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Meet Frankie Banca, an outstanding server, who exemplifies true customer service.
Food service and hospitality have always been a major part of Frankie’s life. Some of his fondest memories of growing up in Hagerstown, MD revolve around watching his father, mother, and stepfather work in the food service industry. Frankie landed his first food service job at the age of 12, working the phones and making subs at his Dad's best friend's local pizza shop. By age 15 he was making pizza and had already discovered firsthand how important great customer service is.
In his mid 20s, Frankie moved to the Florida Keys after spending summers there with his brother, Chris, a private sport-fishing captain. In the Keys, he landed a job as a server in Islamorada at Chef Michael's, where he officially fell in love with the fine dining industry. With Frankie's naturally social personality, his then-manager, David Kramer, determined that fine dining would be a perfect fit for him, and he took him under his wing. David taught him all the ins and out of fine dining, such as the importance of wine with dinner, while cultivating the impeccable customer service skills that come so naturally to Frankie.
In 2017, after Hurricane Irma, Frankie decided it was time to leave the Keys and moved to York where he got a job at Left Bank. Working at the Left Bank with maitre d, Scot Kile, it reaffirmed for him that hospitality is the most important part of his job, and what gives him the passion for the industry. In April of 2022, Frankie transferred that passion briefly away from the fine dining industry and moved to Colorado to be near his fly fishing mentor, Angelo, to pursue a career as a fly fishing guide – his other passion. However even while exploring this new dream Frankie still kept his fine dining skills sharp by working for John Elway at Elway's in Cherry Creek.
While he enjoyed spending time learning more about the fly fishing industry and trying out life in a new environment, it was an expensive endeavor and a bit far from his family, so Frankie made the decision to return to the York area. Upon hearing from Frankie's former co-worker, Scot, that Frankie would be returning to the area, Glen Rock Mill Inn's owner Brandon Hufnagel personally reached out to see if he would be interested in putting his impeccable fine dining skills to work here at the Mill. After meeting with both Brandon and Operations Manager, Shawn, Frankie agreed to give working at the Glen Rock Mill Inn a shot! He very quickly learned working at the Mill was a great fit due in part to his and Brandon's shared vision of elevating the entire dining experience at the Glen Rock Mill Inn to rival those of the fine dining restaurants you would find in major urban areas.
Frankie's customers have followed him from place to place because of his commitment to their customer service. He always wants people to feel included and welcome with no judgment and it shows! His favorite part of the job is making connections with each of his guests. Finding out that people come back just for him is gratifying and what makes being a part of making the Mill the best it can be. "It never feels like I'm going to work when I'm serving. I truly love what I do."
In his downtime, you can find Frankie traveling to destinations like Moscow for the World Cup, Italy to spend time with his father, or pursuing his love of fishing. Frankie is also a new Glen Rock resident and is excited to get to know the community better. Be sure to stop by this week and help us give him a warm welcome.
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