Franco's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Ocala

First off, our waiter was really sweet but obviously stressed as they were closed for a party (on Saturday night mind you), and the place was insanely busy! Myself and 3 others, came early on a Saturday night and was told to come back in an hour. So we headed to another restaurant for appetizers and drinks as we were really hungry. We thought that by going there early on Saturday night we could get a seat.

So we show up an hour later, only to stand at the door (there is NO place to sit down and the pizza oven is in the front and it was so hot!) Finally after about 15 minutes, the owner came and sat us at the table right next to the door. Now mind you, there are people coming in and out not just to eat but to pick up pizza so the spot was extremely warm for our entire meal. Here we are, our FIRST time going to the restaurant that we were all so excited to try because the menu is AMAZING, and he sat us right next to the door and pizza ovens.

We were hoping we would get some bread at the beginning but thought maybe it came with the meal. Nope, not even a mention of bread and we forgot to ask about it probably because we weren’t as hungry since we went for appetizers before hand due to the wait. My spouse and I ordered the chicken piccata, which was very good. However, I was disappointed I couldn’t order a vegetable as a substitute for the pasta. I’ve never experienced not being able to sub a vegetable instead of pasta in any other restaurant, If they were out of them, my other companions wouldn’t have gotten theirs. I think that a restaurant just starting out should try harder to refill requests from new customers.

Regarding the Piccata, it was much better than another Italian restaurant in Ocala, but my other companions each had the filet and the meat was awful as far as taste and extremely rare! They had a couple of bites and couldn’t eat anymore and it was just too rare and taste wasn’t what they expected in a filet.

We were given our check without us being asked for dessert and I will say their desserts looked amazing as they are in the case when you come in, and are made by the daughter and look spectacular and fresh. We had to try the tiramisu since we knew it would be good, and it was. The carrot cake and other desserts look amazing and it would be worth it to try and even order it to go. The pizza looked really good too by the way but we didn’t not try that.

Ambiance: well you can imagine we didn’t have any ambiance except a door opening and closing with people standing around our table waiting for their pizza who looked as hot as we did.

Unfortunately, we decided we wouldn’t go back again for dinner as there are too many negatives to justify going there over other restaurants in Ocala. However, it might be nice to try some other dishes but take them to go. I can see going there when I have guests who like to try new Italian places, and will just order it to be picked up.

Finally, this is a new restaurant and they obviously need to work out some things. Not sure how they can move the pizza ovens as the place is so small, and I don’t see how they can make any room for people to stand given their current set up. Perhaps with regard to the filet, they could just take it off the menu since it is an Italian restaurant and I would think most people going there would be going to try some good Italian food. My final comments on the Italian Chicken Piccata dish is that it was probably one of the best Chicken Piccata’s I have ever had as far as taste and with just the right amount of lemon, but the chicken could have been slightly more tender and there was only a small breast and I think there could have had more chicken...

This place took over the old Lorito’s Restaurant which my wife and I loved before Mr Lorito passed away. This was our first time here with the new owner and restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant interior was completely changed from the old restaurant! It was bright welcoming and very enjoyable. A new refreshing look. The silverware and glasses were cool and well made. We tried a couple of items off the menu. We rated them out of 1-10/ 10 being best:

Garlic knots: 8 out of 10. They were well made, fresh with ground seasoning on top. There was a small amount of oil in the bottom of the pan, which was also nice. Now the Marinara sauce was definitely a 9.5 out of 10 and was completely delicious. One of the best I’ve ever had! It was chunky and seemed homemade.

12 inch cheese pizza: 8 out of 10. The dough was fresh. The pizza was hot and very tasty. The dough had good consistency and was a Traditional New York style pizza. The sauce on the pizza seemed a little bit less than what it should have which probably would’ve made it better if they added more. They offered us fresh grated Parmesan on top, which was great.

