Italian and Lithuanian immigrants became regulars, and customers shared neighborhood stories. He learned how to cut hair and shave patrons.īy 1931, at age 16, Frankie opened a barbershop of his own. In an effort to help the family, Peter’s eldest son Frankie dropped out of school at age 12 to work in a neighborhood barbershop cleaning spittoons for a nickel apiece. Peter worked by day at a factory making boxes and by night was a mandolin player at the Vaudeville Theater. He was one of five children raised by Rose and Peter Caiazzo, recent immigrants to America from Naples, Italy. courtesy of Frank Purcaroįrancesco “Frankie” Caiazzo was born in the Brooklyn section of Waterbury in April 1915. The original sign still stands next to the restaurant and displays the restaurant’s popular Depression-era slogan, “Come In And Eat Or We’ll Both Starve,” a clever pitch created by the two young entrepreneurs who risked all they owned to open the restaurant.įrankie Caiazzo (left) and Paul Caiazzo (right) with their father Peter Caiazzo, c.
The building’s open-air, utilitarian design also reflects the Brass City’s hardworking, blue collar community. Among its offerings: the Italian Frankie with peppers and onions the Irish Frankie with bacon and the Portuguese Frankie with mushrooms and onions. Family owned and operated since its founding in 1937, Frankies has been a fast-food institution in Waterbury for nearly three-quarters of a century.įrom the beginning the Frankies menu reflected the diversity of Waterbury’s residents. Few of these open-air stand shave survived, and even fewer have enjoyed the enduring success of Frankies. Today, pulling your car into the Watertown Avenue location will bring you back to a time when drive-up roadside restaurants were a ubiquitous part of the American landscape.
Or, you may be one of the countless individuals passing through Waterbury on I-84 who have found it hard to pass up the opportunity to stop in for one of their famous foot-long hot dogs.
If you grew up in the Greater Waterbury area, chances are you have eaten at Frankies. Note: The company has used both “Frankies” and “Frankie’s.” We have opted to use “Frankies,” which is how the company name appears on the company’s Web site. Original Frankies sign and Depression-era slogan at their Watertown Avenue restaurant.
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