Restaurant review: Frank's Pizza & Pasta makes you feel like family - baltimoresun.com
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Home > Entertainment > Food & Dining
Restaurant review: Frank's Pizza & Pasta makes you
feel like family
Friendly staff, traditional recipes help Overlea spot rise above the rest
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Rosa pasta, with a basket of bread, at Frank's PIzza. (Gene Sweeney Jr., Baltimore Sun / March 21,
2012)
Related
Submarine Sandwiches (494)
By Kit Waskom Pollard, Special To The Baltimore Sun
7:28 a.m. EDT, March 28, 2012
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Tucked into a strip mall on a busy stretch of Belair Road in Overlea,
Frank's Pizza & Pasta seems like a million other pizza joints.
By Location
Anne Arundel County (1245)
Howard County (616)
It's worth a closer look.
Harford County (441)
Eastern Shore Area (387)
Pictures: Frank's Pizza
Owner Armando Buontempo deftly handles traditional dishes from
his native Italy, revealing a passion for Italian food. Whether he's
behind the stove or chatting up his regulars, Buontempo radiates a
friendly enthusiasm he shares with the rest of the staff — which
includes his wife and two children. (Frank's was always a family
affair; the restaurant is named after Buontempo's cousin and original
co-owner, who passed away in the late 1980s). These little
Columbia Area (340)
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Third Annual Foodie Experience
Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick
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flourishes help set Frank's apart from the rest.
May 12th : 6 p.m. (Pre-show tastings: 3-6
p.m.)
Frank's atmosphere is welcoming, though the interior isn't very
Baltimore Summer Restaurant Week
Pictures: Baltimore pizza
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bs-ae-eats-0330-20120329,0,4764439.... 5/11/2012
Restaurant review: Frank's Pizza & Pasta makes you feel like family - baltimoresun.com
exciting. A glass counter dominates the restaurant and a handful of
2012
simple booths occupy the space just inside the front window. By the
bathroom, stacks of pizza boxes compete for space with cardboard
cartons stuffed with Christmas decorations. Frank's is clean, but
Downtown Baltimore
Daily (July 27th through August 5th)
after 26 years of pizza, pasta and community fundraisers, the
restaurant shows its age.
Find: Pizza in Baltimore
Page 2 of 4
Wine in the Woods
Symphony Woods
May 19th : 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. ...
Once dinner starts, it's easy to look past the scruff and clutter. On a
recent Friday night, Frank's was bustling with a wide variety of
customers — teenagers, young families, older couples — picking up
carry-out orders or settling in with a bottle of wine (Frank's is BYOB
Find more Baltimore dining events >>
and does not charge a corkage fee).
Find a recipe
We snagged a corner booth before ordering at the counter, where
several staff members efficiently juggled customers. Diners eating in
Lunch reviews
the restaurant can order off of the carry-out menu, which includes
staples like pizza, salads, calzones, subs and simple pastas, or off
the restaurant menu, featuring more involved appetizers and nearly
50 pasta dishes. Those dining in also reap the benefit of table
service: After placing our order, our food was delivered by a friendly
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and helpful waitress.
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We started out with a single slice of Neapolitan-style cheese pizza
($2.29), which arrived piping hot with an incredibly thin crust and a
cheese-to-sauce ratio that highlighted the saltiness of the cheese
and the bright acid of the tomato sauce.
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Our debate about whether to get another slice was cut short by the
arrival of warm, doughy bread and small salads, which came with
the dinner pastas we ordered. The salads, a crunchy mix of lettuce,
tomato, cucumber and banana peppers dressed in an herbaceous
house vinaigrette, were fresh and — thanks to the peppers— a little
spicy.
Pasta and pizza sauces at Frank's are all made in-house, using
recipes that Buontempo first learned in Italy. Each year, he travels
back to his Italian hometown to visit family, and to bring even more
recipes back to Baltimore.
We enjoyed the veal piccata ($15.98), a traditional take on the Italian
standby. Served over angel hair pasta, the veal was lightly breaded
and pounded to about a quarter-inch — just the right thickness to
show off the meat's tender texture. The sauce was light and mildly
lemony, with large, piquant capers and sauteed mushrooms adding an earthy element. All together, the dish found
the right balance between savory and acidic flavors.
From the "land and sea" portion of the menu, the Rosa pasta ($15.98) was satisfying and hearty, but not too
heavy. Farfalle (bow-tie) pasta came dressed in a pink sauce — a mixture of creamy alfredo sauce and tangy
marinara — topped with chunks of chicken, lump crabmeat and shrimp. The chicken was a little dry, but forgivable,
thanks to the sweet crab and a generous helping of shrimp that was cooked just right.
Buontempo's dedication to great traditional Italian food shined through in his sauces and pizza. The food at Frank's
was definitely worth a repeat visit. But it was the restaurant's friendly atmosphere that made our experience
special. Every person we came across, from the busy man taking orders to Buontempo himself, was welcoming
and helpful.
After dessert — rich red velvet cake topped with thick cream cheese icing that looked beautiful, even in its plastic
carry-out box ($4.69) — Buontempo stopped by our table to chat, or so we thought.
After a few words, he played a very funny prank that sent everybody around us into gales of laughter, especially
the family of regulars at the next table, who knew what to expect (I won't share the prank, so it's not ruined for
everyone else). Later, over the phone, Buontempo explained, a little sheepishly, "The only time we spend together,
with our families, is around the table. Why not have a joke?"
Why not, indeed? That attitude made dinner at Frank's more than just a good Italian meal in modest surroundings.
We felt like guests in Buontempo's dining room. In on the joke, like family. And definitely well-fed.
Frank's Pizza & Pasta
Back-story: Frank's Pizza & Pasta is a casual family-run and community-oriented restaurant in Overlea, serving
authentic Neapolitan pizza and hearty traditional Italian specialties
Parking: There is a lot in front.
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Restaurant review: Frank's Pizza & Pasta makes you feel like family - baltimoresun.com
Page 3 of 4
Signature dish: Try the Rosa pasta dish, farfalle dressed in a creamy combination of marinara and alfredo
sauces, tossed with a satisfying mix of chicken, shrimp and crab.
Where: 6620 Belair Road, Baltimore
Contact: 410-254-2900, frankspizzaandpasta.com
Open: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-9 p.m. Sunday
Credit Cards: MasterCard and Visa
Food: ✭✭✭
Service: ✭✭✭
Atmosphere: ✭✭
[Key: Excellent: ✭✭✭✭; Good: ✭✭✭; Uneven: ✭✭; Poor: ✭]
Copyright © 2012, The Baltimore Sun
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