Fricano’s (Alamo Township)
7454 N. 6th StreetWait a second. I thought Fricano’s in Alamo Township closed late last year. I remember seeing Facebook posts and news articles announcing the closing through the end of 2021 but I never saw anything about them reopening in 2022.
L is playing Little League this year at Westwood and there aren’t enough Little Majors softball teams so they’re having to travel a little bit. Last Tuesday, they played at Alamo Little League.
I was coming from work in Grand Rapids so I got off the highway at D Avenue to get to the Little League fields on DE Avenue near 6th Street.
I was a little surprised when I drove by Fricano’s because there were cars in the parking lot and I could see people sitting out on the deck. I had no idea they had reopened so this came as a little bit of a surprise.
I told J they were open when I got the fields and we noticed some advertising for them there as well. We didn’t have dinner plans so as L’s game was wrapping up, she asked if I wanted to order a couple of pizzas.
Fricano’s of Alamo is in a really odd location. It’s on 6th Street north of West DE Avenue. I say it’s an odd location because there’s nothing else out that way. The restaurant is kind of on an island. If you go to Fricano’s to eat, in most cases you’re making a very deliberate decision to go there to eat. It’s not something you’re just going to drive by and be like, we should go there for dinner…unless you’re at the Little League fields like we were.
It’s been years since we’ve actually been to Fricano’s. The last time we were there was in 2010. We enjoyed the food but we just never think of Fricano’s when we’re talking about dinner. This was the perfect opportunity for us to get back to a place with pizza we really enjoyed.
I called in my order from the Little League fields and was told it would be about twenty minutes. We still had to do team snack and I let B play on the playground for a little while to kill some time.
I walked in to the restaurant behind another group so the host took them to their table while I waited in a little waiting area for him to come back.
The restaurant has been around for quite a while and the layout still shows the smoking days when half walls open ceilings were apparently enough to keep smoke from going from one section to another.
The decor is pretty typical Italian. There’s Italian themed murals painted on walls, red gingham table clothes, and walls covered with brick. The restaurant is quite large between the dining rooms, bar area, and patio. As this was a Tuesday night, there wasn’t a rush but there were still quite a few people eating dinner at 8:00.
A waitress saw me standing at the host stand and asked if I’d been helped. I told her I was just there to pick up a carry-out order. She pointed me towards the bar.
I had put in an order for two pepperoni pizzas and one pepperoni and sausage. I remember the pizzas being really thin crust so I wasn’t sure if two was going to be enough. The cost for all three was right under $40.
Everyone was waiting for me when I got home with the three boxes. I opened up the pepperoni first and started dishing out slices. The pizzas are super thing crust. They’re not quite a cracker thin crust like you’d get from a good tavern in Chicago but more of a paper thing. The crust isn’t super crispy. It’s actually quite soft. The flavor is fantastic though. The thin layer of sauce holds on a golden brown layer of cheese and some pretty spicy pepperonis.
The pizza I grabbed for myself was almost the same but had some delicious little balls of sausage on top. I had no problem finishing off this 12″ pizza on my own but even if I couldn’t no one in my house would eat a sausage pizza….weirdos.
We ended up with a whole pizza left over that I took to work the next day. It’s amazing how when I order an extra pizza, no one is hungry. But if I don’t order the extra pizza, I won’t get anyone because everyone else will devour it.
Seeing Fricano’s open was a nice little surprise. We haven’t thought about the place in years so it was nice to get back there again. We enjoyed the place the last time we ate there but it’s easy to forget about due to the location several miles from West Main Street. I’m sure we’ll have more baseball/softball game at Alamo over the next few years and picking up a pizza after the game is a great option to have.
SW Michigan Dining 