| rev:text
| - I was just thinking about the evolution of the pizza place as a hangout. When you are a kid, you can't wait to go to Chuck E. Cheese for some peperoni pizza and some fun-tivities. When you get older, you go to a local chain pizza place for a cheap dinner with friends or a cheap date. When you start making money, you opt for some organic, gluten-free, fair-trade, new-age pizza joint where a 12'' pie will cost you $60. Oregano's falls somewhere in between #2 and #3.
The place itself is tiny, so get ready to wait. And wait. And wait a little more. I am not certain whether you can make reservations over the phone, but I know that you can stop by and tell the host you want a table for six at 8 pm. That's what we did. If the weather is nice, you can sit outside in the back section of the Oregano's parking lot. They rope off a few parking spots, put up some giant umbrellas for shade and ambiance, bring out the best washable red-and-white checkered tablecloths and . . . voila! You've got yourself an outdoor seating area.
While you're waiting for the pizza, why not order their signature drink, the Bellini. It is not the traditional Italian Bellini, which, I believe, is made with white peach puree and Prosecco. The Oregano's Bellini could be best described as a slushee with cheap alcohol. The flavors are unrecognizable, but somehow it works. It's the kind of a drink that is much more likely to give you a brain freeze and a sugar rush instead of a buzz or a hangover. We had to wait for our Bellini for a good 20 minutes because the slushee machine was on the fritz.
For the six of us, we ordered two extra large (18'') thin crust pizzas, a BBQ Chicken and a Hawaiian pizza. The pizzas arrived promptly on gigantic aluminum trays . . . just like pizzas should be served in a place like Oregano's. The pizzas were cut up into small squares, making it ideal for sharing. Also, eating 20 little squares of pizza eliminates the guilt associated with eating several slices of pizza. That's a huge bonus.
The pizza itself wasn't the best I've ever had, but it wasn't the worst, either. The crust was crunchy and delicious. The toppings were just OK, and I was not impressed with the feta/mozzarella cheese combo that topped the BBQ chicken pizza. A couple of my friends complained that the Hawaiian pizza toppings tasted moldy, but I didn't think so at all. Of course, I think that pineapples belong in a fruit cocktail, not next to Canadian bacon.
Our waiter looked like a struggling college student who worked at Oregano's part time. He was nice with just a slight hint of ambivalence. He tried to make jokes, almost trying to "fit in" with our group. It was cute in a way, although I did sense a slight hint of desperation and trying-too-hard-ness.
Overall, it's a good place to spend time with your friends and relive your high school years, when hanging out at your local pizza parlor was cool. We left Oregano's very full, even though we left a few little pizza squares on the table. When I got back to the hotel, I got the urge to get started on my Algebra homework . . .
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)