Frankie's Spells Comfort P-I-Z-Z-A

Some towns have a restaurant that doubles as a living room. In Mendocino, that place is Frankie's.

It started in August 2004, when Mary Muto opened a spot in the village that served pizza, salads, and scoops of Cowlick's ice cream in a room that felt, from day one, like it had always been there. It caught on the way the best small-town places do — not with fanfare, but by being reliably good and reliably open.

In 2007 the reins passed to Ruth and her husband, S.A., who expanded the kitchen and the menu. The commitment they built on is still the whole point: organic, sustainable, and locally grown ingredients wherever they can get them, worked into everything from the handcrafted pizzas to fresh falafel, seasonal salads, soups, and chili. It is homemade food in the honest sense of the word.

More than two decades in, Frankie's has settled into the role of village fixture — the place you take the kids for ice cream, duck into out of the coastal fog, or land at when you want a pizza and don't want to think too hard about it. Unhurried, welcoming, and comfortable in its own skin.

If you're in Mendocino, it's an easy recommendation: order a pie, save room for a scoop of Cowlick's, and stay a while.