Franks A Lot

I should have taken the hint of how bad the food was as soon as i stood in the empty line and watched 4 women argue on whose turn it was to handle the only customer in line. They used very little words. Just pointed and grunted.
Their food was disgusting. The meatball sub tasted as if it was sitting for weeks. The meat was pale. When we returned the $ 7 meatball sub (2 meatballs on a long stale roll) and asked for something different. The lady rolled her eyes and said «It good. Fine, what you want?» We picked mac and cheese. They practically tossed the container at us so we can leave. Then she shoved the meatball sub at us and said «Eww take it. We no want it». If you won’t eat your own food, why the hell are you selling it to people who can potentially get sick from it.
I tossed the mac and cheese in the trash can. Never ever will I eat or even look in the direction of that so called «food» spot. And I’ve lived in Philadelphia all my life. The worst food. The worst customer service.

The apricot corn bread is yummy! The chicken is delicious! It has a different taste than what we are use to when getting BQ chicken.

Should probably lose half a star for being so hard to find on Unilocal.
Still not sure what the theme for this place is. Hot dogs? Bbq chicken? Who knows? All the food on display looks ridiculously good. That being said the food is only acceptable. This is unfortunate because reading terminal has so much to offer that I wouldn’t waste a trip with this joint.
Had Mac n cheese, cabbage and the BBQ chicken. The BBQ chicken looked fantastic but was totally bland. No BBQ, smoke, salt at all but it was well cooked. The mac was okay. Tasted sugary for some reason. The cabbage was probably the best of the bunch.
I’m from the south though so maybe this style suits the local palettes. Definitely too bland for my taste though.
Service was quite slow for scooping out food from under a heat lamp. Food is acceptable if you absolutely cannot wait at any other reading joint. But hell, they’re slow enough that you could just wait in the dinics line.

My friends and I tried this place because we were in the mood to try the Pierogis! For a platter of either Pierogis or BBQ chicken, you can choose 2 side items and a drink for about $ 12. A decent price for the reasonable amount of food you get. The BBQ chicken was good and flavorful. The mac and cheese and fries were standard, nothing amazing. One of my friends had a hot dog and she thought it was really good! My Polish friend said the Pierogis were pretty good too!
The food was just average. I feel as if there are better vendors to try in Reading Terminal. Yet, Franks A Lot is still a good choice to try some Polish food! I would come here again for the Pierogis.

So good! I only got chicken tenders (I know, lame) not only were they good, but I got a side of mac and cheese and the apricot corn bread. It was amazing. The corn bread was moist and warm. The mac and cheese was also very tasty. Reading Terminal Market is a bit overwhelming but I’d definitely give this place another shot!

I was starving and I went to the first place that dd not have a funky smell and I’m glad I did! I saw perogies and instantly ordered that. I got homeade mac and cheese and fries as my side, although I wish cornbread was a side (and thats why its 4 stars) cause thats what I really wanted. The fries were fresh off the frier. Brought half my meal home with me. When I return back to RTM I will be sure to go to this location again!

I’ve been coming here for years just for the bbq wings. They are so addictive. I’ll usually get about 2lbs to bring home and share with the family. Nothing else here looks appetizing enough for me though.

Fast and good. Mac and cheese didn’t look too good but was tasty

I passed by Franks A Lot and saw there was tremendous amounts of barbecue food.
My boyfriend and I had already bought a sandwich from Tommy DiNic’s, but feared it wasn’t enough so I got an order of the barbecue chicken. The barbecue chicken was delicious. Moist, tender, juicy, and up-​to-​par. I wish it came with dipping sauces though for a a little extra flavor.

Fried chicken or barbecue !

This review is only for the pierogies. I know, how did I not get a hot dog at a place called Franks? But, the homemade pierogie sign won me over. They are nicely salted and stuff with potato goodness. Get it with the sour cream. Yummy and quick!

