Connie Sheehan/' Daily Nebraskan
The double-decker tour bus totes tourists around downtown Chicago, giving them a two story view of Chicago’s architecture and I
street life. 1
Chicago offers myriad of cultural tastes I
By Connie Sheehan,
Joeth Zucco
and Cristine Romano
Diversions Reporters
As with any city of its size, Chi
cago offers a smorgasbord of tastes
for your buds.
With that in mind, it should be
reasonable to assume that the
emphasis is on red meat — consid
ering the city flou rished because of
its cattle industry.
And, too, Chicago has an inordi
nate amount of Italian eateries,
relative to other ethnic foods.
These places range from the corner
hole-in-the-wall where the smells
of sausage and sweat are indistin
guishable to the places where only
railroad owners can get a reserva
tion.
Chicago has a formidable Italian
community -- remember the Mafia
— and the quality of Italian food
there reflects this. In other words,
the chances of getting authentic
Italian food in Chicago, unlike any
experienced around Lincoln, are
great.
The starting point for Italian
food was across the street from the
Art Institute of Chicago. Mama Mia!
Pasta, ll6 S. Michigan Ave., spe
cializes in fast food Italian — not a
new idea, but the trick is.
The line was long but moved
fast. You place your order at the
beginning and convey down the
counter, watching your food being
prepared along the way. Every
thing is homemade--sauces, pasta,
Clam and Alfredo. The pastas
ranged from semolina to spinach to
tomato-basil and whole wheat.
All dishes came with Italian
bread -- thick and heavy, which
was perfect for cleaning off your
plate and filling you up. Besides
the pasta dishes, there was a wide
variety of salads, sandwiches,
pizza and two to three specials a
Superior St., provided an unex-1
pected feast. Repeatedly ranked asl
the number one pizza in Chicago,
you really must see it to believe it.
The first things you see, how
ever, are dark, dark, graffiti-ridden
walls. The atmosphere would be
okay except for a bunch of really
loud kids out past their curfews.
If you can find your way around
the maze of small rooms to y our
table, you will discover that the
help is friendly and willing to make £
suggestions. Ours suggested the
appropriate pizza sizes in relation “
to the most for the best price.
We started the meal out with a '
pitcher of beer. Maybe it was be- -
cause it was late on a Friday night,
maybe not, but the beer was flat
and warm Oh well, we didn’t re
ally come for the beer anyway. A
side order of garlic bread did get us
back on track. It was crispy and
spiced perfectly.
The pizza took a while -- about
an hour But w hen it arrived, it was
well worth the wail. From the list of I
ingredients on each pizza, it I
seemed to be a Thanksgiving din-1
See FOOD on 71
pizza andsoup. The sauces are pre
made and sit warming. The
method of cooking the pasta is
primarily what keeps the line
moving.
The pre-measured pasta order is
separated into individual baskets
and lowered into a cooker similar
to a deep fat fryer but filled with
boiling water. When done, each
plate is filled according to the order
on the tray. Among the sauces, one
could choose from Marinara,
Came, Zucchini al Pomodoro,
day. An added bonus was a selec
tion of beers and wines.
The prices were fairly reason
able ranging from $1.60 for a slice
of New York style cheese pizza to
$4.95 for the special of the day.
Viva Italia
Our next sampling of Italian
cuisine came later in the day, much
later--11 p.m., which seemed to be
as busy a time in Chicago restau
rants as 6 p.m. is in Lincoln.
Gino’s Hast Pizzeria, 160 E.
