Franko's Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Franklinton

Last night was our 2nd dinner at Franko’s and it was just as spectacular as the 1st. The service is top notch from start to finish! We’ve made reservations via their website or by calling and both easy, if you like a specific table, just request when making the resy.

Both were Friday nights, both times it was packed by 5:30pm. The atmosphere is open and the vibe is bustling, excellent bar, stone and brick exposed, hardwood floors, outside seating or inside, stone fireplace, plus they just opened the pizzeria upstairs (separate menu) which serves a pizzas from custom ovens.

The hostess is “on it”, the bartenders make good quality cocktails, the parking is easy on the street or side parking lot. Our dinners were absolutely fantastic!

What we’ve tried so far… both times the Hungarian stuffed hot peppers which are delish (medium spice), housemade focaccia bread, the bolognese, gnocchi w/mushrooms, ribeye (cooked perfect medium rare), and the bone-in veal chop. Each dinner was a 10, zero complaints, quality and quantity perfect.

We always get martinis and bourbon up, if any comment… it should be a better pour even if you charge a couple dollars more, a nice restaurant like this should have a “country club” pour.

We’ve recommended Franko’s to several friends and they’ve all loved it. Our bill is normally around $175-$200 plus tip but that’s with a couple cocktails each. We leave full and 100% satisfied!

Nice: the bartender remembered our cocktails from the 1st time which was over 1 month ago, that is impressive and a special touch. I’m specific and I like a touch of this and a minus of that… and she remembered.

The owner owns Eli’s Tavern across the street which is our next weekend dinner… and if your into cigars, across the street is Tap That Ash cigar bar. The Main Street is revived and definitely a hot spot that we will continue to support, even from our 20 minute drive from...

Summary: Food- It is mostly incredible. Service- Last Friday was a huge disappointment. Atmosphere- We felt unwelcome, ignored and disrespected.

My boyfriend and I live in Franklinton and we’ve been to Franko’s many times, plus we get takeout sometimes too. We went there for dinner on Friday 2/9. We called to make reservations for 8pm and requested Meredith to be our server.

We arrived at 8pm and were told it would only be a few minute wait. After we had sat at the bar for 20 minutes, my boyfriend went and asked the hostess what was going on, she said it would only be another 5 minutes. A few minutes later, she came up to us saying our table had actually been ready for a while and said, “didn’t you get the text?”… nope. We had our phones on DND because we were never told to look for a text!

So she leads us to the high top table near the bar (which was right behind us and had been unoccupied the entire time) and heads up, it’s very drafty. I had to put my coat on which is not ideal while eating.

At the table, we find out Martina was our server and she was super nice, but she was bartending AND serving. Shortly after we were seated, she had a 6 top come in, which she spent all of her time with them on the other side of the bar. During our meal, several servers stopped by our table to bring stuff or take stuff, we began to wonder if we even had a dedicated server. It seemed like we were sat at the overlooked table!

We ordered the focaccia bread, filet, mashed potatoes, asparagus, prime rib, mac & cheese and the caesar salad. The potatoes weren’t great and the salad shouldn’t come out with our dinner, especially if it’s already 45 minutes into being there. We're freaking hungry!

Side note: I shouldn’t get an attitude from a bartender for ordering a non-alcoholic drink and I certainly shouldn’t have to ask 3 times for...

After months of trying to visit Franko’s, we had family in town and decided to drop in. We didn’t have much faith because Franko’s is always blessed to be booked and a reservation is key to guaranteeing a spot. We’d tried to walk in other times before and it was always full. Well we didn’t have a reservation today either, we just happened to pop in at 6 with a party of 8! The nerve of us! Welp I guess it was just in the stars for us today. When walking in we were flanked by the most welcoming smile and well wishes on our visit by none other than the owner’s mom! What a treat and welcoming vibe before we even got to meet the host. Mamma Franko (so sorry we didn’t get her name) was just pleased to have a us visit her sons establishment and wished us a great experience. Well I think Mamma Franko was the mojo we needed to get lucky today, lol. The hostess really made an effort to seat our large party with no reservation (don’t try this yourself, it was literally a stroke of luck, they stay. booked and busy which is a great problem to have) and we were appreciative to fit in wherever they could squeeze us. Well the staff was so accommodating and our waiter Nicole was AMAZING! So hospitable, pleasant and professional. Although we were a large party with a last minute booking, she never made us feel like a burden and the staff also chipped in with no ill energy to make space for us. That goes such a long way today and we soooo appreciated it. The food matched the stellar service and the overall experience was everything and more that Mamma Franko wished us to have. We have had the pleasure of frequenting Eli’s and connecting with their owner and now we finally got to experience their other Franklinton gem. Well done and not only will we be back but will be sending our family and clients too. LETS GO...