Dining

Item Description

Frank's Restaurant & Francisco's
3843 E Pima St.
Tucson, AZ  85716
www.franksrestaurant.com

(1) $20 Gift Certificate for Frank's or Francisco's

It's 10 a.m. on a Saturday as the smell of bacon and eggs fills the air in a small, midtown restaurant. The pace is frantic, and it's noisy inside, but no one seems to care. Every table is occupied as hungry patrons wait to be seated.

The seats and decor are unsophisticated. Seven red, soda-shop chairs line the counter; tables can best be described as functional. The walls are filled with photos of babies, dogs, motorcycles and musicians. Postcards, notes and stickers are also displayed. Look even closer, and you'll find a page from a coloring book and a concert ticket stuck to the wall. No, the place isn't elegant. But it has character.  "Elegant Dining Elsewhere" is one of the mottos

Welcome to Frank's.

Opened in 1972 by Frank and Elizabeth Basile, Frank's serves some of the best breakfasts in town (so voted by Weekly readers in previous years). Not just another greasy spoon, Frank's boasts the "if you are here before 9 a.m., Monday-Friday special": two eggs, home fries or hash browns and a biscuit, slice of toast or tortilla for a mere $1.50, plus tax.

The wait staff knows what do to and they do it with style and a smile.

Pam, Rafael, Joyce, Kathleen, Gustavo, Diego, Anwar will see to your every need.

A former (and she has returned ) waitress named Candace was known as the "food goddess/food bitch," .

 We're happy to say: The bitch is back' . She will yell at you when you walked in and say, "You better know what you want.' People love it. They'd walk in and start smiling. She has that way,"

It's not unusual for employees at Frank's to be known for their longevity. One of several long-timers is manager Carolina (Carol) Moreno, in her 20th year at the restaurant. Frank's is her "home away from home."

"Twenty years is a long time for one job," says Moreno. "These people are my second family. I've adopted all these young guys. ... I love the owners. They are wonderful people."

She says people enjoy coming to Frank's because servers are caring and concerned about the patrons. It's not uncommon for server and customer to be on a first-name basis.

Says co-owner Deborah Richards, "We have people anywhere from bikers to business men, people in wing tips, people with tattoos. I think the people who come to eat here are the reason Mark and I like it so much. And that's why the employees like it, because there is the interaction with the customers on a regular basis."

Smith and Richards met in 1980 when Smith opened the Eclectic Caf . Both are co-owners of Eclectic now, but Richards started out as a waitress there. In 1982, when Smith took over Frank's, Richards became its manager and worked in that capacity until 1987.

Richards moved to Tucson in 1977 from Los Angeles. Smith, however, is a native Tucsonan.

"I went to Catalina High School. I live in the neighborhood, always have," he says.

Come afternoon, something unusual happens in Smith's neighborhood.

Frank's closes down at 2 p.m., and the crew stays until 3 to clean. The restaurant sits quietly for about one hour. Another crew arrives at 4.