Hilltop comfort food, and then some...

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What makes Italian-American restaurant fare the ultimate comfort food? Is it the simplicity (and affordability) of a plate of spaghetti and sauce? The sheer ubiquity of Italian cuisine in Anytown, USA? The fact that just about anyone, from carnivore to vegetarian to vegan, can select from a wide variety of choices on the menu?

No matter the reason, we approached Franco's Restaurant, nestled into the same South Hill nook as Rogan's Corner, with comfort in mind, and that÷s what we found. From the friendly staff to the simple brick-and-wood décor, Franco's is a pleasant and relaxing place to enjoy a meal. (The proximity to Rogan's is no accident; the trio of businesses nestled below the corner of Coddington Road and Route 96B share their family ownership.)

It's a good thing. I never expected a shortage of Italian eateries in Ithaca, but with two long-time favorites closing in the last few months, it's nice to have new options.

Off to a good start

Victoria, our waitress, thought we'd enjoy "Franco's hot antipasto" as an appetizer, and she was right. Perfect for sharing, this plate comes with slices of batter-fried eggplant, stuffed mushrooms, clams, and calamari, with tomato sauce for dipping. The calamari seemed a little on the soggy side, but was tender and not at all chewy. My favorite was the mushrooms, and since I was dining with one of those odd folks for whom "food" and "fungus" are mutually exclusive concepts, they were all mine!

Most of the entrées at Franco's come with "bottomless salad" and breadsticks, but no matter how familiar the concept sounds, Franco's does it better. The crisp, fresh salad comes with a choice of dressings (the bottomless bowl arrives with dressings on the side, so it matters not if you're not in the everyone-gets-the-same-dressing camp), and I found the raspberry-walnut vinaigrette a tangy and refreshing treat. Even better were the garlic breadsticks, freshly baked, doughy, spicy, hot, and ready to be pulled apart.

Speaking of the entrées...

Franco's menu features the expected array of pastas and sauces, parmigiana entrées, steaks, and subs. A bit farther from the beaten path are the grilled veggies with pine nuts and sundried tomatoes over linguini, the shrimp and feta, and the margherita pizzas with fresh garlic and marinara sauce. We were also intrigued by the "Mixing it Up" dinner selections, presented as a matrix of prices that apply when combining such entrées as prime rib, chicken parm, or London broil with add-ons like grilled salmon, shrimp scampi, or a lobster tail.

No doubt I'll get around to trying more of the daily menu choices, but this time around, the board listing Franco's specials for the evening captured my eye. My dining companion and I were both intrigued by both the chicken and snow crab gondola, and scallops carbonara served over pasta. So, we decided to split both. A carafe of the house pinot grigio completed the picture.

The sea scallops went well with the carbonara sauce, in this case a mild Alfredo-style sauce with bacon and onion, though they could also have stood up to a heartier version of this popular stick-to-your-ribs pasta sauce.

The creamy white wine sauce on the chicken and snow crab gondola worked well with the fresh spinach in the dish, a generous portion of boneless chicken breast sprinkled liberally with crabmeat. Our selected side dish, the garlic mashed potatoes that Victoria recommended, reminded me of the steakhouse favorite, coarse and complete with pieces of potato skin. We couldn't finish all of the chicken, but the last fillet sure made a good sandwich a couple of days later!

Neither of us needed dessert, as such, but when Victoria offered to bring the dessert tray by for a look, how could we refuse? It's great that Franco's has a slice of each dessert on a tray, so your waiter or waitress can tempt you not only by describing the desserts, but also by waving them in front of you. (If a picture is worth a thousand words, a dessert tray has the persuasive power of a Tom Clancy novel.) Even though it didn't look like tiramisu, we selected the dessert by that name. It turned out to be a delicious white cake with a chocolate crumb crust whose flavors did bear a resemblance to the legendary Italian dessert specialty. The chocolate-covered espresso bean atop the tuft of whipped cream was a nice touch.

Franco's is known for its spectacular view of the valley, but also for its $9.95 early-bird dinners. Since they include your entrée, salad, breadsticks, and a side dish, and the choices aren't as limited as you might expect, these dinners, available from 4­6 pm through Thursday night, are a bargain. Otherwise, plan on spending $10 per person or so for a basic meal, to $25 or more for the fancier fare with appetizers and drinks.