Frank’s Pizzeria is gone. Frank’s, at almost the corner of Main Street and Port Washington Boulevard, is gone.
My son drove past the little restaurant this past Saturday, New Year’s Day, and he told me that Frank’s was gone, out of business. That news came to me as something of a mild shock and I wasn’t even a steady customer of Frank’s.
Why the shock? Because to me, Frank’s was something of an anchor, something to hold onto, in Port Washington.
In December of 1967, my wife and I were going through the process of closing on our new home in Port Washington.
Even though we hadn’t actually moved into Port yet, from Forest Hills, Queens, the Port school district allowed our two very young children to attend school here in Port.
My wife and I were very happy about that, but until we actually moved into our new home, my wife had to drive our kids to and from Port school every day. I was working in Manhattan and couldn’t help her with the driving.
Our two kids went to the John J. Daly Elementary School, from 8:00 in the morning until 3:00, every afternoon.
My wife, who was learning how to move about in Port Washington, said that she would stop at Frank’s Pizzeria, almost every day after school was over, to get herself and the kids slices of Frank’s pizza and drinks.
She said that the pizza was very good, was very reasonably priced and that the atmosphere at Frank’s was very conducive for her and the kids to relax in, before the long drive back to Forest Hills.
After we moved into Port, my wife introduced me to Frank’s and I had to agree with her evaluation of the place. Of course, Frank, himself, was running the restaurant then and he was the chief chef and pizza pie maker in the place.
As I recall, his wife, a very cheerful and very likable woman, waited on the few tables and helped him in the restaurant.
In 1967/1968, Frank’s Pizzeria was the only Pizzeria/Italian restaurant in Port Washington, except for a larger Italian restaurant/pizzeria called Andy’s, I believe, which was located way up Manorhaven Boulevard, in the Village of Manorhaven.
Andy’s was good, but it was not nearly as convenient or as friendly, as Frank’s.
I guess that if you’re not as old a resident of Port as I am and if you didn’t experience what my family and I experienced moving into town, then the closing down, for all time, of Frank’s Pizzeria, means little or nothing to you.
But, I know that after Frank and his wife retired and moved off to Florida, that their daughter, Linda, bravely kept the little restaurant thriving for many years after that and that Frank’s had very many loyal customers to its end.
Those very loyal customers and I have just lost something very dear to hold onto, that cannot be replaced.
Joel Katz
Port Washington
