Fricano's

Definitely a Winner

I was fortunate to happen upon this Fricano's with my girlfriend and parents on a Friday night while riding from the Gilmore back to our campground in South Haven during Harbor Fest. I had wanted to try the Fricano's in Grand Haven and even thought we might haven been able to ride there that day after the museum in Gilmore. It was just too far though. So it was a great surprise to come across this location on the way home.

What a great old-school establishment with fantastic service. I have to say, I was impressed with how nice their servers were; starting with the hostess Dawn. She was more than happy to fill me in on some of the history I was more than eager to hear.

After a short wait we were seated by a window and served by Mina. She did a great job as well and had a nice personality.

We ordered two pizzas. One was a pepperoni and sausage and the other was their Everything But Anchovies with extra sauce well done (although I had them bring anchovies on the side). I believe both were made exactly as we ordered.

The pizza had great build quality in a 1950's pizza type of way. IMO their sauce and sausage could use some seasoning as the whole pizza was a bit bland. It was good though.

I also thought the price was very good.

I would definitely come back, encourage others to give it a try, hope to try Grand Haven sometime as well, and hope they're around another 50 years!

Her group went to the original Fricano's tonight for supper and several of our folks were brand new to Fricano's. We all enjoyed our pizza! Thank you, Fricano's, for the friendly, excellent service we had from all of the staff. You took care of us well!

Awesome experience! Our server Karen was off the charts great. Because of her we got the pasta Pescatore off the "secret menu". Linguini in red sauce with mussels, calamari and shrimp and aromatics. It was beyond good, really. Also had the Fricano's original 5 items pizza. It was so good. The best dining experience we've had in a long time. Would highly recommend.

Yesterday, my friend and I drove from Chicago to Kalamazoo to pick up their sibling from college. For dinner, we wanted to stop somewhere unique to Michigan - why travel to a different state just to eat at a chain restaurant that we could visit at home in “The Big Onion”?

Before we started our one day road trip, our mutual friend Otto recommended that we visit Fricano’s. He has family in Michigan and spoke highly of the restaurant, so we decided to give it a try.

It was dark and snowing when we arrived, but thankfully Fricano’s was still open. I was immediately impressed by the ambience of the restaurant. I love the way they’ve sectioned off different parts of the dining area with lattice, and the hideaway bar is super cool. There is a beautiful mural of Venice on one wall, and I thoroughly enjoyed the gondola and other Italian-themed items on display throughout the space. The lighting and sound level were also perfect, which is pretty rare in my opinion.

Two of us chose tomato basil soup as a starter. It was a little too salty for me, but it was delicious paired with croutons and the complimentary bread basket at our table. For the main course, I ordered eggplant parmesan. I liked that the eggplant was sliced a little thick - most recipes for eggplant parm say to cut it as thinly as possible, but in my experience that totally kills the eggplant flavor. Fricano’s method is better! The side order of noodles that came with my meal was simple yet delicious. Others at my table ordered chicken alfredo and chicken parmesan, and both reacted positively to the food. We shared a cannoli and a slice of peanut butter pie for dessert. The cannoli was tasty, and the peanut butter pie was rich and delicious.

The wait staff was amazing - our waitress was patient and attentive, and the host thanked us for visiting and asked us to come back soon. I felt bad when we left, because we don’t visit the area often, but we will definitely eat at Fricano’s again next time.

PS: I cannot fathom some of these Fricano’s reviews lol. If you have been going to a restaurant for years and love the place and never leave a review, but immediately leave a 1-star review the one time you have a mediocre experience or see that the business is having staffing issues, what is going on with you? C’mon people! Anyways, Fricano’s is great and everyone should go there!

Love love Fricano's! The fried artichoke is amazing. We ordered several mushroom dishes that were all fantastic as well.
Staff were all very kind and helpful. I will certainly go again. There is a good amount of space in the building and they have not packed it super full of tables, which I appreciate.

Best Pizza 🍕 in Michigan!!! The menu is classic Italian. You cannot go wrong with the Ribs also!!!!

This place is an amazing hole in the wall. Can't recommend it enough for the food. Everybody was extremely friendly. The bar serves legit drinks!

The food was excellent. We had a group of 20 plus, and they handled it well. Love their perch and homemade bread.

Sorry to hear this establishment will be closing as this is the best pizza in the state of Michigan.

Excellent meatball & ricotta appetizer. Pizza is very good - thin and crispy.

I lived in Alamo for 25 years and regularly enjoyed their excellent food! Many times over the last 40 years, I have organized or attended family and friend celebrations at Fricano's for birthdays and other momentous occasions in groups from 5 - 25. Fricano's easily and efficiently handled these gatherings and everyone loved their food, especially the pizza and ribs. I now live in Portage but every so often, I drive all the way to Alamo and pickup my favorite pizza.

So friendly, great food, atmosphere was very good.

6 Stars!! This. Is. The Best. Pizza. Crust, sauce, cheese, the seasoning is what makes it here, peeps... If you are a pizza connesieur, you HAVE to make it out here. Oh, and the calamari?! Unbeatable so far. Fellow foodies, make the trip!!

I Had an awesome meal here last week. I have been here many times over the years and am always satisfied and full of food by the time I leave. They have very nice staff that seems to be attentive to whatever you need for your meal. Give it a shot you won't be disappointed

Very attentive stay to anything we needed. I plan on returning real soon. Great Marine Corps Birthday Celebration.

Thanks again for making it a memorable event.

I've eaten here many times and I keep coming back. The ambiance is great- not too noisy, not too crowded space-wise, even when the restaurant is full. The food is delicious. The portions are generous. The staff is super-friendly, and service is excellent. We have met the owner and have heard some of the stories behind his restaurant. Some of the recipes are authentic, and all of them are top-notch! One night we received a complimentary tiramisu- a new dessert they were trying out. I highly recommend it and the whole Fricano's experience.

Very good thin crust pizza, I want to try the chicken parmigiana and the eggplant parmigiana! Very friendly bartenders!

I have loved coming here over the years! Yesterday we had a large group and our service was wonderful, the wait wasn't long for our food to come out, and it was delicious. I have tried several things on their menu and I agree a couple dishes should have a little more flavor but yesterday I definitely gained a new favorite. It was pretty busy at the restaurant so for everything to go as smooth as it did I am highly impressed with our meal.

Great little place and friendly staff. They also have a really great gluten-free pizza crust. I will definitely go again. Next time I think I'm going to try the ribs, I heard great things and they look really good.

Hands down best Italian restaurant in the area. I tried the eggplant Parm and it was delicious! The waitress was very attentive and they were quite busy. The cannolis were amazing!