A Tale of Two Italians

That's two Italian restaurants. During Balloon Fiesta Peg & I have little energy left over from the store, so we eat out most nights. We recently ate at a couple of contrasting places on successive nights with interesting results.

We had planned to go to Saggio's in the university area, where I could get my favorite mussels with red sauce & pasta, but Peg bumped into a couple of old friends from Cloudcroft and we decided that Saggio's wouldn't be their cup of tea. Instead we went to Paisano's in the northeast heights.

We have been going to Paisano's for, probably, 30 years and I still get lost because I can't remember if it's on Eubank or Juan Tabo. (It's Eubank near Snow Heights.) Paisano's has always featured fresh homemade pasta and, in recent years, has offered half portions on most of their entrees. They seem to have cut down the menu choices quite a bit of late. There is a nice basket of bread on the table with a dish of spices and a big bottle of olive oil so that you can dip as much as you like. Jim, our waiter, was affable and attentive throughout the meal, and we had a fine time with our friends.

In the final analysis, however, I was disappointed in the meal. While the half portion always seemed to make sense in the past, paying $5.50 for a salad that is free with the full portion seems a bit much. I had sea scallops with red sauce. Two medium large scallops. A decent portion of linguine but, unusual for their vaunted pasta..."clumpy". The sauce was kind of sweet with what I guess was touch of cream and (mea culpa) reminded me just a bit of Spaghettios. I won't speak to my companions' dishes, but no one went out of their way to comment favorably.

The next night Peg & I decided to go to Saggio's. It is across from UNM on Yale Blvd. It is part sports bar and part counter service Italian Restaurant. Where Paisono's is a quiet sitdown place with Italian opera playing in the background, this place is noisy, sometimes frantic with Dean Martin playing on the speakers. The main room is a large, tall open space with kitschy accents and amusing character murals on the walls and ceiling. The clientele is much more eclectic than Paisano's. University students and university characters, mostly but not exclusively youngish make for interesting people watching. We find the way things run here a little stressful. There never seems to be enough time to really see all the menu items that are hand lettered all over the wall behind the order takers before you have to step up and make your choice. There is always the anxiety of worrying whether a table will be free. After ordering you have to take your ticket to the bar if you have ordered beer or wine.

I get around the problem by always ordering the same thing. There are restaurants all over town where I only order one or two particular items. From experience, I know that experimentation will just result in disappointment. Here I order "Josie's Special" and two glasses of wine. A beautiful decorated peasant bowl of linguine with a dozen or so mussels in spicy hot red sauce with fresh tomatoes and a nice piece of bread. It is, hands down, the best Italian mussels in town. I have almost never finished all the pasta.

Peg experiments more here and had a shrimp puttanesca with calamata olives and capers, mild red sauce and linguine. She loved it.

In an interesting comparison to the previous night, we shared a Caesar Salad. It was cheaper, bigger, and better. In fairness, however, Paisano's house Chianti was only 50 cents more per glass and much the superior wine.

These two restaurants are entirely different animals, but the bottom line is that I come away from Saggio's happy and satisfied. Paisano's currently disappoints expectations. For price comparison: Paisano's $75 w/tip, Saggio's $39 no tip.