Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Frank Conforti Jr. — along with the three generations of the Conforti family who have run Frankie’s Deli for more than half a century — will be the guests of honor at Casa Italia’s 54th annual gala. The event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 8, at The Carlisle in Lombard.
Joining Frank Jr. in the spotlight will be his parents, Frank Sr. and Connie, and his son Mario, who have played key roles in making Frankie’s one of the most popular Italian food emporiums in the western suburbs, along with his wife, Linda, their son Frankie and son-in-law, Dominick Carmignani, who have pitched in as needed.
“The Conforti family are a true Italian American success story,” says gala chairperson Lisa Turano. “Frank and Connie came from Italy with little more than a dream of a better life and created a business that has nurtured their family and countless loyal customers for decades.”
Frank Sr. arrived from Calabria when he was 17 and Connie from Sicily when she was 11. The two met in Chicago and were married on Sept. 1, 1963. They opened a small Italian deli and specialty store at Belmont and Central avenues in Chicago a year later.
“I made salami and sausage when I was in Italy, and I wanted to do something I was familiar with,” Frank Sr. recalls. “It was hard work. There are no shortcuts when you’re serving the public. People kept coming back because of the good food and service we offer. Everything is made right here.”
As the popularity of their business grew, so did their need for space, prompting moves to an initial location in Yorktown Shopping Center in 1976 and a larger one elsewhere in the mall in 2000.
Frank Jr. joined the family business in 1977 at the tender age of 11, beginning by restocking shelves at 10 cents a box and later tending to every aspect of the operations before taking charge in 2000.
“When I started, it was just me and my parents. We didn’t hire staff until a year later,” he recalls. “I learned the business from the ground up so there were no surprises when I took over.”
Frank’s wife-to-be worked at the store on weekends while they were engaged. They were married on Aug. 28, 1993, raising a family that grew to include Mario, Christina and Frank III while Linda developed a successful real estate practice.
Life threw the family a curveball in 2019 when they lost their lease. But when God closes one door, he opens a bigger one, as the saying goes. After a mad scramble to find a new home, they settled on their current location in Oakbrook Terrace.
The new Frankie’s is a wonder to behold: a finished-wood-and-glass masterpiece with a high ceiling, black-metal accents and a white limestone wall separating an ample, modern kitchen from the rest of the store.
The long lines of customers that form every day wend their way between freezers filled with ready-to-heat meals; aisles brimming with Italian specialty items; and deli cases stocked with premium meats and cheeses, hot and cold prepared dishes, and farm-fresh butcher items.
Dozens of made-to-order hot and cold sandwiches can still be purchased to go, along with packaged wine and beer. And customers can stick around and enjoy their food and beverages at an indoor dining area that seats 60 as well as a landscaped patio that can accommodate another 100.
Mario now oversees operations, with Frankie and brother-in-law Dominick lending a hand on weekends and as needed.
“We put in long hours, but nothing beats working with family members to make your business a success,” Frank Jr. says. “It’s truly a blessing.”
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