Thirty Years of Family Cooking
Frank Carlisle opened Frankie's in 1993 with cherished family recipes and a simple belief: great food brings people home. More than 30 years later, nothing about that has changed.
Frankie's Italian Kitchen | Our Story
The First Table
In 1993, Frank Carlisle and his wife opened a small Italian spot on Reseda Boulevard with a handful of Southern Italian recipes and no grand plan — just genuinely good food and the hope that neighbors would keep coming back. They did.
Frank Passes the Keys
When Frank retired in 1999, he handed the kitchen to Lionel Brambila, who had worked side-by-side with him from day one — same recipes, same standards, same care. Nothing changed except who was wearing the apron.
The Cajun Twist
The menu has always had a little surprise in it — Southern Italian tradition threaded with Cajun-inspired heat, from Aby's Cajun Calamari to Braden's Blackened Chicken Pizza. The LA Times put it simply: "the proof is on the plate."
Dishes With Real Names
Abel's Chicken Parmigiana, Poochie's Pecan-Crusted Chicken, Elayne's Pasta, Maddie's Chicken — every named dish is a real person who shaped this place, and a reminder that Frankie's has always been about the people around the table.
Your Table Is Ready
Carolina and the team still remember your usual order after all these years. Come see what more than three decades of consistency tastes like.
