Franks Pizza & Bar in Vancouver Has Made Its Strange Comeback
Corduroy Pie was probably our favourite pizza in Vancouver.
AJ’s has a great vibe and solid pizza. Farina felt like a quick slice in New York. Via Tevere is a great choice for neo-Neapolitan. Thank You Pizza hadn’t popped up yet. But Corduroy was the one.
The place was tiny, always busy, and smelled like garlic, dough, and craft beer. Guy Fieri went there and loved it. So did we.
Chef Graham Marceau made pizzas we still think about. The lamb sausage pie with grapes and kale. The amatriciana one with the homemade spicy red sauce. The bacon and brussels sprouts. We once went with six people and ordered twelve pizzas. No regrets.
You could sit at the bar, sip something cold, and watch the friendly team there shovel pies in and out of the oven like it was theatre.
Then it was gone.
Now it's back. Kind of. Frank’s Pizza & Bar has that same spirit. The same chef. Some of the same pies.
We had to go.
Frank’s Pizza has the same energy as Corduroy. Same kind of menu. Same kind of vibe. Share plates, big round pies, pan pizza if you want it, and that’s it. No fluff. No pasta. One salad. really, it’s just pizza.
It’s inside Resurrection Spirits, which is already one of the coolest spots in East Van. Big glass windows. You can see the stills behind the bar. It smells like dough, gin, and burnt cheese. That’s a good thing. The place is always buzzing with people and groups splitting cocktails and yelling about the dips….more on those later. The server came fast. Friendly, casual, knew the menu. Didn’t over-explain anything. We asked for suggestions. They told us what gets ordered most but said all of them hit.
We ordered three pizzas. Two rounds, one pan. No slices here…these are full pies only. It’s pricey, yeah. But it feels like it should be.
Then came the real choice: the dips.
They give you a list. It’s longer than some wine menus in this city. We picked six. Maybe seven. Might’ve blacked out during the aioli talk.
We also got drinks. One of us had a spicy gin sour. The other got something with coconut and egg white. Both were great. Cold, sharp, made with house spirits.
The night was going well. Pizza hadn’t even hit the table yet.
Then the Mr. Steinbrenner came out. Big, round, and charred just right. The fennel sausage was salty and rich, the olives briny, and the balsamic peppers added just the right tang. It tasted like an old-school Italian sandwich but better. Then, the Don the Jeweller. This one was a monster. Scallion cream instead of tomato sauce. Pineapple, but not in a lazy, from-a-can kind of way. It had pickled chillies, red onion, and tarragon aioli. Sweet, spicy, smoky, all at once. This is the kind of pizza that makes you rethink good pizza. And finally, the Bee Sting. Pepperoni, pickled chillies, and a drizzle of honey. You bite in and get the crunch, the chew, the heat, the sweetness…
These pizzas are big. The kind you need two hands to fold. The kind that leaves grease on your fingers and cheese strings in the air. You keep eating even when you're full because stopping feels like a mistake. A future regret.
Then came the dips. You have to get the dips.
We went overboard. Meyer lemon ranch. Charred scallion cream. Vodka sauce. Sriracha aioli. Cacio e pepe cream. We dunked crusts and each one hit different. Some were sharp, some were rich. We also got the cacio crust upgrade, which means they coat the pizza edges in cacio e pepe cream and grated parm. Stupidly good. How is that not a thing every place does?!
The drinks kept up. A negroni made with house gin. A whiskey sour that tasted like it had been shaken a thousand times. Cocktails this good are rare in a pizza place. Pizza this good is rare anywhere. It reminded us of…well, Corduroy Pie. We sat there for a while. Talked. Ate slow. Watched people around us doing the same. Frank’s isn’t a place to rush through. You come, you stay, you eat.
And when you leave, you start planning when you’ll be back.
If you loved Corduroy Pie, you need to go to Frank’s. Simple as that. If you never got the chance, don’t wait. This is some of the best pizza in Vancouver. Some of the best in BC. Maybe even our favourite in Canada!…though Noble Pie in Calgary and Badiali in Toronto make it a fight.
Frank’s does it right. No shortcuts, no gimmicks. Just killer pizza, great drinks, and a room that feels like you’re in on something. It’s not cheap, but it shouldn’t be.
Would we come back? Already planning it.
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