Franky’s

Great pizza at a great price. Top of the line pizza with unlimited toppings all for one great price. Now I can feed my family for under $ 20. Best wishes for great business success…

Well I can say there was nobody in the restaurant a great Decour but the service is very slow a lot of people Mary I hyped it up I really didn’t joy the pizza compared to the other pizzas in Chicago my friend had a hamburger he said it was just OK I guess you have to try it out if you’re in that area of St. Charles

Hot dog joints in Chicago are sometimes a chore to review, for most Chicagoans are somewhat sentimental about their Local faves, and everyone else seems to be a wretched interloper and pretender to the Crown. Take, for instance, the mass delusion that Gene & Judes (or worse still, Superdawg) is superior to the greatest restaurant in the Western Hemisphere, HENRY’S HOT DOGS («a meal in a bun») on Ogden Avenue in Cicero, Il.
But I digress.
Franky’s is a re-​purposed «Dog N Suds». As a youth, I LOVED «Dog N Suds». There was a period about 15 years ago, they started to appear again. I won’t say I bought my house (The esteemed and Stately Breakwind Manor) on the basis of a nearby NEW Dog N Suds, but such a condition did not hurt the decision.
The oddity is, I never liked the food, nor the Root Beer, at Dog N Suds. Maybe it was the «drive in» aspect, and the squawk-​box communicators that held me in thrall. Dunno. For the record, the adjacent DNS closed up shop shortly after we moved in, and after a few shite meals, the novelty of the drive in wore off anyway.
Which brings me around to Franky’s.
It ain’t no «Dog N Suds» no more. The Parking lot squawkers are gone, replaced by a garden-​variety drive-​through window. A rather massive menu greets you as you round the rear of the building.
As I was forced with «Dinner-​In-​The-​Car» that day, I switched to my requisite order: A Plain Hotdog, and a plain Italian Sausage on a hot dog bun.
What sort of against-​the-​grain fuckery is that kind of order, you may very well ask?
Easy-​it is nigh impossible to eat a full-​regalia Chicago Hot Dog while at the wheel. Well, you can, if you want to wear the whole mishegoss on the front of your shirt. Same with the Salsicc’. On a Turano Roll, with Beef gravy, Sweet Peppers and Hot giardinara, you have various disjecta membra, all with multiple staining potential (plus the flaky flaky crumbs from the crisp Italian Baguette) ready, willing and able to permanently soil your togs, and insure your meeting someone quite influential shortly after it occurs.
A Plain Hotdog in a hotdog bun, can be eaten in the wrapper with close to total confidence. Nothing is going to shoot out of your sandwich reminding you of a porn stars ultimate issue, only to leave a tell-​tale trail on your shirt, or even more dismal, your tie. A self-​contained weenie is easy to manage.
The masterstoke here is the Italian Sausage on the hot dog bun. In Chicago, the bun is invariably steamed, so it conforms to the sausage’s shape. No peppers, no juice, no nothin’. Meat and Bread. Again, easy to manage and perfect for an on-​the go feed.
The downside here, is you taste the meat, and little else. As the Chicago Hot Dog bun is only a method of culinary delivery, it’s taste potential is practically inert. If there ain’t nothin’ goin’ on in the middle of those buns, then you might as well have stopped at Staples and picked up a bag of Styrofoam packing pellets to munch on.
But if the meat is happenin’ you’ve got a meal. So much emphasis is place on the toppings, one can lose sight of how tasty a good Chicago Frankfurter Sausage is. I said a good one. It has to be at least Vienna. And that’s putting the low end pretty high. If you can find a Kosher dog, so much the better. I used to like David Berg. but Kosher Zion are fab. Jerk-​off cost cutters get pale, insipid tubes of bland ecch-​meat that would even be improved by ketchup, which, as even second-​graders in Chicago know, is a basic crime against humanity. A solo good-​quality frank in a bun has a simple elegance that one can appreciate.
The hazard increases for the Italian Sausage. Get a mushy or off-​spiced one and it will make you sorry you didn’t stop at McDonalds. But get a good one, where, in an inert frame as it is in a hot-​dog bun, and the flavor will jump out and you will not miss all the usual accoutrements.
In both cases, here Franky’s hit the note. A fine quality Frank, and a succulent, spicy Sausage. They threw in a large portion of fresh-​cut fries that needed more salt than I had on hand (I was driving, give me a break), but they were also of fine quality.
This joint is nowhere in my neighborhood, but I have, on occasion, a need to traverse the route that takes me past Franky’s front door. Next time, I will plan on enough schedule to stop inside and try this stuff in full mufti. I’m expecting a fine feed.

