Frankies 457 Spuntino

Our favorite place. The food is sooo good. We usually get the burrata, the avocado and beet salad, cavatelli (they also do a vegetarian version with cauliflower that I love) and the ricotta gnocchi. The gnocchi is so soft. Like pillow soft. Melts in your mouth. We usually save room for the tiramisu. When the weather is nice and there isn't a wedding happening we like to sit outside.

I am a grizzled, impossible, rarely impressed New Yorker, but Frankie's 457 may be my favorite restaurant in the city.

The staff is ridiculously warm. You can show up in the middle of a Friday night rush and they will still act grateful to see you. There's no snottiness over your lack of a reservation, just a desire to help you out. If you're a New Yorker, you know exactly how rare this sort of treatment is!

The food – especially the pasta – is exactly what I crave after a long week at work. It tastes like the kind of recipes that families spend generations perfecting. I'd imagine you could convert a vegetarian here.

I came to this little treasure trove with my boss and co-worker to have a lunch meeting. This is a house turned restaurant.

When the weather permits you have a choice of eating indoors or outdoors. Since it was a nice day we chose to sit outside. The inside is very nice with great decor. The front is more for take out but they also have inside sitting in the back of the restaurant.

Choosing to sit outside since is was a nice day, we were lead to our table. We were given a complimentary bottle of water. Most of not all of the dishes involved some kind of pasta. I opted for the lump crab with spaghetti with marinara sauce. My co-worker being a diabetic ordered a sweet potato ravioli. Both dishes were extremely good, my lump crab was fresh and you could tell me he marinara sauce was fresh.

As far as the drinks, they offer soda, juice, water, coffee, beer, and wine.

Dessert is also an option. I decided on a slice of cake, which was so moist and fluffy.

The prices are pretty fair, an entree will cost between $15.00 to $18.00. The dessert between $3.00 to $5.00. The drink was typical of any other restaurant except the wine. The wine was priced based on the type of wine and whether you want a glass or bottle.

The staff was nice and friendly but a tid bit slow, but considering the amount to people dining and the number of wait staff it was understandable.

If I'm ever in the area during lunch or dinner time, I'll definitely dine here again.

House-made pasta is the main attractor, but don't overlook the meatball sandwiches and its brethren. Perfectly toasted breads with just the right al dente "give" will make you wonder why you're not eating more sandwiches for dinner.

This is a culturally important restaurant that Carroll Gardens is proud to have. The owners also back a coffee shop and other restaurants along Court Street.

Delicious house made pastas. I especially liked the cavalleni with sausage in brown sage. If I lived closer, I'd probably come all the time. With that said, it's not a blow your socks off kind of place but a great neighborhood staple. The salads are also excellent. Service was friendly and efficient.