Welcome to Local Gems, our new monthly restaurant column presented by White Claw, the official hard seltzer of L.A. TACO. Each month we’ll honor neighborhood institutions that make delicious food and have stood the test of time all over Los Angeles. Read, order, share, and don’t be afraid to rep your community’s local gem in the comments.
No one who grew up in SELA eating at Frantone’s can recall their first time at the “Pizza and Spaghetti Villa” because visits were so omnipresent. Birthday parties. Little league lunches, family dinners, school pizza parties, first dates, proms, engagement parties. Baby showers. Holiday gatherings. Anniversary celebrations. Fundraisers. Hell, even wakes. Every milestone triggered a visit to Frantone’s. Eventually, the old school Italian American restaurant simply became part of the backdrop of life in southeast Los Angeles.
Italian immigrant Sleme Tesoriero and his wife Rose opened the first Frantone’s on Telegraph Road in Downey in 1964. Primarily based on Rose’s recipes, the early menu was small: pizza, sandwiches, and a few pasta dishes—one of which put Frantone’s on the map.
“The Wednesday Spaghetti Special is what made Frantone’s famous,” said longtime manager Debbie Sue Montgomery. “People would drive in from all over or come in after work in the factories for a big plate that cost $1.99 back in the day.”
The restaurant now has a giant menu, literally. The wall-sized menu is the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. It features all of the family-owned restaurant’s original dishes, plus many comfort foods—everything from fried chicken with spaghetti and linguini with clams to lasagna and veal parmigiana. But really, most people come for the pizza. The dough recipe hasn’t changed in 58 years, and it’s been made by Albert Aguirre since April 1976.