We were looking for good pizza while visiting W. Des Moines/Clive for the Christmas markets. We grabbed a late lunch before the dinner rush and had the place to ourselves. A nice restaurant with a clean look and a couple of TVs behind the bar playing the Army Navy game. Pics on Google were promising. They were correct. Pizza is wood fired, and you can easily watch the process from most of the restaurant. A nice vibe. Like many places today, they go out of the way to be obscure with their ingredients. I asked about the sausage pizza and which item was the cheese....the server was unsure and offered me the pepperoni pizza with mozzarella replacing pepperoni with sausage. Instead, I added sausage to the pepperoni. I prefer pizza with cheese...covering the whole pizza as opposed to a small section. With the cheese thing out, I will say the crust and ingredients were fantastic. We ordered one half pizza/half salad and a whole small pizza. I didn't picture how they'd do a half pizza with an empty restaurant, but it was just a smaller crust. (Makes sense.) Beer selection was limited, but still good. Service was kind and attentive. This was a pretty good pizza joint with a try. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Interior - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

I have been wanting to stop in for awhile. Finally got a night to sit and enjoy. Quiet evening in the restaurant. Only a couple televisions muted off in the distance. Perfect for an intimate dinner. So glad we stopped. Helped immediately as we came in. No wait late in the evening. Waitress was on our and helpful. Thirsty Thursday they had half of the margarita. Then the pizza was a huge hit. The chicken Thai pizza was fantastic. So full of flavors and the perfect amount of toppings. read more

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First time coming here. It's a very chill vibe. Good strong smell of wood fire hits you when you walk in the door. The fries are cooked to perfection. Possibly the best I've ever had. Thin cut, crunchy outside, cooked perfectly inside and seasoned just right. The chopped salad was very fresh. Really really good. Both pizzas were great. The cupped pepperoni had nice bit of spice to it. The sauce is good and doesn't overpower the cheese or toppings. The crust is light and airy and isn't overly charred. Really very good. This is pricey place for lunch. Every pizza or sandwich and salad on the menu seems to be in the $17-20+. Service was good and pretty attentive. Although I never did get my iced tea refilled. Those are my only two complaints. Otherwise a very good pizza place. read more

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Good price good food good beer 10/10. I went during lunchtime and it was not super busy but bus enough to not feel awkward. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Chicken Caprese was amazing server was even better - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Hands-down best Neapolitan style Woodfire pizza in the entire state. Neapolitan style Woodfire pizza is my favorite food. I have literally tried every single one in this state (Iowa), nashville, Los Angeles.. and have had many others in other cities. The sauce taste authentic it's full of flavor, but it's not too sweet, spicy or acidic. It's robust and like I said authentic. They put the right amount on. I can't even begin to talk about the crust because I'm gonna start crying. It is so beyond good very authentic. They put an appropriate amount of cheese on the pizza. Sidenote, why do people in Iowa want to put an entire pound of cheese on every slice of a pizza it's wild to me. I have never had a bad pizza from Franco. I ordered at least once a week. If I've ever been in the store, the service is absolutely excellent, the vibe in one selection match that excellence. I wish they would open one closer to downtown! read more

Best pizza ever after a conference After a long day this is the best pizza to group up and get with friends the tai pizza is so good read more

Franka Pizzeria - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Enjoyed the atmosphere, the music was just right, setting good sunlight coming in.. one bartender was taking care of all the service, which was a lot but we weren't forgotten about. Food was outstanding, service was great. A new fav quaint not too busy place for me! read more

Franka Pizzeria - Menu 2.2.25 - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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1st time here and super impressed. The pizza's flavor reminded me of pizza I had while in Italy. The dining area was very open, spacious and had tons of natural light. Great vibes and delicious food! Want to try more things on the menu read more

Franka Pizzeria - margherita pizza - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Picked up our two pizzas on a Friday night. Prepared within 15 minutes and they were excellent! The pickup was easy to access and the staff was right there to assist. The interior of the restaurant looks nice and clean, although we did not eat in. Loved the toppings. read more

TL;DR: Good fries, great meatball pizza The fries are a great starter, but need more sauce for all those fries. The apple salad is very refreshing and a great hit for a large table. All the pizzas were great, but I loved the pepperoni and meatball! I would go back. The service was not the best, but it was the day after thanksgiving so it was understandable. read more

Called 5 times On a Saturday night at 8pm. No one answered. Online order up charge was about $5.

