Soup Off: Frankie Fed's vs. Federici's

My parents tried to throw three graduation parties for me and my siblings in our backyard. Each time we had buckets of rain and the party went on both in the garage and the backyard under one of those huge tents. I'm sipping some soup in the outside room at Frankie Feds and looking at the clear plastic walls. The walls plus the homestyle Italian food remind me of those rained-out-show-must-go-on graduation parties. Maybe that's why I like the place so much.

After posting my story about Federici's on Facebook, I got a bunch of recommendations/requests to visit Frankie Fed's. Being new to the area, I had no idea that this restaurant on Route 33 was related to Federici's.

We are seated on outdoor plastic patio furniture inside a kind of tent with  walls that hang down to the ground. Although it's a chilly winter night, the air is very warm in here. 

The first thing I ask as soon as we sit is the identity of the soup. I haven't had since I wrote about in this column, and I'm jonesing for another cup. I want to compare the soups from both places.

Sausage lentil is the soup of the day. I'm disappointed but decided to try it anyway. We also order a pizza and special lasagna. The sausage lentil is a hardy soup that fills my freezing stomach up quickly. It's very good, but the pasta fagioli from Federici's is still my favorite. (I look forward to trying the pasta fagioli at Frankie Feds to see if there is any discernible difference.)

Now some people have said that the food at Frankie Fed's is slightly better, while others have argued that Federici's wins out. We always order the pizza and lasagna at Federici's and I have to honestly report that I could not detect any difference in quality or taste over at Frankie Fed's. My girlfriend is an expert in Federici's pizza and reported that they were exactly the same. In other words, really good.

We did note some differences in the two locations. On a cold night, the parking lot at Frankie Fed's is key. You're guaranteed a spot close to the restaurant, while at Federici's you might have to huff it a bit to find close parking in downtown Freehold. I like the atmosphere at Federici's slightly better than sitting in the plastic chairs in Franke Fed's, but suspect that I won't mind those chairs when I come visit in the summer and sit outside. Frankie Fed's does have an indoor dining room that we've yet to try.

The other big difference is Frankie Feds is BYOB. When our check came I thought they had make a mistake but remembered we brought the bottle. We saved about $15 from this small difference. Not a big deal but noticeable.

Not wanting to start any bad blood among Federici family members, I'm happy to say that I'll be frequenting both locations and enjoying the various benefits that come with each.