Disappointed. Italian food has to be exceptional for me to like it. Pizza, Ok. That's about it. Chicken Piccata when it is made right, yes. I like it because it doesn't have the tomato sauce. I love the butter lemon sauce and those tasty capers. It was in 2018 when I had Frank's Chicken Piccata and it was fabulous. It made a big impression. It has been a while. Passing through on I-40 today, I'm up for another delicious plate full. My wife was craving spaghetti and meat balls. The meal starts with Frank's warm freshly baked garlic rolls and dipping oil. Also. a small salad with a tangy house made dressing. Both are an excellent start to the meals. Check the pictures. The Chicken Piccata just didn't ring the bell for me, this time. Two pieces of chicken breast, lemon butter sauce and capers. Lots of capers. Big grape sized capers. I love capers. The sauce lacked flavor. The disappointment. Spaghetti and meat balls? They were ok. To me, spaghetti and meat balls are just boring. Nice restaurant inside. Comfortable. The décor makes it feel like and Italian restaurant. The service is very good. Has something changed in the kitchen? Different owners, different cooks. I was surprised that the restaurant wasn't packed at the lunch hour. If you like Italian food, it's fine. read more

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First of all, I realize that it is Mother's Day and they might have been busier than normal. If that's the case, staff accordingly. You've been in business for years so you should know that Mother's Day brings in more families. Secondly, at no time was the place more than 2/3 full. There wasn't a line or standing room only. Let's talk about the service. There were two waitresses that we saw. We will call them Waitress A and Waitress B. Waitress A was our waitress. At least we think she was. We barely saw her enough to be sure. The hostess had to come to our table to ask if we had menus. We had to stop Waitress B as she walked by so we could get bread and oil that every other table got when they sat down. Twenty minutes after we arrived we were able to place our order. As we waited, we watched the table beside us place their order, eat, leave, had a new group of people sit down, order, eat, and get ready to leave before our food arrived. Plus, we were a table of three, but we watched a table of eight come in fifteen minutes after us and get their food before us. What did those two tables have in common? They were waited on by Waitress B. Waitress A was only seen when she had something in her hands from the kitchen. Apparently, she waits in the kitchen and brings out food as it gets ready. What she doesn't do is stay in the dining room to check on her customers. My daughter flagged her down to get a refill of Dr Pepper, she brought back a glass of Sprite. Those aren't even the same color. Just for the record, by the time we left, we didn't see a single table of Waitress A have a single dish of food other than bread and oil. Time for the food. And by "time for the food", I mean 45 minutes after we ordered it. I'm writing this review as soon as I got home because I will not remember a single thing about the food tomorrow. It was mediocre, at best. I can't remember every dish that was listed, but I do remember reading most of them trying to find one that didn't include spaghetti. There are better noodle out there! About the only positive thing I can say about this place is that it was clean. Oh, and also it was a little cheaper than most Italian restaurants in the area. Next time, I'll pay more for better. read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

Great food and friendly atmosphere with reasonable prices and service. Lunch specials are quick and easy and priced well, read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

I had not been back to Franks in over 6 years. Today I was craving the grilled chicken salad with house dressing. I placed a to go order for myself and my husband. I ordered a grilled chicken salad, a Frank's salad, and an appetizer. The order came to $42. When I took the order out of the bag I was immediately disappointed. Two small salads and no bread. My grilled chicken salad weighed 11.4 ounces! The house dressing isn't the original Frank's recipe which was disappointing. It was not terrible, it just wasn't what I was craving. My husband's Frank's salad weighed 13.3 ounces. He had vinegar and oil dressing. Other than the size of the salad he was happy with it. I'm so sad to say this will be our last visit. We used to go to the original restaurant 3 times a week. read more

Good food, great service. Nice clean dining room and restrooms. I'd stop here again while in town.

