{"id":24280,"date":"2026-06-13T06:23:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T06:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/24280\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T06:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T06:23:37","slug":"frankies-italian-deli-ramps-up-menu-following-new-york-knicks-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/24280\/","title":{"rendered":"Frankie\u2019s Italian Deli ramps up menu following New York Knicks hype"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Riverview \"Riverview Riverview restaurant brings Knick’s excitement <\/a> <\/p>\n

As the New York Knicks continue to dominate, Frankie’s Italian Deli in Riverview has hyped up its menu with new specialty items. Francesca Leo, owner of Frankie’s, talks about how to store was created and what they’re doing for the NBA finals.<\/p>\n

RIVERVIEW, Fla. – A popular Italian deli in Riverview is ramping up its menu items as it celebrates the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

Frankie\u2019s Italian Deli <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Frankie\u2019s Italian Deli, located in Riverview, houses fans of the New York Knicks, with signage all over the store.<\/p>\n

Francesca Leo, owner of Frankie\u2019s, shared how the deli became so popular during the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n

“We started having customers coming in taking pictures with our mural, and I was like \u2018why not add some dessert, some food-inspired\u2019,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

From there, several classic items were turned into Knick\u2019s merchandise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We made Knicks bagels we have Knicks-inspired desserts. We did the viral dot cakes, but we did them Knicks-themed,” she added.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

And fans have come from everywhere, including Leo\u2019s own family.<\/p>\n

“If you’ve come into Frankie’s, my dad has stopped you. \u2018Hey, you watch basketball?\u2019 He tries to talk basketball with everybody,” Leo said.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Knick\u2019s inspired cuisine includes:<\/p>\n

Colored bagelsBrunson\u2019s bodega orderKnick\u2019s rainbow cookiesBlack and white cookies <\/p>\n

Frankie\u2019s Italian Deli also unveiled a new sandwich called the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The sandwich includes chicken cutlet, baked prosciutto, arugula, fresh mozzarella, topped off with Frankie\u2019s \u2018forgetaboutit\u2019 sauce.<\/p>\n

The beginning <\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The long-island native reflected on how the store began.<\/p>\n

She said she was in grad school a few years ago in Florida, and fell in love with Tampa. But when the COVID pandemic hit, she left college and decided to pursue a restaurant idea.<\/p>\n

“I brainstormed with my mom and my dad and I was just like, hey, why don’t we open up an Italian deli? We have all of our family recipes that everyone loved at home,” she said. “So I was, like, why not bring it to the community?”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

So, Leo and her family opened Frankie\u2019s Italian Deli.<\/p>\n

Chicken Cutlet Tacos <\/p>\n

The recent hype around their Knick\u2019s-themed food wasn\u2019t what put the family-owned store on the map. They have chicken cutlet tacos to thank for that.<\/p>\n

“It’s never in a million years would I have imagined that tacos would have blown up the way it did,” she said.<\/p>\n

Leo got the idea to make chicken cutlet tacos right before Cinco de Mayo in 2025.<\/p>\n

“I just wanted to include our deli during Cinco de Mayo,” Leo said. “How do I get Italian food popular for a Mexican holiday?”<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, the tacos blew up on social media. Now, the restaurant has a line to the door every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, the family has taken their popularity with stride. Bringing in new employees and reminding customers that good, fresh food can take time.<\/p>\n

Store hours <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Frankie\u2019s Italian Deli is located at 3930 US Hwy 301, Riverview, FL, United States, 33578.\u00a0They are open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. You can find their menu here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Source: This article was written using in-person interviews with Frankie’s Italian Deli Owner, Francesca Leo.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Food and Drink<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riverview restaurant brings Knick’s excitement As the New York Knicks continue to dominate, Frankie’s Italian Deli in Riverview…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11732,1160,14981,5,1815,36,1948,1126],"class_list":["post-24280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-fl","tag-food-drink","tag-hillsborough","tag-italy","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}