This former stagecoach stop is a lively spot.
WALK INTO the Franklinville Inn and you might feel as if you've wandered into your grand-
mother's parlor. A warren of dining rooms weaves through three floors of the historic inn, cozy little spaces offset by massive ceiling beams and rustic exposed brick. Floral carpet, ecru linens and soft lighting don't add up to edgy design, but this is the kind of place where -- just like at Grandma's house -- a body can feel at home and the welcome is genuine.
The place is lousy with history, yet there's nothing fusty about the Franklinville. On the contrary, this former stagecoach stop is a lively spot -- from its wood-paneled bar, where everybody seems to be a regular, to its unfussy service and top-notch American fare.
Once a haven for road-weary 18th century travelers following a dirt road between Philadelphia and the ocean resort town of Cape May, the Franklinville marked one-third of the completed journey along what is now known as Delsea Drive. The place was in the middle of nowhere, a crossroads marked by a couple of stores and a few clapboard residences. Over time, the town of Franklinville found its way on the map, with the hotel owned by a series of local families, ebbing and flowing out of fashion and through varying stages of repair.
A restaurant since the 1990s, current owner Mark Lachowicz is the third generation in his family to run the inn, which was purchased by his grandparents Mike and Sophie Lachowicz in 1962. Set on a jaunty angle along the now-paved Delsea Drive, the restaurant seems to be an afterthought, a reminder of a road now less traveled. Yet, even on a weekday, the place is crowded with customers.
Most diners stop by the welcoming bar before dinner, a lounge with its own menu of rib-sticking nibbles (baby back ribs, $12.99; filet cheesesteak, $11.99) and a large selection of wines by the glass, including a top-notch Manoir Grignon Chardonnay ($8). The bar offers at least eight beers on tap, happy hour specials and popular 10-ounce martinis.
Turns out the food and service at this modest roadhouse is so consistently good that the Franklinville Inn was twice named one of the top 100 restaurants in America (2013, 2014) on OpenTable, one of only a few South Jersey eateries to earn the award.
Bet a lot of those diners had the prime rib, massive house cuts of steer so beefy and juicy that the 2-pound queen's cut ($45.99) is reason enough to come to this unincorporated Gloucester County community.
However, the ethereal crab bisque ($7.99) is equally revelatory, a sherry-infused creamy simmer rife with jumbo lumps of crabmeat. Crab is also the star of the stuffed mushrooms ($11.99) -- five jumbo caps erupting with buttery crabmeat, a tasty dip of basil marinara on the side. An appetizer special, flatbread topped with barbecued pulled pork ($11.99), was the only misstep, thanks to an over-swabbing of treacly sauce that tasted like it came out of a bottle.
Besides the prime rib, this is carnivore heaven, from the fork-tender aged petite filet ($25.99) to the marbled New York strip ($34.99). All entrees come with soup and salad, which can include a blue cheese-and-bacon studded wedge for an extra -- and advisable -- $4.99. There's chicken, too -- Marsala or piccata ($24.99) -- and an outstanding broiled seafood combo ($34.99) that shows how brilliantly less can be more when pristine seafood steals the show. In this case, the combo included a lovely piece of Jersey fluke, two huge seared scallops, a crab cake tinged with Old Bay and a truly jumbo shrimp stuffed with even more crustacean.
How often do you pay $30-something for an entree and believe you got a great deal? That's what happens here.
A perfect creme brulee ($8.99), singed tableside, and a mammoth slab of salted caramel cheesecake ($8.99) are two more reasons to love the Franklinville Inn, an oasis of good taste that lives up to its reputation.
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