Francos Italian Restaurant

Franco's Italian Restaurant and Bakery sits in an aging strip mall near the Los Alamitos Race Track, alongside a nutritional supplement shop and a liquor store. From the outside, and even when you first walk in the door, it looks and smells like the kind of pizza joint that serves up thick, fluffy pies oozing with cheese and garlic marinara and plates full of hearty lasagna.

They do.

But the charm and culinary range of this restaurant don't stop there.

Inside the dining room, a bright mural of a Venice waterway overlooks a cozy dining room where small vases of fresh carnations sit atop green and white checkered table cloths. Husbands and wives on dates sit next to groups of businessmen sipping wine and old friends laughing together. The young waiters recite a laundry list of specials every night with admiration, clearly fans of Chef Francisco Gracia's creations. (By JENNIFER MUIR, The Orange County Register)