I ate here 3-4 years ago and really enjoyed it and wanted to come back but not in the area often. I had lunch yesterday at 2:00 with only 1 Other customer. The facility is nicely done, very clean and inviting. Service was courteous and prompt. I ordered the tomato basil soup and beef ravioli. A side of bread came with the meal. The bread was excellent, soft and great flavor and the dipping oil was very good as well. The soup was very good, nice flavor and seasoned well. The beef ravioli had a very good marinara sauce and the raviolis were tender and full of meat. The portion size was almost more than I could eat. The amazing part of all this is the cost was under $12! I don't know a better value anywhere in Arkansas. I look forward to visiting again when in the area. read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Tomato basil soup - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

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There was so much wrong with this to go order, making it an absolute waste of money. My husband ordered the trio that was supposed to include manicotti, lasagna, and Alfredo, but only received lasagna and Alfredo. The mystery meat in the lasagna was an unappetizing mush and the Alfredo 'sauce' had an odd consistency and tasted like someone took curdled milk, added water to it, and cooked it to room temperature. My husband is pretty lenient when it comes to food but the fact that he wouldn't even eat it speaks volumes. This was a pathetic attempt at Italian food and we will definitely not be back to give it a second chance. This place shouldn't even be in business if this is what they're serving to the public. read more

Service was good, especially given it was Mother's Day. The bread paired with the oil/vinegar mix was great! Lots of yummy extra fresh spices in it! read more

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We ordered takeout food yesterday and it was just awful, the Alfredo sauce had almost no flavor and the chicken was very hard. I ended up not finishing the pasta and just feeding the chicken to my pup... The bread was hard as a rock and the fishy filling in the stuffed mushrooms made them inedible :( which is a shame, because we were really looking forward to them. This was was such a letdown as we'd tried this place 2 years prior and it was amazing. Not sure if they're under different ownership or anything but we will never return read more

The food is really good. The prices are a little steep but the quality of the food makes up for it. The food is authentic Italian. I talked to the owner and he is from Italy. I recommend this place highly. read more

Solid food but it's a dry county so no wine to complement the meal. Rollatini was good but smothered in too much mozzarella. Scampi was fine

The food is delicious! Reasonably priced...... served in a relaxing environment and friendly service! Enjoyed lasagna and chicken Primavera! read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Homemade Italian knots and balsamic olive oil and herb dipping sauce! Amazing! - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

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We had an excellent dinner, with very nice, relaxing music in the background. There were two young ladies waiting tables, who looked no older than high school, so we weren't sure what to expect. Our waitress, Aloni (sp?), was very friendly, attentive, and engaging. She did an excellent job of remembering everything that we asked for. And the food was very good. I've read some past reviews that were less than complimentary, to say the least. Most of them are over a year ago, so perhaps something has changed. I can only say that we have a great experience. So give them a try. read more

So after a recommendation from a friend, my wife and I decided to try this restaurant. It was 8:15 pm on a Saturday night. First impression was virtually no cars in the parking lot. We decided to continue on. Once we opened the door we were greeted by a pleasant fragrance of Italian food. The ambiance was nice. Dim lights, clear tables. I counted four employees within the service area all busy doing something. We ordered the seafood stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. My wife ordered the shrimp and crab Alfredo and I ordered the veal Parmesan. The "crab" tasted and had the texture of tofu. The veal was two processed patties covered in a lot of mozzarella. It reminded me of the old Swanson TV dinners. Everything tasted microwaved. The best part of the meal was the bread. This place reminded me of the Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. read more

Two words--boring, uninspired. Our first mistake was walking in the door in spite of the parking lot being completely empty. Upon entering, of course, the restaurant was as empty as the parking lot. The best part of the experience was the pleasant server and the garlic knots and dipping oil. The presentation of the food was about as basic as it gets. It tasted ok, just didn't look very appealing. We were there for about 45 minutes, and during that time only one other couple came in. Won't be going back. read more

My wife and I came here for a quiet dinner. It was very nice atmosphere. The service was good. The food was okay. The stuffed mushrooms stuffing was bread-ie and pulverized. The Calamari was more crispy and less calamari. The beef ravioli was tasty though a little lite on the meat. For dessert we had tiramisu. It was sweet and tasty but felt it imbalanced of sweet and rum but we enjoyed the creamy top layer. We may give it a try again later. read more

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We placed order over the phone during stay at close by hotel. Was ready in 15 minutes. Ladies at cashier very pleasant. Food was really good. I had Eggplant rollatini, wife had Stromboli and daughter had chicken piccata. All very pleased with our choice of Frank's tonight. read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Eggplant rollatini - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

