The Franklinville Inn

Delsea Drive & Cole Mills Road
Franklinville, NJ
(856) 694-1577

I moved to Cumberland County 12 years ago. The area is a bit inland from the shore that I grew up at. At the beach, one dines on seafood caught the day he eats it. One learns to be skeptical of seafood served inland.

As I acclimated myself to my new surroundings here, I kept hearing about The Franklinville Inn. The refrain I heard over and over was that they served the best crab cakes. Growing up in Cape May, I knew better.

I did not immediately try out the restaurant either. It was not until December 1999 when I was extremely ill that I actually went there. I do not believe I tried the crab cakes then. But I returned soon after (I was now healthy) and did try the recommendation. Thus began a love affair that continues.

Indeed, The Franklinville Inn does indeed have the finest crab cakes ever made. Forget the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Forget that little place we used to go to when at SAS. The broiled cakes here in little old Franklinville, NJ are to die for. There is virtually no filling. The cakes are large and meaty. The thought of them makes me salivate.

Gert and I like dining here and it is definitely in our rotation. Yet, it seems like it has been a while since we have been here. We think it was last spring.

The Inn is a restored stagecoach inn. It is a fine dining restaurant with a casual approach. The clientele spans the spectrum in dress: from suits to jeans and trucker hats. The restaurant does not take reservations. That is the one complaint about it. Despite wanting to dine early, we were treated this evening to a 65 minute wait. It was Gert’s night to imbibe, so we sat at the bar. A $20 was well used on a Kaluha and Cream and a draught. The hour wait had me nursing the beer (and a follow-up) while Gert sucked down her cocktails. The bar snacks included wasabi encrusted peanuts. They packed a punch. We were finally called and sat in the dining room along the Coles Mill side of the building.

Amanda was our waitress. She seemed like an affable girl, but as we would soon learn, she was not a good waitress. She sped through the specials, which included a macadamia encrusted Chilean Sea Bass. That sounded good, but we were here for the crab cakes. Gert and I ordered the same entreé: Inn’s Crab Cake and Filet Mignon. We started with a Caesar salad. The Inn adds tomatoes to this salad, which we have always found odd. This time the tomatoes were chopped. They are usually sliced. I added a crock of the crab bisque, a house specialty. Gert was holding off for dessert.

Our drinks came speedily, but we waited some time for our salads and the bread to arrive. Before we were finished with the salads, a rapidly boiling crock of bisque was placed on the table. It could have been used as a lethal weapon at that point. Then we waited.

And waited. Eventaully, Amanda arrived with our entreés. She left the salad plates and the crock. Tsk tsk . . .

The food was as good as always. The wait, the cocktails, and the bar food took the pleasantness of the meal away. We each ate about half our meal and asked to have the rest boxed. We also ordered a piece of the peanut butter pie for Gert to go. Amanda said that as soon as they were available, she would bring it to us. She then promptly left our plates on the table. And we waited . . . and waited . . .

She then came back ad took the food. The crock was still on the table. Some time later she arrived with the bag of food. We then had to request the check. Fortunately, we did not need change and were able to leave at that point.

The Franklinville Inn has a very good menu. We tend to eat the same thing every time, but we can attest that the ribs are very good as well as the other filets. I have had stuffed flounder here a few times and it is good, but not as good as Cape May’s Lobster House.

We recommend the Inn, but caution against having Amanda as a waitress.

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8 Responses to “The Franklinville Inn”

  1. By Natalie Gigliotti on Oct 18, 2007

    I just wanted to say that the owner at the Franklinville Inn is a creep to work for. I do not know Amanda but I did work there for a very short period. Yes the food is excellent, the service is great also because it better be or else. That is expected. Mark wants nothing but the best for his customers, however he treats his employees who are working hard for him to make his money, like crap. He acts as if he is the only Restaurant owner in the world who knows what he is talking about, brags about how rich he is, and yells at his Chef’s like they are two and he is not even a Chef, go figure! The business got handed down to him, and I am almost certain he never attended 1 culinary class in his life. The food is good so he must be doing something right, he just has a personality of a wet mop that’s all.

  2. By Lisa Scott on Oct 20, 2007

    To work for Mark, his biggest pet peeve is using “slang”, but he ridicules using constructive critizism. Suppose Joe Peschi or Robert DiNiro came to his establishment for a fine Dining experience with thier heavy New York accent/slang, would he ridicule them? Of course not any Customer for that matter. He is a hypocrit and a fony. He is nice as pie in the Dining area, but in the Kitchen he is like Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. He also pays his employees to rat on each other and coaches them to say how much they love working for him. Like I said, the money is good, working for him however, is like working for the Devil himself.

  3. By John DeNado on Oct 22, 2007

    That is why Mark has no friends. It is a snobbish Restaurant and everyone is a stoneface.

  4. By Lisa on Oct 23, 2007

    Well I can not seem to delete Natalie’s comment, it was actually from me, Lisa Scott. It was an accident and I apologize for clicking on to her name using automatic form filler. Natalie is a wonderful person, I am the devious revengeful one! I would never purposely throw her name into something she has nothing to do with- Mark, you know it wasn’t her because it said she worked for you, yes that was me but swear I have no reason to lie that it really was an accident or any reason to hide behind anyone because I have already revealed myself prior to. Sorry Nat, your my girl and would never do this on purpose. You know there is no shame in my game!

  5. By Bob on Oct 23, 2007

    I am not certain what is going on with this post, but I can assure readers that comment #1 and #2 above were made from the same IP address. I noticed it when they were posted.

    Allow me to suggest that you keep the personal attacks amongst yourselves.

  6. By Lisa Scott on Oct 30, 2007

    Yes Philippines, could be beneficial. In certain cases, however, volatile tactics may not be a wise decision. Karma has a funny way of turning around and biting you in the you-know-where!

  7. By Lisa Scott on Oct 31, 2007

    That is the only experience you need to work for him, I was being sarcastic. It is so funny to see him yelling at a Chef one week “It is not the same damn thing, I’ve been doing this 17 freakin’ years…blah,blah,blah” and then see him in Church helping collect donations the next week. What a fony!

  8. By Bob on Nov 3, 2007

    I believe this is the first post that I have locked to comments. This discussion seems best suited for another venue.

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