Today I had lunch with a friend who is moving away tomorrow. Since I have limited time for lunch, when I even take one, we decided to go some where close by. Francesco’s Ristorante & Pizzeria took over the location where our beloved NYPD pizza used to be. I wasn’t overly impressed with the menu online, it only had 11 items, but since it was fairly reasonably priced AND close by we gave it a shot. I am REALLY glad we did.
Everything on their lunch menu is $8.95 and comes with a side salad (unless of course the entree is a salad). My friend ordered the Veggie Lasagna and I was going to get the Meat Lasagna. When I told the waitress what I wanted she apologized and said they were out. What? It was 11:30 am and they only opened at 11:00 am. She went on to explain that they were open yesterday for Father’s Day and they are usually not open on Sundays. Due to this the chef and his crew were unable to do all the prep they needed to in order to open today. Unfortunately that meant that the Meat Lasagna wasn’t ready. Bummer. I ended up ordering the Chicken Parmigiana instead. Oh holy yum.
It was a large piece of chicken with a side of pasta – more than I expected for a lunch portion. And it was REALLY tasty too. I never thought I’d be able to finish all of it, but next thing I knew it was gone. My friend was also very impressed with his Veggie Lasagna and it disappeared even quicker than mine did. I was quite tempted when the waitress asked if we wanted dessert to see what they had, but I was way too stuffed to eat anymore.
I’ll definitely be back to check them out for dinner. The dinner menu has a lot more options, including appetizers, sandwiches, and a long list of pizza. Not to mention the desserts 🙂 Sure the prices are a little more, but they still are comparable to most other Italian restaurants around town.
Overall I was very impressed by my meal and I’m glad to have another Italian restaurant to check out that isn’t expensive. I’m on a budget, so I’m always happy when I can get good food for a good price. So if you happen to be in Maitland anytime soon, definitely give  Francesco’s Ristorante & Pizzeria a shot.