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Great traditional Italian food, hubby got the baked Ziti, I got the chicken piccata which was lemony, buttery, tangy, loaded with capers and served over spaghetti, the home-made rolls and dipping oil/balsamic with herbs was delicious. Everything we tried was solid, only downside is they do not sell wine...otherwise great service and lovely dining room. read more

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I had a great first experience at Franks! The atmosphere is nice. The service great. The chicken piccata was to die for! Highly recommend. The bathroom was a little nasty, but not enough to take away from the 5 star food. read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Chicken piccata - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

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Usually enjoy my meals but the way my order was processed has made me reconsider future visits. The chicken was overcooked and the rolls were hard and dry at the bottom of the bag unwrapped. read more

We really enjoyed everything we ordered from Frank's and would definitely recommend!! We ordered it to go so can't comment on service, but the staff we spoke to were all friendly. The inside looked nice and clean as well. We ordered the chicken piccata, Stromboli, and the eggplant rollatini. Everything was 10/10! read more

Amazing meal!!!! Amazing service!!! Amazing ambiance !!! Salmon piccota and baked ziti so good!

We stopped here on our way home late in the evening after a long road trip. Although it was late, we were welcomed in with smiles. The food was awesome! We ordered raviolii, spaghetti, baked ziti, and garlic bread, and were all impressed with our dishes. Too bad it's so far from home, it's definitely a restaurant we'd want to go back to. Our waitress was great! read more

Franks has really gone down hill sense Covid I use to eat there a lot then during Covid I didn't eat out at all, when things started getting back to "our new normal" I've been to Franks 3-4 different times and the salads aren't as fresh and bread is definitely not as good as before, I normally order the kids size lasagna, or Manicott it's not as good as it once was either. read more

Service was okay but food was bland and even complained about the food tasting off and there was no discount or fixing it even though they tried. read more

Nothing is fresh or authentic. Nice facility and good service but out of the can food.

Admittedly, for the location of random town Arkansas, this could probably be considered a 5-star place. But thinking about it objectively, I'm at 3 stars for the food. The staff were very nice and accommodating. We were a large group with several kids on a Friday night (and it seems that they don't take reservations). Our wait was minimal and the staff kept us updated and did what they could to squeeze us in. The dining room itself is on the small side. The decor is somewhere between individual and chain. The carpet and lighting are chain. The Frank Sinatra touches are individual. Again, for the area, this is probably a total quaint and interesting find. There is no alcohol. Not even just beer and wine. Just coffee, tea, water, and sodas. And they all come in huge glasses (including for the kiddos) and our glass never gets to half without being offered a refill. And that kind of prompt attention was definitely nice. There were several good-sounding options on the menu and I had a tough time deciding. In the end, I followed the lead of others in our group and went with a more basic pasta option - spaghetti bolognese. I sorta wish I'd gone with one of the seafood pasta dishes instead and given one of those a whirl. They also are supposedly known for having great pizza. I didn't try it, so I can't really say. But it did look NY-style and tasty. The prices are very reasonable. Most pasta dishes are around $9. The priciest menu items (ex. lobster ravioli) were under $14. When my pasta dish arrived, it was a good portion and not totally un-appetizing looking. Plating and appearance definitely didn't seem to be a thought here. On first taste, it reminded me of Chef Boyardee. But upon consequent bites, it got yummier. It was just basic ground beef in red sauce. But the unique twist is that their bolognese is a combo of marinara, alfredo, and sherry sauces. After several bites, you start to pick up on those different flavors. Yeah, I'd give it 3 stars. James O. ordered the pasta carbonera. And it came in a red (er, pinky orange-ish) sauce. That was definitely a total new thing for me to see. It tasted ok. In fact, probably a step up from the bolognese. But yeah, right about 3 stars. When you're all done, they give you an non-totaled check, which you take to the front counter, receive the total amount, and then pay. Overall, it was cute-ish place and a pleasant experience. The food wasn't great, but it was far from bad either. And it may have been better if we had ventured into some of the other menu categories. All in all, if you're in the area, it's a nice and cheap-ish place to dine. read more

Frank's Italian Restaurant - Spaghetti bolognese - Italian Near Me - Van Buren, Arkansas

