipation was entirely justified.

The menu at Frankie’s is a celebration of Italian culinary tradition, executed with remarkable precision and flair. We began with the Gnocco Fritto, a delicate fried dough that arrived crisp and golden, offering a delightful contrast to the creamy accompaniments. It was an appetizer that set the tone for the meal to come.

The Risotto was nothing short of sublime, its creamy texture perfectly balanced with a delicate blend of flavors that hinted at both elegance and depth. Meanwhile, the Mushroom Ravioli showcased a masterful hand at pasta-making, each bite revealing the earthy richness of the mushrooms encased in the softest of pasta pillows.

The Vegetariana Pizza was a visual and gastronomic masterpiece, a harmony of fresh vegetables atop a perfectly charred, thin crust, while the Rigatoni Salsiccia brought a bold, robust character to the table with its flavorful sausage and harmonious sauce. The Spaghetti Alfredo, though a more straightforward dish, was executed with impeccable precision, the cream sauce luxuriously coating the pasta without overwhelming it.

To end our meal on a sweet note, we indulged in the Tiramisu, a dessert that was the very definition of decadence—light, airy, and imbued with just the right amount of coffee-soaked richness.

The service, while not overly attentive, was efficient and friendly, allowing us to enjoy the meal at our own pace. Despite the wait, the overall experience was nothing short of exceptional. The flavors were bold and vibrant, the atmosphere welcoming, and the culinary execution impeccable.

In sum, Frankie’s Italian Kitchen & Bar offers a dining experience that is well worth the wait. It’s a testament to the power of authentic Italian cooking and the joy that great...