Ordered the ribs. Sauce was good, but the ribs were way overdone and chewy. Coleslaw and garlic bread were packed in with ribs. Coleslaw= warm and garlic bread was soft and chewy. The fries were a bit overdone as well, but were ok.
I’ve ordered 2 times before and asked for bacon on my cheeseburgers and both times they forgot to put it on.
I gave them a few chances with the food there and at this point, I don’t believe it’s worth spending money on in the future. Not recommended.

I really liked this place. Only time I’ve been here. I stopped in for lunch. I’m not in St Charles very often. I had a beef, fries and a drink. Awesome menu. Lotsa choices besides just beef, burger, hotdog. My beef was excellent. Exactly how I like Italian beef. Fries were typical, but tasted great and cooked perfect. You can tell if fries are cooked in old oil. Everything about these were fresh. After I ordered I got my food FAST. My meal cost about 8.5 bucks. Great lunch at a reasonable price. Next time I have to be in the area for anything I’ll try to schedule it so I can return to Franky’s for lunch!

Lady at the window is rude. Paid nearly 8 bucks for a pizza puff, fry and drink. Fries were bland and pizza puff tasted like it was fried in old grease and left there too long. Won’t be going back.

** 2.5 stars, but no option exists for that, so we had to round up. Kinda a «hit or miss» place.
Been wanting to check this place out for awhile so one night with my family, we decided to finally try them. Based on our first time and what we ordered, everything averaged out to just be «okay».
— Pizza. Pizza was just «okay». It was fairly priced for a large and included any ingredients that you wanted. Sounds like a deal, but I am sure this perk is just built into the price elsewhere. Again, Pizza was just «okay» — a bit of grease on top, ingredients were just «okay», crust was just «okay.» We have had worse, but there is much better out there such as Rosati’s in St. Charles by Jewel, Augustino’s, and especially Garibaldi’s. I would even say Domino’s pizza would edge this place out.
— Fries — very good. I would get these again, but I can’t recommend a place based solely on a bag of fries unless somebody comes and has a craving only for a quick bag of fries :)
— Italian Beef — good. I would get this again.
— Polish sandwich: Family said this was «just okay», but fairly priced and came with fries. However, the polish sandwich from Portillo’s and Scooby’s (very expensive at Scooby’s but the best around) was much better.
— Poppers — «just okay»
— Philly cheese stake sandwich: NOT THAT GOOD. I had this, and was disappointed. I was thinking this would be akin to the good philly cheese-​steak sandwiches you get at the mall at places like Great Steak and Potato company, etc — I was wrong. What I received I literally could have made at home by putting some left-​over cheaper steak pieces (from your average grocery store) on a piece of Turano bread (the piece of bread WAS decent). It’s hard to explain, but this was NOT a philly cheese-​steak sandwich. It was more just a «steak sandwich» and probably should be advertised that way. Barely any mozzarella cheese was on it, but even if there had been a plentiful amount, that wouldn’t have saved this. The steak seemed tough, dry, and not flavorful. It was cut in a few strips, but again was not cut in the fashion/​style nor did it have the consistency of the steak meat used for philly cheese-​steak sandwiches. I really wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t. Again, you could make the same thing at home here if you have a few extra slim pieces of dry steak and put them on a Turano roll with some mozz cheese. I would not get this again here.
Service: Good. Clerks were friendly and talkative.
Restaurant itself: Nice, clean. We got take-​out, but things seemed neat and clean. Place was not busy and we were the only customers in there on 5pm on a Friday night. Could be coincidence, or could be part of a larger storyline.
OVERALL: We MAY try again — maybe to try the hotdogs and fry special or a beef again, but probably would not make this place one of our regular go to places. It wasn’t terrible by any means, it was just average to us.