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Staff was friendly and restaurant was clean. Food is not freshly made and definitely not authentic. Franks was highly recommended by my realtor and the food was bland and watery. Disappointed! read more

Filling and inexpensive but hardly authentic. Enjoyed the bread and the beef ravioli but lasagna and manicotti were falling apart - sauces were watery. Quick service and ok food! read more

Excellent food and service! I'd recommend to friends and family for sure. The spaghetti and sausage was outstanding, along with the shrimp scampi. read more

The only great thing I can about tonight was the food was hot!! I had the spaghetti with meatballs and my husband had the Shrimp favorite. The service was a 1 put of 10... Our server seemed more interested in playing on her phone talking to her friends that were working with her. I tried to make small talk with her and she just turned and walked away - very rude indeed. How they got 4,4 stars is beyond me- maybe that's a take out review that boosted it. read more

So I just wanna start by echoing what others are saying about sauces being too watery, which was my experience the last time I was there. The bread is also underwhelming, but the olive oil/vinegar mixture makes it more tolerable. The food is just generally mediocre, and you're better off just sticking to places like Olive Garden. Now on to what really didn't sit well with me. I ordered a dessert that had no description on the menu so I was blindsided when I saw that it has nuts on it. Thankfully I'm not allergic, but I still requested a different dessert that didn't contain any. When I got my ticket, I noticed the waitress still had the original dessert I ordered still listed. She claimed she kept it on due to a technicality or whatever dumb excuse she came up with. When my brother & I got up to the register to pay, we asked for the check to be split, and the cashier -- who I'm pretty sure was also the manager -- tried to pull a fast one on us and just split the total down the middle. Thankfully we were able to put our feet down and got her to simply itemize each transaction. Let me just say this wouldn't have been any issue had they had an updated POS system with an actual digital interface instead of that handwritten mess -- what is this, the 80's?? Needless to say, I will not be gracing those pretentious halls anymore. That place should've stayed dead instead of coming under new management. I feel sorry for anyone who goes in that establishment thinking they are gonna get an authentic Italian experience (WRONG.) read more

I love franks and have since it's been here. I love the bread and oil and the manicotti with Alfredo sauce, my favorite

We were on our way home and decided to stop since my wife wanted spaghetti for lunch. We were the only ones in the place and it was about 1 o'clock but we were pleasantly surprised. We both had the spaghetti and it was really good. The bread they served was good as well. The server was very attentive and I thought the price for the meal was reasonable. read more

The bread and infused oil is the best appitizer. I recommend the ceaser salad as your entree.

I grew up in the northeast, the home of Italian food in America, so my personal bar when it comes to this type of cuisine is very high. That said, Franks Italian Restaurant gets near the bar, but certainly not over it. The restaurant is clean, the service is good and the food for this area is pretty good. The prices are fair and the portions are are enough to satisfy just about any appetite. My biggest disappointment is they no longer serve pizza. The used to make on of the best pizzas in town but it's no longer on the menu. read more

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Was just looking for lunch traveling hwy 40 and found the reviews for this little place and boy did we hit the jack pot! Clean and tasteful inside... lots of parking... clean restrooms and wonderful staff.. what more could you ask for? How about great food!!!.. They serve hot dinner rolls with vinegar and oil. I had the lunch lasagna... one of the best I've ever had... the salad that came with it was large with black olives, tomatoes and cucumbers... hubby had the special, lamb shank... we suggested they make it a part of their regular menu... we will be back! read more

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So we live in Porum, OK and we were looking for an authentic Italian restaurant. Well we found Frank's! My husband was in Fort Smith and picked up some Italian to go. Wow! So good!! The lasagna was fantastic! The manicotti was fantastic! The chicken piccata was so delicious!! The cannolis were yummy! I'm looking forward to going there for a sit down. read more

Good family owned Italian restaurant with nice staff and solid service. Had the chicken piccata that lived up to the reviews posted below. Served over generous portion of linguine and balance of sauce. Recommend for a casual nice dinner. No liquor license. read more

Waitress great Food awful Frozen lasagna is several steps up from Frank's. And I DON'T like frozen lasagna. My 15 year old couldn't eat his fettuccine Alfredo. And he's never turned down a cream sauce in his life. I hate to be rude, but this was just awful. read more