“Tito’s Pizza Bar”
previously Lorenzo’s, Sal & Louie’s, The Red Robin's…now Tito’s Pizza Bar
The Paragon Pearls “slummed” last night. It being our weekly Saturday dinner date where we usually eat at relatively “better restaurants”.
(Tablecloths & cloth napkins). LOL!
C is on an economic cutting back binge and has a short walking span. 😚
H’s back is “killing” her so no going far right now… for her either.
(Still, she goes crazy when the reservation is made for the Pizza Bar, a joint on the corner, across from our Paragon Apartment Building. She is afraid of D who made the dinner plan for tonight, so H keeps her displeasure to herself… while muttering under her breath. 😣
Me, I love anyplace that feeds us decent food, ample portions & wine. 🥰
‘Holy Guido”!
Saturday dinner at a pizza joint…w-what? 🙄
I liked this place years ago, but it had undergone a few different owners since then.
I used to go there with my late friend Joycee, where I had been the only patron to reserve a certain table for us. It was against the far wall with a private sorta booth away from the young families with their noisy kids. The guys that ran the joint always kept it for us. The other diners thought we were family. This was circa 2014.
Well, we arrive at Tito’s Pizza Bar open door then shuffle to the back, but it was a strangely hot night for September, in NYC.
The A/C is not working, but the ovens are fiercely working...we soon discover.
It’s too darn hot inside, so we end up seated on one of the 2 tables set on the street, against the glass window with its neon pizza pie sign flashing. Nothing like us” gussied up ladies” eating on the on the sidewalk… facing our apartment building!
“Location-location-location”, (as they say), but Tito’s certainly did NOT add any ambiance!
There was only one waiter who was “a Doll”. He was attentive and smart, so he gets our gaggle of senior ladies', glasses of wine…immediately. Then sits 2 baskets of hot, crusty Italian bread in front of us. mmmm! These tamed us dames like hunks of beef thrown to ferocious lionesses. 😛
When our “street picnic meals” were served, the entrees were pretty damn good!
My salmon with a sauce of fresh chopped tomatoes, capers & olives was delicious. (My mouth is watering as I write this)!
C’s ‘Chicken Parma was tasty, saucy & ‘not a bit spicy’… as she requested.
The pizza with eggplant, onions, & thick with cheese was hot crisp and divine!
Tito’s food we “goils” so enjoyed while seated open on the balmy Manhattan sidewalk of our street.
… History Lesson…
I developed friendly banter with our young waiter, Mario. I revealed to him that my younger daughter Michele had his job while she going to school…that is until she was fired!
That was when the place was named Lorenzo’s circa 1979.
Michele had clumsily dropped a customer’s hot bowl of spaghetti, with meatballs, on the woman’s lap. The diner carried with on so😱 that Michele with tears, as Lorenzo shouted, "You’re fired”!
We as family became buddies with the next owners, Louie & Sal.
When our eldest daughter, Lisa, was getting married, they offered to have their famous bakery friends, (Venero’s in Little Italy), to make her the most luscious, beautiful wedding cake. The year was 1982. True to his promise whata cake she had my little Princess!
