Frank's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Van Buren

I will start by saying Frank's appears to be in a remodeled fast food joint. When we pulled into the parking lot I actually asked my wife if it was fast food based on the building shape and how it sat. Beyond that initial moment of question, the way the building was remodeled looked very well done, inside and out. The interior wet an ambiance expected of an Italian restaurant.

Service was very good and we were given rolls and ordered mozzarella sticks. Both were outstanding, and the marinara sauce was very good. At this point we were heading for what we thought would be a 5 star review, and my wife even commented on how slow business was, for such a great place. Then our main course came out.

I will say that while fast food service is something I like, there are some places you want the food to take just a bit longer to be fresh. Authentic Italian is probably one of them. This was not the case at Franks. Service was very fast, but no complaints, but goes with what we felt about the entrée quality.

I had the Chicken-parm cremera. The chicken was not breaded like I have had before, but that was not a negative or a positive of the dish. The chicken was nice and tender, and tasted really good. It was served with spaghetti noodles, and topped in cremera sauce and what I assume was supposed to be parmesan cheese. My only issues with the dish were the sauce and cheese. The sauce was good, but tasted like it was either not homemade or was not fresh.it had a resemblance of sauce from a jar that had not been seasoned. The cheese on top seemed to be pre-shredded cheese froma bag. Over all the dish was good, but was either not authentic or possibly just not made fresh.

My wife had the pasta sampler with ravioli (substituted meat for cheese), manicotti and lasagna. I tried the ravioli and it tasted just ok. The marinara sauce was again very good, but there was nothing special about the ravioli. It seemed again like it was not homemade. My wife said the manicotti was decent, but there was something about the lasagna she couldn't figure out. She said the meat tasted "weird" and I will refrain from saying how she actually described it. We are thinking maybe this was bout frozen and maybe was old.

Overall the food turned out to be okay. It was definitely worthy of eating the whole dish, but beyond that there is not a ton to praise. I wouldn't count this a bad review, but also can not count it as great. If we were from the area I would probably give it a try again, but it is not a place we would be...

Let me start by saying I'm a local and haven't eaten here in a few years. I had some very disappointing experiences the last couple of times I had eaten here. So, I thought I'd give it another try. I'm glad I did.

The service was fantastic. Kensi was my waitress, and my glass never reached the bottom. She was friendly, attentive and prompt. The other girl also seemed very through. The only problem I encountered was a possible miscommunication about my salad order. I requested no olives but got them none the less. Not a real issue because I'm not allergic to them, it's just a preference choice. So, I plucked them out.

For the main course I ordered the lasagna. I'm a little torn about their version. It's not that it didn't taste good, it was just a little different than what I'm used to. It is layered, but the cut and presentation were not what I would call traditional. Instead of a 3" x 4" square with the 3 layers stacked top to bottom, this chef chose to cut the 4 -5 layers in a 1 - 1 1/4" by 5" stack and lay it on its side. It was then smothered in a tomato sauce. While there was some meat inside, it wasn't prominent. The ricotta was nicely complemented with the outer layer of mozzarella, so all the elements were there. Overall, it was good. When you factor in the complementary bread and oil/vinegar appetizer with the large Greek salad I was full and content.

The atmosphere was pleasant. The background music wasn't loud or annoying. Decorations are sparse but that's not what you're going there to enjoy. The temperature was comfortable, and the restaurant and restrooms were clean. This was a much better impression from my last encounter. I'd say it was a positive dining experience, but the price was a little high when I think about the flavor profile. It was good but it didn't knock me off my feet, so to say. You'll have to decide for yourself if it out does the competition because the prices are...

My husband and I were looking for some lunch on our drive home to Texas. Reviews looked decent so we opted for Frank’s. We drove into the parking lot and saw two of the staff sitting on the patio. We commented at how unpleasant they seemed, from their facial expressions. We walked in and were promptly greeted by one of the hostesses (the other hostess was sitting outside). As we followed the hostess to our table, the air quality got thicker and hotter with every step. She took us past the room full of people to a different, smaller section of the restaurant with no people and no air circulation, sitting us in the very back corner. Within minutes, we were both sweating- I was using my menu to fan myself and the air was HOT. We had been there 5 minutes and no one came to our table. At that point the hostess and waitress from outside walked in (the patio door was in our small secluded section), gave us a glance and then disappeared. We sat another minute and decided we were done. We got up and walked to the front, handed our menus to the hostess-the one who had been hanging out outside, and said we would eat elsewhere.

Having the staff sitting on the patio as you drive in reflects poorly on your establishment, a fact heightened when they ignore you when walking back in.

We didn’t mess with driving, we left our truck parked in the parking lot and walked to Subway across the street. Their air conditioning was fantastic and the service was friendly, welcoming and QUICK....