Parisi Italian Market & Deli

The first impression from the outside is of a deli/sandwich shop, which is much of what it is. The gellatto right inside the door helps draw you in, followed quickly by the sight of an European-style deli counter with tons of cheese, salami, and other delicious-looking condiments.

When we walked inside, we were confused for a moment at their odd pattern of sort of seating you and then telling you to go to the counter to order. Just a little awkward, but I guess you have to figure that it is designed as a deli and not a sit down restaurant. Aparrently, there is a resturant in the basement, but on that particular night it was closed.

In sum, it was worth the drive and the awkward arrival. With six of us at the table, we saw a variety of food, including a huge calzone (which the recipient said was delicious), a Napoletana pizza with capers and anchovies (yum), and a Maialoma (?) pizza with salami, spicy sausage and ham. That last was mine and I ate it up. J got the Napoletana and I'm sure that she loved that it was on an ultra-thin crust and not the focaccia crust that we found everywhere in Italy. The gnocchi that one of our party got was devoured in short time. The general gist on the pastas were that they were good, but next time skip the pasta and go for the pizza.

We also liked that we were able to get a carafe of a simple Chianti with dinner. Nice touch.

We did decide that all the salads looked the same, even if they were adequately tasty. The green salad, another variety that one of our party got, and the Greek salad that J and I got all pretty much looked the same, including the same 'Italian' style dressing (none of which did we ever see in Italy). Note to self: "Save the Greek salads for the Greek restaurants."

The bill for two 11" pizzas, a Greek salad (feeds two easily), and a carafe of wine (about 3 to four glasses) came to around $45.

We were too full at the end of the meal to order gellatto, but next time, we'll be sure to skip the salad and save space for the good stuff.