If you're craving authentic wood-fired pizza in a welcoming, laid-back spot, Franka Pizzeria in Clive is a home run.

This is my go to place for every Friday lunch with a friend! Staff is so welcoming and helpful. The food is fantastic. I recently had their specialty pizza of the day and was overwhelmed with how good it was... It was a curry chicken pizza with caramelized onions. Very tasty. I love the layout plenty of space to have a private conversation. I also like the natural light with the glass windows on two sides of the dining area. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

No military discount when I was there. We haven't been back since. The price was alot higher then other pizza places.

Service was above and beyond! The food was pretty good but a little over priced. Franka is a great option if you are in the area and looking for a quiet place to enjoy wood-fired pizza and some really good salad! read more

The pizza was baked in a wood fired oven. While I love thin blistered crust, part of my pizza (about 20%) was paper thin and the toppings overwhelmed the crust in those areas and turned it to mush. I had to cut it out as it was not good for eating. The pizza flavor was superb. I ordered sausage and there was only 11 small pieces of sausage on a 14" pizza. To me, that is about half what is needed. Only about one bite in five had meat. The sodas come in a can but they only had Coke products and tasted flat. The tea was very cloudy and much too strong. The service was great. Everything looked to very clean and well organized. Overall, I was disappointed based on the rather high price. read more

First time here. I had the half pizza, half salad lunch with margherita pizza with added sausage and the half Franka chopped salad. The salad had cheese, soppresata, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, vinaigrette, etc. It was good. My pizza was good too. My husband had the Thai chicken pizza. He said the chicken tasted good and the sauce had just a bit of a kick. Honestly it was a little expensive for lunch but our food came quickly and the service was good. I would eat here again! read more

Franka Pizzeria - Thai chicken pizza - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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I love a good wood-fired pizza, and mine was delicious!! The service was friendly, and the ambience was perfect for a large group of my friends. read more

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I have been here twice during the lunch hour and had a good experience both times. I enjoy the wood-fired pizzas and the options they have. They have a deal at lunch to get half salad and half pizza, so I did that. I got the white sauce with pancetta and garlic and the Caesar salad. The salad could have more dressing. The interior feels spacious with a Scandinavian feel. You can watch them make the pizzas and put them in the brick oven which is cool. Good service overall. read more

Okay, yum!!!! Another great new pizza spot in West Des Moines! Full bar, great ambiance, and amazing service!! We started with the wings. Holy crap, delicious!!!! Exploding flavors with a rosemary salt, orange zest and oregano that came with a Parmesan Garlic dipping sauce absolutely makes you want more. For dinner I did a "create your own pizza" which had a white sauce, grilled chicken, red onion, and grilled corn. yummmmmmm. We also had the Pepperoni pizza and added fennel sausage also delicious! Overall my favorite part of Frankas is the Delicious Crust. The pizza comes out as a perfect size (almost personal size, which I ate one myself)... I must say this type of bubbly Neapolitan pizza is my favorite, especially when the crust is nice and airy, not over cooked or burnt and has a distinct fresh flavor. For desert we tried this amazingly flavorful take on a salted Carmel brownie which had white chunks of broken meringue. It was truly mouthwatering. Tons of good options, full bar and great location! Cannot wait to try more. I also saw some good size healthy salads coming out of the kitchen which I will be trying I'm the future. read more

