Frankies 17 is my favorite Italian restaurant situated in my favorite neighborhood, the Lower East Side.
It is your quintessential casual Italian eatery, but don’t think street corner pizza or greasy meatball casual -think elegant cafe on a cobbled stoned street in Rome.
The restaurant is decadent with small chairs and tables (seats only 27 people), the atmosphere is simple and dim and the the room is always packed but never obnoxiously so. The bartender and waitress usually give intelligent recommendations.
Frankies 17 has got a creative menu of great and surprisingly healthy choices – from sweet potato stuffed raviolo in parmesan soup, a prosciutto and cheese sampler , grilled vegetable salad, hearty spicy sausage pasta, to the most interesting dessert made of plum.
The icing on the cake is that they’ve got a great selection of affordable wine – about 70 from the list. I enjoyed my $45/bottle red so much that I actually copied down the name and intend on buying it later for myself.
If you want to spend $50 (wine, appetizer/dessert, and entree) but feel like you ate a $100 dinner – come to Frankies.
Frankies 17:
17 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 253-2303