After walking around the whole, I picked franks because the bbq chicken looked silly good.
I ordered a couple things and I’ll give them individual rating:
1. Chili hot dog: 1/​5, I think dc hot dog trucks are better
2. The potato-​filled-​dumpling-​looking-​thing: 3/​5, it was average. I ate it without sour cream. Tasted like Mash potatoes in a dumpling.
3. BBQ chicken: 4/​5, this is legit. The skins got a ton of flavor. Would eat again

Skip this place! The only reason why there’s always a line is because they are so slow to serve! We waited an hour in line thinking this place must be good because of the number of people waiting and the somewhat positive reviews on Unilocal (although few). Big mistake. The food here is just edible. I don’t think I would ever come back.
After waiting an hour and another 15 – 20 mins for the mac & cheese to finish cooking, we sat down and expected to enjoy some good BBQ wings. Nope. We bit into some DRY, BURNT wings and felt sooo ripped off of not just money, but precious time that we will never get back. *sigh*
— BBQ Wings: dry, burnt, no flavor inside
— Mac & Cheese: undercooked and nothing special
— Sting Beans: steamed and a little salt sprinkled, meh
— Pierogies: they boast it like it’s their specialty but it’s just fried dough. bland and I don’t see what’s so good about them?

Summary: Okay food, terrible service
I was looking for a place to grab a bite to eat with one of my friends who works in Center City, and hadn’t been to Reading Terminal (RTM) in a while, so I figured that it was a great chance to head back to this veritable food Mecca.
After getting totally lost somewhere in the lunch rush, we finally came by Franks-​A-​Lot, which he had been wanting to try for a while. This place is mostly classic American, serving BBQ, chicken, hot dogs, along with a few Polish items.
The line wasn’t too bad (~3−4 minutes), and when we got to the front, the fellow taking orders helped us make our selections quickly. I got the pierogi platter, which includes 5 – 6 freshly made pierogis, 2 side items (I got the mac & cheese and the potato salad), and a drink. My friend got the turkey burger. Everything was priced reasonably, and I paid 7 dollars and change for my platter while the burger was around 5 dollars.
However, our experience went sharply downhill the moment we got to the checkout counter. I don’t mean to stereotype, but the Asian lady handling the register was probably the meanest and worst person that I have ever had to deal with at a restaurant. She was constantly yelling at customers (including us), she snatched money/​credit cards from people’s hands, handed bags to the wrong people and then literally ripped them out of their hands when she realized her error, and even made a young 5 – 6 year old boy ready to cry. She accidentally gave him my friend’s burger, and then just made a very horrible looking face and yelled something in another language, as if it was his fault that she messed up, and ripped the bag away from him. It was truly… shocking, for a lack of a better word to describe it.
Once we got past that horrible check-​out line, we (miraculously) found a table in the seating area and got to the food. My friend said that the burger was decent, albeit nothing too special. As for my platter, the pierogis were over seasoned and very tough, while the potato salad was passable. The only redeeming element in the tray was the mac and cheese, which was above average. I understand that I’m not paying for a gourmet pierogi, but still, there have to be some standards. Unfortunately, I found none.
All in all, I just hope that this was a bad day for them, and hope to try them again in a few weeks to see if it was just a one-​off thing.
Tip: At RTM, try to avoid the afternoon lunch rush if at all possible — it’s really bad between 12 – 2 PM.

I was stuck in Center City during an awful rainstorm, and in this weather, your most inner cravings come out. My stomach wanted: pierogies. I thought. where in the city can I grab a to-​go, tasty, reliable batch. SO naturally I did a Google search my phone and it pointed me in the direction of this place. «Menu highlights include Charbroiled Hamburgers, Italian, Polish and German specialties… Polish kielbasa and pierogies.» And the fact that it was located in Reading Terminal, I thought without a doubt, these would be delicious. Boy was I wrong.
Confused when I spotted the place, it seemed more like a sports bar & grill rather than a diverse food spot. Graphics of flames over-​took the menu boards and 5 Asian ladies working behind the counter. I was expecting a grumpy Polish man, in fact I was really looking forward to that. I ordered the $ 6.25 platter which comes with 5 pierogies and two sides (I chose mac n cheese + green beans). The piergoies tasted stale-​crunchy, not good-​crunchy and barely had an filling in them. The taste was OK but I was severely disappointed that I ended up with 5 sad, flat looking piergoies. :(
Probably won’t come back here again for this, but I will be sure to check out their hot-​dog/​wings selection.

Pierogies were tasty. didn’t have a hot dog but would totally eat a ton more of the pierogies. Wish they had a little sauce out to put on them. Also couldn’t find any silverware to eat them with either.

I’m kind of confused by this place. I’m ALWAYS kind of confused by this place. Bunch of Asian women running the show here, selling hot dogs and wings and huge servings of fries in Reading Terminal Market — I have to say, I haven’t seen that anywhere else.
I was hungry this afternoon. All morning I’d stuffed my face with a handful of cinnamon Puffins (the cereal — though I bet puffins are delicious, too) and about a quarter of a box of Trader Joe’s English Toffee with nuts… and a saltine cracker. But I was still hungry because I’m always hungry. …Right, so, I was hungry this afternoon, same shit different day.
Didn’t feel like Beck’s Cajun Café, didn’t feel like pre-​made sandwiches that had been sitting in their display cases all day, didn’t feel like self-​help pay-​by-​the-​pound stuff, didn’t feel like Chinese (god knows I get enough of that at home already)… so of course I run to the food joint where a bunch of Asian women run the show; makes sense, right? HOT DOGS.
I don’t know why, but I felt like having a chili dog. And onion rings, even though I’m not truly a fan of onion rings and even though they’re more expensive than fries, which I love a gazillion times more. I also got a bottle of Coke. Why not, let’s be crazy! It’s Tuesday!
I ate the chili dog so fast I might as well have inhaled it. The beer-​battered onion rings were nicely brown with the perfect crunch, but taste-​wise they were very bland. Plus, I like my onions raw. I annoy myself sometimes.
Eight bucks and some change for that… the chili dog satisfied my craving but overall and for that price I shoulda just hit Beck’s Cajun Café.

The choices are good. I had the bbq chicken with green beans. The chicken was dry but the green beans were great. They were not the friendliest behind the counter.

I think the weather brings out odd cravings. First hamburgers, now hot dogs.
After a horrible bout with internship, I hurried out of that building for a hot dog, plus tea — reviewing tea spot right after this.
I got to Frank’s early so I witnesses the ladies prepping the meals of the deal. Everything was steaming hot and looking very tasty. Too bad I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything heavier. The hot dogs were not ready so I told them to take their time with it. Didn’t take long at all.
I took the two hot dogs, kosher, with the side of fries to the tea spot. It was a bit chilly a couple of weeks ago but the dogs were piping hot by the time I got around to them. They were very tasty and the fries were more than enough. In fact, I had to waste the fries because I couldn’t eat them all. If you have children or just a child this would be a good lunch to chow on because it was plenty for me.
Now, about a few days ago I went back again and guess what I got. Two hot dogs minus the fries. I caught them when they closing but I wanted something quick anyways. I WILL try their other dishes. Trust.

Franks A Lot, or as I call it, the Asian girl-​babelious Hot Dog spot, has great food. Hot Dogs are just a small part of the goodies served up by Russell’s army of Asian hotties. The Sausages and the Texas Tommy’s are great and so is the Chili. (order it with cheese and raw onions on top) They have a pretty decent grilled Hamburger and the barbecued chicken with the sweet glaze is a winner too. I like the Mac & Cheese, but the show stopper are the Onion Rings! Large rings of onion deep fried in a lite, crunchy batter, fantastic. There’s a little secret about this spot that I’m willing to share with my fellow Unilocalers, so send me a message and find out. Peace