One of Vancouver's most recommended pizza restaurants is hidden inside a distillery

Like most Vancouverites, we are well-acquainted with the city’s most prominent pizza establishments. Think Nonna’s Cucina, Virtuous Pie, AJ’s Brooklyn Pizza, and plenty more. However, when we recently put out a call for pizza recommendations in the city, we received a huge number of recommendations for Frank’s Pizza.

So, like the investigative journalists we are, we decided to dive deeper and figure out what all the hype is about this pizza joint that technically doesn’t even have a storefront.

Frank’s Pizza operates out of Resurrection Spirits, located in the heart of East Vancouver’s Industrial area. It’s one of those spots where if you know, you know.

During our visit, we had the chance to talk with Travis McCord about how Frank’s Pizza got its start, the secret behind what makes it so good, and, more importantly, who exactly is “Frank.”

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The idea for Frank’s came in pursuit of reinventing the food offerings at Resurrection Spirits, McCord told Dished.

“Before we were doing tapas and snacks and a little bit too, like, high-end,” explained McCord. Plus, having done pizza at some of Resurrection’s sister concepts like Way Back Brewing and Noble at the Hills, McCord said he knew he wanted to bring that same good pizza here.

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But what sets Frank’s Pizza apart from Way Back Brewing and Noble at the Hills? It’s a delicious fermented dough, alongside some more inventive offerings in terms of toppings.

Particularly, McCord gave high praise to one of Frank’s pan pizzas called The Spicy Vodka. A 13×18 square pizza is topped with vodka sauce, parmesan, aged mozzarella, oregano, chili flakes, stracciatella cheese, fresh basil, and Sicilian olive oil. Expect a pretty epic cheese pull from this pie.

Another pizza we got to try was one created by the executive chef at Frank’s Pizza, Alejandro Santana, called The Notorious P.I.E., which Santana said was his favourite pizza in the world.

He starts by coating the edges with olive oil, then adding red sauce and Grana Padano before tossing it in the oven to cook. Once cooked, it gets topped with fresh arugula, Stracciatella, cherry tomatoes, little bundles of prosciutto, Pecorino Romano, and some balsamic glaze. Think of a charcuterie board, except the board is edible and made out of pizza dough.

Another creation courtesy of Santana that is not quite pizza is the Meatballs, which are made with a combination of beef and pork, served in a pool of delicious sauce, and a side of that delicious pizza dough with tomato sauce, perfect for dipping.

But you may be wondering by now, who the heck is Frank? Well, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there actually is no Frank at all.

“It’s kind of funny. Frank is nobody. There is no Frank that’s any part of our company,” said McCord.

Instead, McCord said that the name came partly because Frank’s and Resurrection Spirits are located on Franklin and Commercial Drive, but also because Frank sounds like someone you’d buy a slice from in Brooklyn.

You can visit Frank’s Pizza, located inside Resurrection Spirits, from Wednesday to Sunday, starting at 4 p.m.

Frank’s Pizza

Address: 1672 Franklin St., Vancouver

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