A pizza and a glass of wine at Lil’ Frankie’s bar is the definition of low-maintenance East Village dining, if “dining” is the right word for this kind of easy, visceral wish fulfillment. The pizzas here aren’t making grand claims to Neapolitan authenticity or oldest-coal-oven-in-New-York or whatever, but they’re satisfyingly bubbling, charred pies with substance and style and solid, straight-shooting ingredients: from the mushrooms and fresh mozzarella on the pizza funghi, to the cherry tomatoes and arugula on the Angelina, to the spicy salami or homemade sausage or basil-mozzarella-tomato on the eternally craveable margherita. As with so, so many NYC restaurants worth a damn, the best time to arrive and not be shell-shocked by the wait time (they don’t take reservations) is to show up by 7 or even earlier if you can swing it. Or very late.
Lil’ Frankies. 19 First Ave. at 2nd St.; 212-420-4900.
Prices/Features: CHP, VGT (See Welcome to Salmaland for key to letter abbreviations.)