"Best Sandwich Yet," exclaims Miller!

She wouldn't shut up about it!  We're at a sausage and sandwich business and Mel gets the vegetarian sandwich....and she wouldn't shut up about how great it was.  So, here's a picture of this work of art...

So, Joe Fassi's Sausage and Sandwich Factory is an establishment that Mel and I ride past twice on our bikes the majority of days that we work.  We commute via bicycle to work most days, and this is on our routes both coming and going.  In fact, it may be the only restaurant that I pass both ways, since I take a slightly different route home than I do going to work.  And I'm sad to say that this is only the second time that we've eaten there.

I'm actually sad for a few reasons.  First, the Fassi family has had a business at this location since 1926.  It was a grocery and a tavern. The  market and tavern are gone, 😢 but a sausage and sandwich shop are in it's place.  😁  And I'm also sad, because I haven't been there more.  😢 It was really, really good both times. 😁  We really should go there more often.

So, what do you do on a 75 degree day in February when you have a self-imposed list of restaurants to get through within a calendar year?  We rode our bikes...so as not to contribute more carbon emissions to this freakishly unseasonable weather.  

And in spite of the tidy dinning area inside, 

we had a picnic in nearby Berra Park...Because It Was 75 degrees In February!!!!

For my sandwich, I had the Vince Fassi Salsiccia Slam....it's salsiccia with roast beef, pepper cheese, tomato sauce, onions and pepperoncini- served between two slices of garlic cheese bread.  Oh my my! Click here for the menu.

Mel had the Mile High Veggie Supreme...it's provel cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, diced red peppers, pickles, pepperoncini, olive salad, artichoke hearts, giardiniera & fat free honey mustard.

They are also located right on Elizabeth Ave. - aka Hall of Fame place.  This block was home to three members of the Baseball Hall of Fame:  Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola and Jack Buck.  Joe Fassi's has a Wall of Fame with memorabilia celebrating the talent that grew up and lived a baseball's toss away.

Home of Toasted Ravioli?

A beautiful Friday night prodded us to dine on the Hill. That and a gift certificate and a blog. We chose Mama’s on the Hill, a fixture in the neighborhood.

Upon being seated, the first thing I noticed – the lack of a wine list. What? But that’s how I figure out what to eat. So I started with the food menu and found my meal immediately. Melanzana Parmigiana. As I’ve mentioned before, I try to order something I can’t make at home. I’ve actually tried. Instead, I created greasy eggplant hockey pucks covered in tomato sauce and cheese. I ordered the dinner because salad and side were included. I could’ve skipped the eggplant and salad for an entire plate of the side – sautéed green beans with prosciutto and red peppers.

I can’t really discuss Bob’s dinner of Chicken Saltimbocca because I was luxuriating in my green beans. All this and leftovers too. Oh. The beverages. We just got a couple of pinot noirs. Of course, right after we ordered, Bob noticed that suggested wine pairings were listed with most dinners. Whatta ya gonna do?  One very disturbing menu item – a giantmeatball. Eat it in under hour it’s not only free, it comes with a T-shirt. I truly despise all eating challenges.

While the restaurant is large, it is divided up into three dining rooms that made it cozier. At one point we heard the dulcet tones of a server singing someone a Happy Birthday. Our non-singing server, Josh, treated us like his girlfriend’s parents – charming and attentive. (I have no idea if Josh has a girlfriend)

History Lesson Time

The toasted ravioli may have been accidentally invented here by a clumsy chef dropping a ravioli in oil instead of water. Or maybe not. However they came to be, toasted ravioli are now served across the country.

Originally known as Oldani's, the restaurant dates back over sixty years. In 1982, Mama Campisi herself renamed and reopened the restaurant as Mama Campisi’s. Mama's sons, John and Frank, took over the restaurant and proudly serviced The Hill for nearly two decades. In 2005, however, they had to close up shop due to personal reasons.  

Realizing the importance of the restaurant to the community, Lance and Andrea Ervin quickly bought the establishment. They reopened Mama's on The Hill in February 2006 to great fanfare of the residents and businesses of The Hill.

Not bad for the first month

January is over and here's our updated list.  Crossed out are the six places we visited.  Italicized are the three that we only sorta kinda visited.  We'll go back to these and do right by them. (But if push comes to shove....we technically purchased and consumed something from all of these). And remaining are the 28 remaining places that we have to visit in the next 11 months to meet our goal.

2nd Shift Brewery
Adrianna's
Amaghetti's
Anthonino's Taverna
Charlie Gitto's 
Cha,Cha,Chow
Dominic's
Favazza's
Five Bistro
Gaslight
Gelato di Riso
GianTony's
Gioia's
Giovanni's
Guido's Pizza
Joe Fassi's
Joey B's
Leo Oldani Sausage (Eovaldi's Deli)
Leonardo's Kitchen and Wine Bar
Lorenzo's
Mama Toscano
Mama's on the Hill
Marconi Bakery
Milo's
Missouri Baking
Mona's
Pop's Blue Moon
Rigazzi's
Shaw’s Coffee
Steve's Hot Dogs
Vitale's Bakery
Viviano's 
Zia's
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate