Critic's Review

Frankie and Johnny’s is the kind of place where you wouldn’t be surprised to walk in and see Tony Soprano with a big bowl of rigatoni. Its much more like a place you might see in New York than in South Florida. Its a small place, dominated by a central large black granite bar. The walls are decorated with charicatures of employees and regular customers. The smell of garlic and bread fills the air. During the day, the ponies are on the TV. Music is playing; not Frank Sinatra; its more modern than that. Someone yells for a guy named Pauly. You know you’re going to like it here.

This is the kind of place you saw in GoodFellas, where the garlic and red sauce and crusty bread are important parts of the meal. While they have white tablecloths, the place isn’t particulary fancy. Maybe its fancy for Brooklyn. But its really all about the food. The menu is packed with the classics: meatballs, eggplant, lasagna, ravioli, rigatoni with broccoli rabe and sausage, rice balls and of course, linguine with clam sauce (red or white). For lunch, I order eggplant parm, no bread (its on the menu as a sandwich). The eggplant is fantastic here; several layers of thinly sliced eggplant in an egg batter, with just enough sauce and mozzarella melted over the stack. Its 2 meals for me. And they have Peppoli by the glass.

They have tables outside to cover the overflow but on a rainy or cold night you might have trouble getting seated. You’ll need a reservation. Good food brings high demand.