Finding one’s favorite places to do groceries, go fill a prescription, etc. when getting settled in a new neighborhood is difficult. Fortunately, new friends begin to recommend a bit of everything and of course, local restaurants also begin to resonate, especially when people know one can be a hearty eater. We therefore set out to try the neighborhood pizzeria on a Saturday afternoon when we didn’t have many plans. As usual, we were eager to find a place that we could put on the “must see” list in our vicinity.
The restaurant is simple and unpretentious, but with a myriad of details that ought to be emphasized. At the entrance we are greeted by a lady who must not be more than 35 years old. Well, that’s what I think, but I’m not very good at calculating ages. However, I see her young. In fact, the team in general is young. It even seems that several of them might be related. Maybe. All, very happily, run with drinks, salads, pizzas and desserts to deliver to the tables they’re in charge of. The dining room’s is nonstop. Everyone, employees and guests are having a good time. A mom fights with her little angel as they don’t want to sit down and eat. She makes it happen, nonetheless. The atmosphere is quite pleasant Families are enjoying themselves.
To our surprise, sodas and iced tea like most of the casual restaurants around here are not the only kinds of beverages offered in the menu. They also have a good selection of wines, craft beers from the region, and even sodas made in-house. I notice there’s root beer, ginger beer, black cherry and even lemon sodas—all homemade. This starts off good, I thought.
The long list of pizza choices plays with the ingredients that they explain are either homemade or locally sourced. Their supplies come from the region and everything is of short supply chain. To the proposed combinations additions and eliminations to one’s choice can be make given that all pies are made to order right in front of guests, given the wood oven is there, at the end of the dining room, separating the bar from the access to the kitchen. The pizzaiolo works nonstop. The menu is full of seasonal sides and desserts, but I didn’t get to the latter. I ate too much.
In time, we have become regulars of the place. Even when on our first visit I told the owner that although I had liked her pizzas, I would have appreciated a little more oregano in the sauce. She thanked me for the comment and told me that the recipe was her mother-in-law’s. The flavor, little by little, grew on me and conquered my heart and in total honesty, I have accepted I no longer need that extra oregano that my taste buds used to ask for. That first time I noticed that some people would come in and pick up the pizzas to take home. I eventually might have done it as well and waited for them while I enjoying a glass of wine at the bar. The small restaurant was always crowded and wait times would easily be close to 45 minutes to get a table. In those pre-COVID times, they didn’t take reservations and people would patiently wait with a drink, even in Winter.
With COVID everything changed and they obviously had to close overnight. However, the harvest of years of hard work and effort by Frank Linn, his wife and the kitchen and dining room team were immediately rewarded by the community. We all started ordering online as soon as they set it up on their website. We all followed the rules put in place to maintain social distancing and everyone’s safety and well-being. The pizzas sold out in minutes, so in the midst of the madness, the uncertainty and the situation which has had us all on or toes already for almost two years, Frankly… Pizza! not only reinvented itself. They even managed to expand by taking over the adjoining store to cater exclusively to customers with takeout orders. And if there is something they have chosen not to do, it is to use home delivery services such as UberEats, Doordash and Grubhub; the most popular in the United States. In this new location, they installed a second oven which allowed them as well to double their production and thus guaranteeing not only their survival, but also the jobs of their team. The challenges have been many and nonstop. However, before the eyes of customers, they have all been overcome with intelligence and great skill. I long for the arrival of a new viral truce -but if the problem is over, even better- to go back to greet everyone in the restaurant in person and enjoy my favorites… seasonal salad, white mushroom pizza and black cherry soda. Regarding dessert, I’m sorry, but I never get to it.
Website: www.franklypizza.com