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We went during happy hour. They had two other people there. Service was extremely slow. But, we were with friends catching up so we didn't mind. Just shocked at how they're able to be that slow when they didn't have to service many tables. The pizzas were okay. It's nothing to write home about. Very little toppings..mostly crust. When it was time to pay, I kept trying to pay but the waiters just stood behind the bar. They had forgotten about picking up the card -- I reminded them after 20 minutes. There's too many other pizza spots in town to try this again anytime soon. read more

Great food: Both the sandwiches and pizza were excellent. We've gone twice and everything is outstanding. Great service, selection and the coal fired oven is fantastic in the way transforms the ingredients on the pizza. Bravo! BM read more

Breakfast / Brunch experience - excellent food, service and venue. The owner continues to deliver a fantastic experience. The feel for the place is modern, but warm and tastefully appointed. The service is top notch. Food was excellent. We had folded eggs, bacon, avocado toast and breakfast pizza. The espresso forward coffees were pro level and tasty. Loved our meal. This restaurateur owns city favorite St. Kilda's downtown and Valley Junction. So if you like those establishments you'll very much enjoy Franka's. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Entry and bar - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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Went to give Franka a try similar to the Red Rosa but a much better vibe inside. Although we just picked up to go pizza they were both very good. Very nice welcome and quick in and out. read more

Food is fresh and the quality is a stark contrast to other options in the area. The service is great, the owner and employees are attentive. I always look forward to dining here! read more

One of the go to places, Food is amazing! Pizza, fries, wings, salads. All Soo good. They do a great job

Pizza was great, friendly staff, great service. Nice layout inside furniture in great shape, good napkins. Parking great

I was so excited to try this place out. Ordered from here for the first time and pizza was on the colder side and the bottom of my pizza is completely burnt. Pretty inedible and won't be ordering from here again. In response to the comment below. *** I'm familiar with the ovens... there's charring and then there's charred to a crisp. Thanks. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

I am a huge fan of St. Kilda so I was really excited to try Franka Pizzeria. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I had hoped it would be. First, let's start with the positive. The staff - super friendly and welcoming. My glass of Sav Blanc - delicious. Now, the food. I ordered the caprese sandwich and added chicken and my partner ordered a meatball pizza. The focaccia on my sandwich was dry, crunchy, and no flavor. It tasted as if it was several days old - definitely not fresh. The only thing that tasted good on the sandwich was the chicken. My partners pizza was literally soggy. The tomatoes were not drained so the entire crust, other than the ends, was wet and falling apart ... you could see water running off of it when he picked up a slice. He ended up eating the meatballs and the edge of the crust. And it took FOREVER to get our food and it wasn't busy - we were one of four tables in the entire restaurant. The total bill for this lackluster experience was $50. I have no issues paying this kind of money for a quality meal but when more than half of the food was left on our plates - it's not worth it. There are some great pizza options in DSM. This isn't one of them. read more

Not sure about some of the negative reviews here, but as a native New Yorker (on a business trip to Des Moines) who lived in Brooklyn for a few years - this is high quality wood fired pizza. Fresh ingredients, slight char on the crust (that is how this style should be prepared) and overall great flavor profile. We had the Margherita Pie and the Burrata / Toast app (which was delicious and a huge portion) . Spoke to the owner who also lived in Brooklyn for quite some time and congratulated him on bringing NY quality Pizza to IA. We also ate at his other Rest. ST. Kilda Collective which was also very good! read more

We made reservations given a likely busy night after the holidays. Luckily we did because it was packed. The food was solid. We enjoyed every bite. Bad news though... it was VERY understaffed. We sat 20 minutes without water. The food came out plate by plate. Over 30 minutes passed between the first and last plates arriving. read more

