Franco’s most
recently appeared in the June, 2001 issue of Pittsburgh Magazine. In this
issue, the restaurant was proclaimed the Best New Contemporary Casual
Restaurant.
Restaurant Description
| Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Review |
Pittsburgh Magazine Review
Restaurant Description: Award winning Franco’s Trattoria, in
Dormont, serves contemporary Italian cuisine in
a friendly and casual dining environment. The owners, Joseph & Gina D’Amico,
opened their doors on August 23, 2000 and have never regretted it. A key to
the success of Franco’s is that it is a family project. Joseph’s father,
Franco D’Amico of Franco’s Ristorante fame, frequents the restaurant and has
been known to season dishes when he thought no one was looking. Executive
Chef Joseph Tambellini, most recently from Bravo Franco, is a cousin of the
owners and willingly shares his kitchen with Franco. The family feeling is
palpable in the restaurant and adds to the ambiance. Joseph Tambellini and his staff work
tirelessly to provide the guests a premier dining experience. They stand
ready to prepare the standard menu items (lunch
& dinner) as well as five to eight specials
each night. Portions are large, but make sure to save room for one of the
deserts. The local favorites are the tiramisu and cannoli. The restaurant can accommodate 78 guests
in the main dinning area with an additional 44 seats available in the
banquet room. You can have a drink at one of
two bars while you wait for your table. The upstairs bar allows smoking,
while the downstairs bar is for nonsmoking guests. There is also a lounge
where you can indulge in a fine cigar and beverage.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Review, Friday, October 27, 2000. Woodene Merriman, the Post-Gazette Dining Critic, gave the restaurant three stars. In this article, she gave the stuffed rainbow trout Florentine a taste score of 10 on a scale from 1-10. She also enjoyed the grilled polenta. She had a tough choice for desert because, "…the tiramisu is wonderful -- soft on top, creamy and moist with liqueur. But Franco’s handmade cannoli is a treat too. The shell is crisp, the filling is made with ricotta, and it comes decorated with whipped cream, chocolate and raspberries."
Pittsburgh Magazine Review, April of 2001. Ann Haigh describes how the executive chef, Joseph Tambellini, "infuses the traditional with a more contemporary viewpoint, particularly in off-menu specials". She discusses how the appetizers are substantially sized and easily satisfy two people. Specifically mentioned are the "wonderful, garlicky sauted mussels". Ann wrote that she was "most fond of the fish specials. They reflect what’s prettiest at market." As for the vegetables, she found the steamed asparagus perfectly-cooked and suggests trying the polenta which is fried, grilled and seasoned with parmesan cheese. She described the cannoli as legendary and mentions that if you "opt for the intensely rich chocolate souffle, you’ll need co-dependents to consume it.