Think for a moment about Italian comfort food. Imagine lasagna with scratch-made noodles, baked in a sauce recipe handed down from father to son, tender chicken marsala or parmigiana, delectable eggplant in marinara, pizza with scratch-made dough, seafood, veal, steak and more — and that’s Frankie’s Italian Trattoria in Maggie Valley.

Louis and Debra Perrone have built a thriving dining destination, earning the praise of locals and visitors, alike. Frankie’s is a comfortable, inviting “trattoria,” which it’s a little less formal that a “ristorante” — more rustic, but elevated above a pizzeria.