Frank's Pizzeria

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Frank’s Pizzeria

711 N. 132nd Street, Omaha, NE

Where we went:

We were having a quick dinner with a friend tonight when he suggested a place Eric had been to but Kyle had never even heard of before, Frank’s Pizzeria. Located in Linden Market, a large stripmall complex, anchored by a Hy-Vee just off 132nd and West Dodge Road in Omaha, Frank’s Pizzeria is a small diner tucked away between much larger stores, so if you don’t regularly shop at Linden Market, you could be forgiven for not knowing it was there. Frank’s Pizzeria markets themselves at the best New York style pizza in Omaha, a direct challenge to Zio’s pizza, who markets themselves the same way.

What We Ate:

Kyle wasn’t feeling too adventurous tonight, he simply ordered two slices of veggie pizza, but substituted the black olives with broccoli. At first Eric was going to get himself a whole pizza, but then decided that also having two slices would help him try a larger variety for our visit. He first tried to order the Sweet and Spicy Chicken, but was told it wasn’t available (more on that below), and that he could only pick pizzas with regular red marinara pizza sauce to order by the slice. So Eric first went with his usual Hamburger/Pepperoni, and then for his 2nd slice . . . well, Kyle had the veggie pizza covered, and the anchovies scared him away from the New York Special, so Meat Lover’s it was!

We knew we were going to get dessert at Frank’s, but didn’t realize how difficult of a decision it was going to be, especially with such a small dessert menu. We ended up getting the cannoli and an order of zeppoles.

The Food:

The meal was kicked off with the early arrival of the Garlic Cheese bread. It looked simple, but it was very tasty, with a generous use of herbs and cheese. It was so good that Eric didn’t need feel compelled to douse it in a bath of marinara sauce, which was also pretty good. Eric was also excited at the various shaker options. Most pizza places only have the standard parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper shakers. Frank’s, however, also had oregano and garlic powder shakers. Eric loves adding oregano to pizza almost as much as he loves sauce, so this was a HUGE plus for Frank’s.

Once, the pizzas arrived, we were both a bit torn. Kyle thought the pizza was good, but it didn’t stand out as anything special to him. If he was going to vote on the best New York Style Pizza from just this visit, he would go with Zio’s. However, he doesn’t know if this is fair. As we were ordering, the staff told us we had gotten the last slices of the night. It turns out, Frank’s pre makes several pies a day, with sauce and cheese, half-cooks them. When you order a slice, they cut the slice out, add your toppings and finishes them in the oven. We don’t know if that is how all pizza by the slice places do their pizza, but it seemed odd to us. Kyle wonders if their slices were just, well, old, and a fresh, full pizza, baked fully upon ordering would be better. Again, the pizza wasn’t bad by any means, but something was just off.

Eric was similarly conflicted with his pizzas. His usual H/P pizza was fine. It reminded him a lot of something he would get at another local pizza place, Sam & Louies (but a LOT cheaper), but otherwise, it wasn’t anything special. For his Meat Lover’s . . . it may have been one of the least appetizing looking slices of pizza he’s ever had. The pre-made-ness of the slices felt very apparent, with the various toppings just kind of scattered loosely on top, and not cooked into the cheese or anything, The looseness of the toppings made them frequently just fall off the pizza when trying to take bites. As sort of a sad silver lining, Eric was relieved that this actually made some of the toppings . . . easier to scrape/pick off. While Eric is hesitant about sausage on pizza on a good day (long story), it was the first thing to be scraped off. Instead of ground sausage you typically find at most pizza places, this was sausage slices, cut lengthwise, resulting in long strips of hot dog-esque looking meat on his pizza, that kind of made him gag just looking at it. The ham that was added seemed surprisingly pale, making Eric question whether it was actually cooked. In the end, the Meat Lover’s tasted fine, but after scraping off ⅖ toppings, it was pretty similar to his usual H/P slice.

Upon looking around at some of the other full sized pizzas customers were eating around the restaurant, Eric thought they’re pizzas looked SO MUCH MORE APPETIZING! It was seriously a night and day difference, which we can only attribute this to the way they prepare their by-the-slice pizzas every morning.

Dessert!

Was!

Delicious!

Eric had never had a canoli before, and it was fine. The filling was good, but the pastry was crunchier and crumblier than he expected.

The Zeppoles, however, were to DIE for! These Italian doughnuts were cooked perfectly! And had just the right amount of doughiness in the center that made them so soft and delicious. Frank’s offers sides of chocolate or raspberry sauce to dip cannolis and doughnuts in, so we tried both. Kyle preferred the Raspberry sauce, and while Eric was initially thinking he would prefer the chocolate, he ended up liking them both equally and even would drizzle both over his zeppoles. The raspberry sauce reminded him of raspberry filling he gets in many doughnuts, which makes sense because these are . . . doughnuts! But he appreciated that it wasn’t super sweet. The chocolate, likewise, had a bit of bitterness to it (like dark chocolate), so the sweetness didn’t overwhelm the tastiness of the zeppoles.

The Atmosphere:

Kyle was expecting a full service restaurant when you enter. But at Frank’s the menu is a giant sign displayed behind the counter you order at, and they bring your slices to you on a paper plate. We suspect this is what it is like in real New York pizzeria (Kyle didn’t get pizza when he was in New York, so he doesn’t know. Eric, who thinks its sacrilegious blasphemy to not eat New York pizza when in New York, vaguely remembers pizza by the slice being pretty low-key and casual, and possibly utilizing the simplicity of paper plates). Frank’s is the epitome of casual- it isn’t high end by any means. The walls are covered in blonde wood wainscoting, the counters and tables are maroon formica, and each table has a simple vase of fake flowers. It is clearly a dining location that was built in the mid-1990s. The walls are covered in memorabilia, including several autographed pictures of celebrities who have, apparently, dined at Frank’s while they were in Omaha, so that was kind of neat.

Service:

The service at Frank’s was good. The waitress at the counter was nice and gave us a lot of information about the different kinds of pizzas including recommending the delicious garlic cheese bread. The woman making pizza behind her, we assume for take out orders, was also helpful in giving her thoughts on the food. The food was delivered to our tables quickly. We were not sure if we were supposed to clean our own tables off when we were done, but just as we were picking up, a third staff member came over and told us to leave it, so all in all, the service was good.

In the End:

Our visit to Frank’s may have been a bit of a mixed bag. Our food was kind of hit and miss (pizzas were a bit of a miss, but the desserts were a HIT!), but the service was so friendly, and we could tell during our visit that while Frank’s may have some quirks with their pizza that midwesterners aren’t used to, there are definitely reasons to go back and give it another shot. The prices are super reasonable, and their full pizzas looked far more delicious than their final stand alone slices of the day. Definitely keep Frank’s Pizza in mind if you’re looking for a more adventurous pizza place than you’d normally find in Omaha.