Great customer service! Huge portions. Large order of mushrooms could feed a crowd. Great gyro & sauce was perfect. Ribs were good and large portion also. Will be back!

where can you get a bakery bun for your cheeseburger? HERE! whoda thunk it was possible? The food is hot and freshly prepared and they will take a big order in stride. I’ll try the gyros next time, but glad to have a good burger on the east side of St. Charles that has some beef (pardon the pun) to it and not a flattened piece of meat.

This place has some really good stuff! I love the fries, the hot dogs are decent, and yhe gyros are the best in st charles. This is an awesome place to come with friends because it has seating and free refills

Had a gyro. Food was good. I ate in the dining room. Kitchen looked much cleaner than the rest of the place. They have black tables and none of them looked like they had been wiped down all day. Floor was very dirty. Dead slow at 5 pm with 3 guys standing around, not like they were swamped. Disappointed

So i like to try a place numerous times before rating them considering there could always be that one time someone is having a bad day. Luckily all 3 times i ordered from here the gyro has been delicious and the customer service has been great. And I will continue to frequent this place as they have good weekly deals as well

Food– I had a great italian beef and side of poppers. Very juicy and good beef with mozzarella. The poppers were cooked to perfection and I will to back

I was not impressed with the beef, it was very greasy and sloppy. I thought in would try something different and get the Italian Sub, but I was not overly impressed with that either, the bread was very chewy and the ingredients were standard, nothing special. I think the best deal they have is the 2 hotdog and fry special.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the food from Franky’s. I was expecting a greasy spoon experience like all the other greasy spoons. But, while still greasy, I enjoyed a higher quality than the norm. Their menu is humongus! I normally order one thing at a restaurant, but I have a few things that I have to try here. The one thing I regret was forgetting to look and see if they have chocolate shakes. Darn! I guess I have to go back! The food seemed like it was prepared fresh, but still arrived in an acceptable drive-​thru wait time.

First time we went I was excited to see a new delivery place in the area! Food was alright too! Definitely planned on having it delivered some time.
So fast forward to one night when we decide to order some food… We review the extensive menu deciding on what to order. Finally after deciding, we give them a call only to find out they’re not delivering that day because their driver was off. What? You offer delivery and then don’t have a driver? Ooookay.
Now fast forward again to tonight, after spending way too long deciding where to order from, we settled on Frankys. I give them a call and now they don’t deliver?

Well, another first for me! I rolled into Franky’s tonight and I was probably their last customer. It has been a long time since I saw a drive thru menu that big and expressive. 10 inch this, 8 inch that, extra this, extra that. Very impressive. But could they do the same for my taste buds?
I put them to the test and ordered the 8 inch Italian beef with sweet peppers, fries, and a medium drink. Nice guy at the window too; not only nice but he looked like he was just starting his shift; immaculate.
I didn’t wait long and was rewarded with a giant white bag. Hm mm, more intrigue. I must admit the fries were mild and crunchy; not limp. But the real find was the Italian beef. Not only was it huge, but the flavor was pro Italian all the way. A spicy beef topped with marinated sweet peppers that were wonderful. I also give them extra credit for serving me nice hot food at a nice late hour; something I expect.
Great job on the sandwich, guys! It is definitely worth repeating.

Pretty good place for the value. I got the Sunday Gyro and it was very good. If recommend this place.
Only bad things I noticed were the lack of flavor and taste for their fries and a lot of grease was used.

