Man’s Best Friend Is Namesake at Frank’s Café

BOARDMAN, Ohio – The owners of Frank’s Café celebrated a dream come true Friday morning at a ribbon-cutting to mark the restaurant’s grand opening.

The new restaurant, 8414 Market St., is co-owned by Danielle Davis and Raphe Neapolitan. The café’s namesake, Davis’ boxer-Cane Corso mix pooch, had to stay home.

Although this is Davis’ first venture into owning a restaurant, she’s no stranger to nutrition and cooking. She worked as food service director for Poland Local Schools and “was always in the kitchen with my grandmas, my nonna and my mom” when she was growing up.

Neapolitan is also co-owner of the Landmark restaurants and said someone suggested the Market Street location would be a great place for another Landmark.

“We came here to check it out and it didn’t feel like a Landmark,” Neapolitan said, with Davis nodding in agreement.

They talked about Davis’ idea of having her own café and decided it was the perfect space for what would come to be known as Frank’s. Once the business was squared away, Davis began thinking about names. “Any other name (for the café) I thought of, it just didn’t fit. Frank’s kind of stuck,” she said.

The owners invested about $50,000 in the café, which has seven employees. “We started out slow but now we’ve been busy,” Neapolitan said. Customers stopped by throughout the ribbon cutting celebration.

Both Davis and Neapolitan are passionate about healthier foods, and try to incorporate more fruit and vegetable options in the menu at Frank’s.

Frank’s Café is near several local businesses whose products are on the menu – including coffee from next-door neighbor Stone Fruit and bread from The Bread Chef.

The kitchen prepares food using fresh vegetables and bread, and the restaurant offers foods for those with special dietary needs.

Davis’ favorite menu item is the Big Franks wrap, which has hummus, fresh vegetables and goat cheese. “I make it all the time at home for us, so it just became part of the menu,” she said.

Neapolitan enjoys the toast selections, which can be personalized with hummus and avocado.
The owners also offer catering.

Hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Pictured: Raphe Neapolitan and Danielle Davis.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.