Cheese Calzone: 8.5 out of 10. I did not personally have this one. My daughter did she thought it was very enjoyable one of the best that she has eaten. The calzone was fresh. The cheese was a good mixture of mozzarella and ricotta. The sauce was a slightly thinner version of the wonderful marinara we had with the knots, it was great but not as good as the one that came with the knots: thinner marinara was 8.5 out of 10.

Italian Sub sandwich: unfortunately this was my least favorite with a 5 out of 10. It was definitely a sandwich more than a sub. The meat was fresh and tasty. The sandwhich had Fresh mozzarella which was a pleasant surprise. The sandwich didn’t have any condiments/ sauce or dressing on it and seemed very bland. It was a fancy version of a sandwich I can make at the house. After living in New York and New Jersey for 15 years, I was really hoping to have a good possibly hot Italian sandwich with special homemade sauce or dressing on it. This was disappointing. The sandwich came with fresh fries, which were very good. They were fresh crisp, and crunchy.Giving fries a 8 out of 10.

Stuffed Shells: 8.5 out of 10. My wife had these and was very happy with them. She has very high expectations for the stuffed shells after getting them from the original Lorito’s owner! She said that the noodles were cooked properly. The sauce and cheese mixture was very well done.

Tiramisu: 10 out of 10. I unfortunately did not have this one either but my wife and daughter both had this. They said it was very decadent, smooth and rich in flavor. It was plated very well and was pleasant to look at. They were both very fond of the creamy custard and rich espresso. It seems to be a very good old family recipe.

Overall we were very happy with the new changes and seeing that a wonderful restaurant has now entered into one of our old favorite areas. The atmosphere seems very open fresh and up-to-date having TVs and a bar in the back of the restaurant for watching sports and other events. We are looking forward to going back with our entire family to see if the smaller children enjoy it as well. It is to be noted they had gluten-free options for pasta/dough but I did...

Coming from an Italian family I probably expect a little more when it comes to Italian dining. Let me start with all the good. The remodel looks great. The overall atmosphere was enjoyable. I went on a week night around 5:30PM, so it was a little loud because it was packed with the dinner crowd. We were seated promptly by an older gentlemen who I am guessing is the owner. Next, the server came right over and gave excellent service throughout our meal. When I was growing up Eggplant Parmigiana was a regular dinner. So when I visit a new Italian Restaurant that is my go to in order to gauge overall quality and cooking for Italian food. Most Italian restaurants fail with this dish horribly. My partner ordered the Ravioli, We also got some Garlic Knots. The Garlic knots were probably the best Garlic knots I have ever had. Not just regular bread with Garlic sprinkled on top. They were loaded with flavor with a great consistency. My partner got a salad with a Balsamic dressing which looked and tasted great. I got the Pasta e Fagioli soup whish was extremely good. The flavors and texture was excellent. Our entrees came and they looked fantastic. The sauce/gravy was excellent. It tasted like what I make at home from my Grandmothers/Mom's recipe. My partner mentioned her raviolis seemed undercooked. I tried them and she was right. Not by a tremendous amount but they definitely had the consistency and taste of being undercooked. The flavors were good. The accompanying spaghetti on my plate was cooked well. My eggplant compared to the ravioli was the opposite. It was so overcooked that it was hard to chew and crunchy in some spots. The ends were the toughest. As you got to the middle it was slightly better. Now I am guessing at the following observation. I think the Eggplant was overcooked, but by the looks of the entrée when it came to the table seemed to show signs of being under a heat lamp for way to long. Certain area seemed to dried, not burnt. So the assumption would be that the Eggplant dish was finished and the Ravioli may have been delayed. in trying to get both dished out the Eggplant was left under the heat lamp and the Ravioli was taken out early to get the entrees out to the customer. Again, that was just a guess as to what happened. Despite the lackluster entrees I will still return to Franco's another time and repeat my order. Maybe when they are not as busy to see if that changes the outcome. All in all we had a pleasant experience and the prices...