It feels...wrong for me to review Pazzo's, but that's only because they are so very good at helping me wash away the work week many, many Friday nights. For happy hour and beyond.
Sigh.
Oh, I've had the food, from the pizza (eh, fine, not Flying Squirrel or Delancey, but it's a'ight) to the calzones (delightfully cheesy, which is always a win with me) to the salads (hit or miss) to the Pazzo bread (pesto, fontina/mozzarella, and tomato on French bread? Yum!). It's just that food has never been my primary expectation at Pazzo's. Nope, this has always been an it's Friday after work, I'm going to snag a table on the sunny patio or belly up to the bar with friends and plant my ass there and drink strong drinks kind of an expectation place for me.
Which is okay, right? I mean, the bartender's margaritas are really good. Like really good. Worth it despite not being a HH price. Of course, you can't go wrong with the well drinks, and they've got a decent enough selection of beers on tap. (Stella and Manny's are always popular with my friends.) The wine list is...there. But I've never seen anyone there for the vino, so who cares? But the HH drinks prices are fantastic, and at $2.50 for a well drink, I promise you'll never, ever feel short-changed. They'll pour you one here.
It's an interesting crowd any day of the week, but on a Friday night, where else will you see a bunch of 20-30 somethings who've been drinking for four hours sitting at a table adjacent to a young girls' soccer team out with their coach? That's a bizarre feeling, knowing you're pretty hammered in front of kids...but such is Pazzo's, I guess. Aside from the soccer kids, it is usually just an interesting mix of people who work in the area and people who live in the area, and you definitely can tell who has their 'regular' seats. That's actually something I like about it, believe it or not...so long as I don't ever have a 'regular' seat! (To combat this, I just move around a lot!)
I highly recommend Pazzo's if you've got a slightly rowdy group that wants to do a little drinking with the option of noshing. Awesome HH prices override the slightly surly service (who are all total dolls when they get to know you!), and the food is worth returning for.
Drink up!
(Odd side note: the first half dozen or so times I'd drink at Pazzo's after work, I'd wake up with a strange cut on my right index finger. Took that long to figure out it was from the locks on the bathroom stall doors that are just tight enough that tipsy fingers would slide uselessly over them, resulting in minorly cut fingers!) read more