Finally checked this place out, expecting it to be a typical dogs and beef sandwich place and noticed they have a very large menu (that’s a good thing, since I have three kids). I’ve often lamented the lack of good BBQ in these parts and opted for the half slab of ribs meal. Comes with fries, garlic bread and slaw, all for $ 9. They told me when I ordered that it would be a 8 – 10 min wait for ribs. Seemed worth it.
The ribs were outstanding, and reminded me a lot of Portillo’s Ribs, in terms of look, feel and even taste. Their sauce is similar to the Portillo’s sauce, but I liked it a bit more. Tangy and spicy. Meat fell off the bone and was very tasty. The fries were standard fare. The meal came with a 6″ loaf of garlic bread and was a nice addition to the meal, albeit filling. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good pile of food for $ 9, to be honest, and they offer the same meal for $ 8.50 on Saturday.
I noticed they have pasta and pizza options on the menu, and I’ll return to check that out with my boys. The place was bustling with customers over lunch today, and the drive through was busy, too.
My criticism would just be the boring fries and the fact that when I asked for an add’l side of BBQ sauce, I had to pay 50 cents for it. I think of sauce as a condiment, like mustard or ketchup, and it bugs me to have to pay extra for it. I realize it costs them, but it’s something no other place has ever charged me for. It’s not that I can’t afford it. It’s just the principle that bugs me.
Overall, I will come back for the ribs, since they strike me as the best there is to be found around here (faint praise, considering what’s around here, but they were really good). I will also drag the whole family here soon. Would have honestly rated this a 3.5 stars, but forced to choose 3 or 4, I opted for 3 based on the fries and paying for the extra ounce of BBQ sauce.

Not too long ago a friend of mine notified me that a new hot dog place had opened up on his commute to and from work while going through St. Charles. This weekend we finally had the opportunity to visit this new hot dog place and once I stepped inside it immediately looked rather familiar. The sign on the place said Franky’s and I soon realized I had been to a very similar looking establishment in Addison some time earlier. After a quick look at the menu it was clear that these two places were related. This Franky’s is a bit different than the Addison location in that they have a drive-​thru.
I placed an order for a hot dog, and since I was particularly hungry something called a Pizza burger. For a place with a drive-​thru this was a long wait (nearly twenty minutes) and when my food was finally out I was rather hungry. I made my way over to the soda fountain, poured myself some water. Snapped a few pictures and it was time to dig in.
The first thing I tried was the hot dog. The hot dog here was on top of some fries, the fries were greasy and bland. They weren’t too salty, and had some soft potato paste inside. They just didn’t have much taste to them at all, I had a few and then went for the hot dog.
The hot dog was rather sloppily prepared. The back side of the bun had become detached, so the top and the bottom of the hot dog were disconnected causing it to slide around when eating. Immediately noticeable to me was fact that the pickle here was slightly larger than the dog itself. I took my first bite and immediately tasted a pickle sandwich. After removing the pickle from the hot dog, the situation improved quite a bit and this would have passed for an above average hot dog most places in terms of taste. But with the back having fallen out it was still difficult to eat. The sausage used here was skinless, the usual mustard, onion and relish were well applied but the tomato slices were also thick and uneven. There was no sport pepper or celery salt on this hot dog.
Next it was time to try the Pizza Burger. I’ve had pizza burgers at other places in the past with pretty good results. Unfortunately this pizza burger was not a pretty good result. I wouldn’t say it was bad, I would say it was average. The bun was nice and soft and the beef was good. The pizza sauce they used was bland and tasted more like crushed tomato than pizza sauce. If I had to compare the sauce on this pizza burger to real pizza in terms of flavor, this was generic frozen pizza sauce having been unfrozen.
Overall the hot dog here despite being sloppily made actually tasted pretty good with the gargantuan pickle removed. I think from this visit this Franky’s is a bit worse than the Addison location. They also sport the tag line «Frankly the Best», my reply to that is «Frankly you’re nothing special» which is why I’m giving them three stars. If you have a lot of patience to wait for average quality food then this is the place to go. It’s clean inside, not bad and not great.