And Then There Was One...

We are serously coming down homestretch.  We knocked off two more nearly a month ago.  

But first the list:


Places we have eaten:

• 2nd Shift Brewery
• Adrianna's
• Amaghetti's
• Anthonino's Taverna
• Cha,Cha,Chow
• Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
• Dominic's
• Favazza's
• Five Bistro
• Gaslight
• Gelato di Riso
• Gian-Tony's
• Gioia's
• Guido's Pizza
• Joe Fassi's
• Joey B's
• J.Smugs GastroPit
• Leo Oldani Sausage (Eovaldi's Deli)
• 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

Places we have left to eat at:

• Charlie Gitto's 

Gian-Tony's

Way back in October, we had two-fer.  We went to Gian-Tony's and the Pop's Blue Moon and had a lovely evening.

Gian-Tony's is located on the corner of Dagget and Macklind and has been there since 1989.  I pass it twice a day when I ride my bike to work and can't recall ever eating there.  

This southern Italian restaurant is, like so many other restaurants on The Hill, a family affair.  Excutive Chef, Tony Catarinicchia uses vetables and herbs from his garden to prepare the meals.  

Their menu is farily exetensive and you  can take a look for yourself.  Everyone enjoyed their meals, and I took home some left overs.  The salads were very good as well.  And Mel, of course, got the Eggplant Parmigiana.

But no dessert for us that night, 'cause we were drinking ours.  We went to:

Pop's Blue Moon 

Pop's Blue Moon is a place that has always intriqued me.  You can see it from the highway and it never seems open.  But boy was it open that night.  In fact they had a yard sale of sorts out front as you walked in.

 Need a used pipe?  Maybe some scissors, or a vintage ashtray....they had it.  Inside was lit with neon and festooned antique bar decorations.

Beer selection was good and they had whiskeys, so, we were set.  They even had pinball.

 At one point in the evening a dog opened the door and walked in.  We assumed that this was par for the course until we realized that no one in the bar claimed the dog.  However, the dog eventually, just went back out the door when somone opened it up.  I guess the thing that impressed me the most was that there was no real reaction from the patrons.  That's why I'm going back....

After a few drinks one of our friends was inspired enough by the place to write an ode of sorts...here it is:

Untitled 

by Patrick Connolly

Whose bar this is, I've no idea.

We're celebrating a Hill of a Year.

Thirty-two spots down and two to fall.

Let's have some shots and cheap draft beer.

Skulls and Masks hang on the wall

Meg tries her hand at the Pinball.

A round costs twenty bucks - no lie.

We may just stay until last call.

A giant mutt just walked right by.

How'd he get in?  Don't ask me why.

Like Gene Kelly in Brigadoon,

We walked into a magic night.

So, went our night at Pop's Blue Moon.

Good drinks, Good time and awesome tunes.

I hope they'll bring us back here soon.

I hope they'll bring us back here soon.

Pat writing his ode.

From A to Zia's

This post is waaay past due, since we went in March. Anyway, here goes…

Opened in 1985, Zia’s has become a Hill staple. On a chilly Friday night at 6:00p, we still had to wait 45 minutes for a table. So we headed to the bar for a couple of spritzes.

Spritz diversion ahead:

Again, we received some white wine and club soda, which we all know by now isn’t a proper spritz. The drinks were whisked away and probably poured down the drain. Bob then ordered a merlot, while I sat and stewed. And it turns out, we were billed for a pino grigio.

We finally made our way to one of the well-appointed large dining rooms. There looked to be a rather large party behind a partition, so the dining room could have been even larger. Like I said Zia’s is a Hill stalwart. They even have their salad dressing sold in the local grocers. 

(Notice the notebook in the top right corner)

We both got specials. Bob – wild mushroom ravioli. Me – chicken prosciutto asparagus with a side of garlic cavatelli. I should’ve stayed with my standard eggplant parmigiana. I'm pretty sure they served canned mushrooms and maybe the asparagus too because there were mainly stems. But as you may know by now, I’m not a foodie. So what do I know? Menu

Our wonderful busboy boxed up our leftovers (in Styrofoam) and left. I don’t remember, but we may’ve had a real spritz when we got home.