Frank & Simon’s Great Food
By: Mr. T on
February 13, 2011
Frank & Simon’s is a locally-owned deli with sandwiches, salads, Chicago-style hot dogs, and meatball hoagies.
Although Lincoln has its fair share of sandwich joints, F&S places an emphasis on fresh and homemade eats with some traditional classics, healthy items, and quick service. They are located in the West Gate strip mall off of West O.
One of the main draws of F&S are the homemade protein salads. They offer chicken salad ($4.49), tuna salad ($3.99), and egg salad ($3.89) on poppy seed buns, hoagie buns, or wheat tortillas. I am a big fan of both tuna and egg salad sandwiches and had to try these out.
Tuna and egg salad are fundamental staples of American sandwich cuisine, and should serve as the bedrock of any good deli. Many sandwich places make the mistake of diluting their tuna or egg salad with an overdose of mayonnaise and/or mustard until it has both the consistency and appearance of runny, unnatural-looking ooze (*cough* Panera *cough*). Not so with Frank & Simon’s. The tuna salad was filled with hearty, large chunks of tuna – a true protein salad. The egg salad was equally impressive, with a lot of freshly-chopped egg and some complimentary mayo and spices. Everything tasted very fresh. Unfortunately, I didn’t try the chicken salad, but the ingredients seemed very tempting (roasted, pulled chicken with grapes, pecans, and celery).
In addition to the protein salads, F&S has a variety of mixed fruit and vegetable salads in small ($2.49) and large ($4.39) portions, including “Orchard Salad” (mixed greens with apple, celery, walnuts, dates (!), and citrus dressing), and “Simon’s Salad” (mixed greens with cucumber, tomato, mozzarella cheese, onion, and vinegar & oil dressing). It is so nice to see healthy items like this on local menus!
Frank & Simon’s also have quarter-pound, Chicago-style beef hot dogs for $4.49 (mustard, relish, onion, dill pickle slice, tomato, peppers, celery salt) and meatball hoagies with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce ($4.59). I did not try these but I believe Mr. Wilson scarfed down both these items faster than a Middle Eastern revolution. We had a few “sampler plates” (above) with all of these great offerings.
Besides the sandwiches and salads, F&S also has a hot soup of the day, and freshly made cookies and muffins. Their orange muffin is made with real oranges and Grape Nuts cereal, which caught our eye. I also tried their blueberry muffin made with fresh sour cream, which was an excellent, bite-sized dessert after lunch.
Finally, F&S also offer cookie dough and homemade dips to go. We were definitely impressed with their hot pepper dip, which is both very rich and very hot. I am guessing it’s a mix of chilled sour cream, cream cheese, and jalapeno peppers. It was so good I bought a container ($2.99) to bring home with me (above).
I have to admit – upon first learning that Frank & Simon’s was opening up on West O, I was a bit pessimistic. This is a fantastic, locally-owned deli with great food, but West O has always struck me as being a bit of a wasteland. However, it is definitely possible to do well out there (e.g. D’Leon’s), especially if you are offering fresh, homemade sandwiches and salads on a daily basis. Plus, they are located in a well-trafficked area of West O, near the Sunmart and Randy's Donuts. I will definitely be heading back to F&S.
Frank & Simon’s will open to the public on Valentine’s Day, this coming Monday, February 14, 2011. Hours: Monday-Friday 10 am - 6 pm, Saturday 10 am - 3 pm. 201 Capitol Beach Blvd Ste 1B.
Comments
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I sampled a little of everything (as you can see from the photo of my plate above). It was all excellent. I’m eager to go back and try various items as they were intended to be eaten, as opposed to the small sampler portions I had on Saturday.
I have to echo Mr. T’s initial concerns about the location. West O is tough because, well, many Lincolnites just plain don’t go over there. As with Air Park, it’s an area that most folks don’t visit “just because”. But as he noted it’s certainly possible to do well in spite of all that. D’Leon’s is the most prominent example; Frank & Simon’s neighbor Randy’s Donuts is another one.
I wish Frank & Simon’s the best. They have a good atmosphere, great food, and friendly people. You can’t ask for much more than that.
I went to Frank and Simon’s for lunch today. You are right, it is very good. I had a Chicago Style Hot Dog and the Tomato/Basil soup. My only regret is I didn’t have room to try any of the Potato/Bacon soup today. It smelled great. I will be back.
On my way back to work I drove SunValley Blvd for the first time in a while. Noticed Super Taco II has left “the building where restaurants go to die” empty.
I also went to Frank & Simon’s for lunch today. I had the chicken salad and a cookie. It was wonderful! I love the idea of fresh and local so it was totally worth the drive. I wish them the best of luck and plan to go back very soon.
Yeah, Super Taco II has been closed for a few months now I believe. Kind of sad as I enjoyed that place a lot.
I’m also headed back to Frank and Simon’s soon. Glad to hear you gave them some of your business today.
I also was inspired to try the new Egg & I in the Clocktower area this morning. They opened yesterday.
It was “eggs"actly what I figured. Very good, very well organized, very ordinary.
Nicely painted with a cutesy menu. Think Perkins with better service. Village Inn without a hint of aqua or orange.
Had the french toast, side of crisp bacon, and coffee. $10.66 before gratuity.
This is the sort of place that does well on interstate off ramps. Nothing wrong with it but also nothing special.
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