Frankie's Restaurant — Restaurant in Evansville

I have to start by saying I have no idea how this place has a 4.9 rating (currently). The menu is confusing, and the selection is all over the place. Everything from Mexican to sushi to Italian to steak to wrapped sandwiches to burgers... and that's just the dinner menu. There's no clear direction on what the restaurant's food is about, and its like they're trying to cater to everyone.

The atmosphere is like that of a cramped family diner, but with a bar added in on one side. There's hardly any decor, and the whole place seems very basic. That is except for the wait staff. They are overdressed for what's being offered in ambiance.

The Google listing and their website suggest reservations, so I called to get a table for my wife and I for dinner on a Friday night. The person who took the call didn't even ask for a name, but just how many and what time, which seemed odd to me. There wasn't a problem when we got there at 6:35pm for our 6:45pm reservation as there was still plenty of seating available.

We ordered our food, and they brought out these very basic, obviously store bought dinner rolls and a dollop of what looked and tasted like the Philadelphia strawberry cream cheese you'd get from the grocery. Obviously, it's not homemade.

My wife ordered sushi rolls. Some rolls they evidently didn't have, so she had to order some different rolls from the list. When they came out, they were obviously not freshly made and were store bought. You can tell by the uniform look and the rice starting to look glassy and inconsistent. She also got egg rolls, which were also obviously store bought.

I had the ribeye with roasted potatoes and green beans with bacon and onions along with a salad. The potatoes were dry and barely warm like they'd been sitting on a rack in an oven with the temp barely on for hours. The green beans were rubbery, overcooked, and cold. The steak I ordered medium rare, but got one that somehow was medium on about 1/4 of it, and the other 3/4 was raw to blue. I don't even know how that's possible except one bit barely seeing any heat and the rest just sitting basically off the heat altogether and a quick flash to brown the outside just before serving. I ended up sending it back when I realized what was going on.

Another FOH service bit was that my salad and my wife's egg rolls came out after the main courses. I wasn't even asked what kind of salad dressing I wanted, but rather was given a small cup of what looked like some thinned out ranch dressing with maybe poppy seeds. It was ok, but they should probably know the order the food should arrive at the table.

One last thing to note is that the roof began leaking pretty profusely just before we left. This happened over the table next to us. Fortunately, by this time, the family with children who had been seated there had already left. The waiter acted like this wasn't a big deal. Nothing was done from a safety or customer experience perspective to address this issue while we were still there, which makes me wonder about the conditions of the BOH if FOH is allowed this.

FYI... I added a pic of the up-to-date dinner menu with pricing. There is no dress code either. Anything goes from basic t-shirts and shorts on up to as fancy as you want to be...

A friend and I decided to try Frankie's after a long Saturday on the road. We arrived a little before 5 PM. Our server, Tessa, greeted us warmly, and seated us quickly. Music played in the background, but it was soft, and made conversation easy. We were immediately comfortable, and Tessa was explaining the amazing menus (yes, that's plural). If you've read other reviews, you know that breakfast is served all day, but Frankie's also provides additional menus for lunch and dinner, and a full list of beverages. We came in thinking we might have something from the breakfast menu, but ultimately, we ordered from the dinner menu. The availability of wonderful comfort food changed our minds. Tessa was very helpful in answering our questions and in placing our order. One nice surprise that she didn't mention was the almost immediate arrival of some piping hot rolls with strawberry butter! They were so good! We ordered the cheese quesadilla starter, and it was excellent, and came with a tasty salsa. My friend ordered a Chocolate Martini, and I ordered a glass of red wine. We were both very happy with our drinks. Our entrees arrived on schedule, and they were outstanding! Everything was cooked to perfection, and the vegetables tasted fresh and crisp. They definitely didn't come from a can. I splurged and ordered dessert - which was white chocolate mousse cake with a strawberry garnish. Simply delicious! Although the desserts vary from time to time, I'm convinced from our experience that, if you're up for some dessert, you won't be disappointed! We appreciated Tessa's warmth, knowledge, and responsiveness in experiencing an excellent meal. We will definitely be back! There are not enough stars to recommend...

Inspired by the recent article in in the January 2024 edition of Evansville, Living, we decided to check out Frankies, the new eatery on Logan Dr. in Evansville. We arrived at about 10 a.m. for a late breakfast. The dinning room was open, bright and clean. All employees seemed happy and friendly in their interactions with the customers and each other. The restaurant was busy, but not crowded, and our hostess immediately seated us. We took advantage of their diverse mimosa menu by ordering one orange and one mango mimosas. We could see these mimosas, being prepared, and they were very generous with the champagne, Filling each flute 2/3s full before adding the juice.

The breakfast menu boasted The expected American staples, but also included some Mexican inspired dishes as well. We enjoyed our drinks as our meals were prepared in a reasonable amount of time.

The huevos rancheros were the best we’ve had in this area and we could tell they were prepared by a chef knowledgeable in these classic Mexican eggs.

The country fried steak was wonderfully breaded and seasoned and the accompanying hashbrowns and scrambled eggs were fresh and delicious. The short stack of pancakes proved light, fluffy, and generously sized.

We also ordered the house made hot sauce, which was not listed on the menu. It was thick, fresh, full of flavor and packed a nice kick. It was a perfect addition to the huevos rancheros and hashbrowns.

The waitstaff was friendly and attentive. Frankie himself, the owner, was a ubiquitous site in the dining room, as he personally checked on each table.

This was a wonderfully flavorful experience, and we will definitely go back to sample their...