Restaurant Review: Anthony Franco's

Growing up in the area, I often ate at the original , in Lincoln Park at least once a week. I still frequent the Lincoln Park location, and having frequented a few of the other locations, I know their food is good.

The restaurant is nicely decorated with booths aligning the windows for people who choose to dine in. They have televisions by the dining area, which on this particular night had the cartoon network on, which is nice when you have young children.

The tables were filling fast on this Tuesday evening, with people coming in and out, picking up their orders. After my guest and I seated ourselves, a waitress came over to see if we would we like something to drink. After she returned, I asked to start with the tortellini soup($4.45) which I had tried at the Livingston location. The waitress told me that it will take time to cook the soup and I told her that was no problem. My guest had one of their specialty slices of pizza, the Buffalo Chicken ($3.50) while we waited.

Not too long after, the waitress brought my soup to the table. The broth had the same amazing flavor as I had remembered, but the tortellini was hard as a rock and by no means edible. When I saw her come around again, I asked if they could cook it a bit more as the pasta was hard. She took it back and brought the soup back out. The tortellini was a bit al dente, but edible.

For dinner I had asked for the Mesclun Salad ($7.75, small) and my guest ordered the Stromboli ($6.75). When my salad came out I noticed that there was no chicken on the dish like it stated on the menu. I asked the waitress and she said that I did not order chicken. I apologized and asked her if they could make me some grilled chicken to serve atop. After checking the menu, it does state that it is served with breaded or grilled chicken.

They quickly brought me out a piece of grilled chicken which I added into the salad. I was disappointed with the actual salad as there were several pieces of lettuce that looked expired. I understand a piece or two may be browning, but there were many throughout the salad that I had to pick out. The chicken was dry on the ends making several bites a little tough and not enjoyable. I expected a fresher salad with better quality produce. There is even a freshness guarantee printed on their menu, but this evening was certainly not the case.

I have eaten pizza here in the past and they do have a good slice of pizza. There were several customers coming in for pick up and dining in so the food must speak for itself. As for the customer favorites, the manager of this location, Tom Ptasznik said, “The chicken parm dinner is the most ordered, as for the slices- we sell a lot of Meat Lovers slices.”

Anthony Franco’s is family owned and has locations in Butler, Paramus, Livingston, Ramsey, Lincoln Park, Parsippany and Verona. With several family owned restaurants and pizzerias in the area, the next one has to be better than the last. This location was not up to par with the the original Anthony Franco’s in my opinion.

Anthony Franco's is open seven days a week and hours are Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Dine in, delivery and take out are available.