Fratellos

Really an excellent bar & bar staff with better than average lounge apps. If you’re looking for an awesome thin crust pizza with fresh and organic toppings you need to look no further; Fratello’s has got that down pat! The owners and management seem to have extensive background in the the restaurant business and I look forward to what looks like a bright and exciting future for Fratello’s!

We drove from southernmost Sarasota for the Sunday buffet. As usual, everything was exceptional! The atmosphere, great food, the cleanliness, the friendliness was refreshing! Plentiful choices of food and drink make this an outstanding choice. Love the breakfast pizza! We will be back often.

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I had dinner at here. This was our second time. Food was great both times. My complaint is we initially had a waitress, rhianna, who brought our drinks, took our order, then disappeared. When we first entered the restaurant. She was making the comment… stick a fork in me. I am done. I mentioned this to her when we were placed in her area. Kelli noticed we had not received our food in quite some the and came to the rescue. Kelli was very apologetic, professional, and courteous. When I go back… I will not be seated in rhianna’s section… I found her to be rude and very unprofessional.

OK I’ve been vacationing in Bradenton/​Sarasota for 25 years. I’m from Chicago and people from Chicago are always looking for the best pizza just because we are from Chicago and Chicago is known for some of the best pizza. There are many pizza places that claim they have Chicago style pizza but don’t believe them. There aren’t any good Chicago type pizza’s anywhere in Bradenton or Sarasota UNTIL NOW. Fratello’s Chicago Pizzeria on Cortez in Bradenton, by the way owned by The VanDerNoord Brothers (no, not an Italian name) is the closest I’ve found to Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Very similar to Uno’s or Lou Malnati’s. The design of the restaurant is perfect with those very comfortable high walled booths for privacy… loved it! The pizza, we had a deep dish cheese was filled with lot’s of cheese, covered with a sweet and delicious tomato sauce and the crust was crisp and very tasty. Happy hour is from 3 until 7 with drinks reasonably priced. The staff including our server was very nice and very attentive. I can’t say enough good things about this place. Just try it and if your not from Chicago and you have never tried deep dish pizza, try it at this place. You will not regret it.

My husband and I went here today about 3:30 pm for lunch, Saturday, April 18, 2015. We got a bad vibe as soon as we walked in the door. The place was empty except for a couple of guys at the bar. We told the hostess we had two people and wanted a booth. She walked us thru the bar and all the way to the back of the restaurant in the corner. My husband looked at me like «what the heck?». We waited and waited. Then someone came over and said «Stephanie is your server but she’s busy right now, can I take your drink order?» Ok, we gave her the drink order. Then finally Stephanie came over and took our order. I ordered the Chicken Parmesan with the Island salad. My husband ordered the Island Ribs with a Ceasar salad. The salads were great. Then our food came, the Chicken Parmesan was inedible. The chicken was clearly a frozen pattie and was like rubber. I took a bite of the spaghetti with sauce underneath it and it was very spicy, I did not like it at all. My husband took a taste of it and said it tasted like cinnamon. My husbands Island Ribs were good (we have had them before at the Riverhouse Reef and Grill), but they were cold in the middle. I just ate my bread (which was supposed to be garlic bread but had no butter or garlic on it) and I ate some of my husband’s french fries. When the waitress finally came to check on us, I told her I didnt like it and she asked me if I wanted something else. I said no. She said she would tell the manager that I didnt like it.
A few minutes later, the waitress, Stephanie, threw our bill on the table as she was walking past, and said «Here!». She never told us they took my meal off the bill or anything. The manager never came over either to talk to us. I will never come back to this restaurant, the service was horrendous and the food was not at all good. Even though we did not try the pizza, I would rather go to Joey D’s down the street where the people are friendly and the food is served hot.
Also, my husband wanted a full slab of ribs, he asked the waitress, Stephanie, and she just said «No». Very strange, because when we ate at the Riverhouse Reef and Grill, we got a full slab of ribs without a problem.

Do not waste your time or money. We drove out to Fratellos from Lakewood Ranch with some out of town guests to try out the new facility. We had to wait over 45 minutes for a table for four. Once seated we ordered one personal pizza, one 17 inch pizza and a Chicago style beef sandwich. We then waited over an hour for the food to arrive. We did not order the deep dish pizza as we were told it would be a 45 minute wait. The individual pizza was slightly burned, the 17 inch was OK, and instead of a traditional sub style beef sandwich the kitchen had decided to make three beef sliders which were nothing like a traditional Italian beef. All of the food was luke warm and the sliders contained beef that was fatty and cut thick, again nothing like the traditional. The personal pizza tasted like one of the frozen kind buy at the grocery store, the larger pizza had pretty good tasting sausage but the rest again tasted like frozen. When we mentioned this to the waitress she stated that they were busy tonight and was sorry for the warm food, nothing more. If you advertise yourself as a traditional Chicago style pizza restaurant at least get the style and flavors correct. We will NEVER go back and warn others to be aware that what you think you may get will be nothing like Chicago would ever serve!

I will not be back. Thin pizza was worse than a tortilla. There is nothing Chicago about this food! My son got green nasty manicotti. I can’t believe he even took a bite. Not worth the visit. On a positive note, the only two things going for this place is the interior (but that’s due to the previous restaurant being Stonewood). They also played good 80’s music. I wish I read the previous reviews before driving here.

Please send your chef down to the other end of Cortez Road to Joey D’s to see what a Chicago pizza, ‘nort’ side or south side is really like. And while there have a real Chicago beef sandwich too. With real Giardinera!. I especially like the Maxwell street at joey D’s.
You got the wrong sauce, wrong cheese, wrong dough (almost like a cracker?) and wrong sausage! All you have at Fratello’s is the Chicago Theater Sign!
And while you are at it — your lasagna is awful. What’s the green stuff?
You may have a crowd during season but the locals know the difference. We tried twice. It’s usually 3 strikes rule but the menus is so limited, we had enough after 2. sorry kuz I was really pulling for you.

Very nice! Nice décor and atmosphere. We ordered both thick crust and thin crust pizzas, they were both delicious! You will not leave hungry. Staff was friendly and helpful. We would definitely recommend it!