I recently celebrated my friend's birthday at Frankas Pizzeria, attracted by its downtown location. Unfortunately, the experience fell short. The drinks were disappointing, seemingly prepared by inexperienced teens at the bar. While the pizza was decent, it didn't match the quality of the previous downtown location. The staff's strange looks and rude remarks, possibly due to our group being a gay couple and friends, added an uncomfortable element to the evening. Overall, not the memorable celebration I had hoped for. I use to recommend the downtown location to everyone, and even got willow smith to dine last September, going forward I will not recommend this establishment until it gets the amazing crew from downtown who knew what they were doing taking care of it. read more

The calamari here is on a whole different level! I highly recommend trying it; my pizza was okay.. I feel like the crust could have been baked a little longer.. it was very flimsy and the toppings fell off everywhere. Flavor wise, it was good though. There were a number of friendly people but our particular server had zero personality, didn't smile once and acted like she hated the world the entire time. It's unfortunate how someone's attitude can completely make or break a positive dining experience.. hopefully she was just having a bad day! Will be back to try additional dishes at some point! read more

Visited on a weeknight to celebrate a birthday. Service was slow as they were short staffed, but we were not in a hurry so it was fine. We tried a build your own calzone, some pizza and the chicken parm sandwich. They were tasty. Our kids liked the cheese pizza. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Chicken parm sandwich - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Great food, exceptional service. Glad we found this little gem! I love restaurants where the management helps expedite food and drinks and takes an active role in making your dining experience enjoyable. The Australian who managed that night was great! He really added to our fun! read more

Very bad service, we ordered fries and 2 pizza after LONG WAIT they gave only one pizza and completely ignored to get the 2nd pizza apparently the people who visited after us got their full order without any long delay. Finally, 2nd pizza came with couple of reminders and it is literally paper thin based. Also, we asked sauce for fries and the waitress completely ignored. I feel they are doing discrimination as we we're Indians. Never going back to that horrible place again. read more

This was my first visit to Franka. I love the Scandinavian decor! I didn't catch our server's name, (he had short brown hair and some tattoos on his arm) and did an excellent job. He refilled our drinks and checked in with us after our food arrived to make sure we didn't need anything else. Our food was delivered quickly and it was so delicious! I had the wings and the other three in my party had pizza. One of them had the hot honey on it and he said it was amazing. I will look forward to going back again. The presentation was on point. read more

Franka Pizzeria - Chicken wings -The rub and sauce were divine! - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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Nice place! Great vibe w the music and decor, service was great and food came quick. I really enjoyed the pizza I had, the hot honey made for some great flavors coming together. Highly recommend! read more

Franka Pizzeria - Pepperoni with hot honey - Pizza Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Wanted to try a new place for lunch - I have been wanting to go to the "new" Franka for a while so it seemed like a great option after attending some of my mom's doctor's appointments across the street. We arrived early, at 11am sharp, and wasn't actually sure they were open.. It was empty and we were about to pivot our plans to St. Kilda next door. Anyways, they were open and I was happy to see the lunch crowd did arrive closer to noon. The vibe/decor is very scandinavian and cool. I ordered their Salmon sandwich which was really good. It came with their salt and pepper fries plus aioli (I would prefer the aioli had more flavor). My mom ordered one of the specials, shrimp scampi pizza. It looked tasty (I am a sucker for a good white sauce pie these days!) and though I didn't try it, she said it was good. All of the pizzas are personal pans. Make note: They also have breakfast pizza on the menu! I enjoyed my experience and plan to come back to try the pizza myself. But a few cons - It is a little pricey, especially for lunch. It also gets very loud in the space once more people are dining. read more

I was pretty surprised with some of the bad reviews I saw here. I've been to Franka several times. My salads were always delicious and I like their dressing! The pizzas are creative and the right-size portion in my opinion. It's the only place in town I can have something different than the cheese/pepperoni standards... over the summer, the burrata white pizza, and the smoked artichoke were just amazing! I hope they come back when the ingredients are back in season. The pasta of the season/week was always good. I definitely recommend this place! But if you are a Dominos (big meals) type of person, I can see you not enjoying Franka.... Nothing wrong with either, just different styles and experience. read more