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| - This felt like a twilight zone episode where I'm transported to a small town in an unknown city somewhere in the Midwest or other undesirable part of the country, and I'm at some "local place" that the locals love but really it's just a reflection of the lack of quality options in the vicinity. Or, the people in that undesirable place don't know any better, so they praise the best of what is available to them... and yes that is a dig at no-name cities in the Midwest, and the people who choose to live there.
This place had booth seats that must have been decades old, large wall covering mirrors, and other decor that scream 1990 or maybe earlier. There's one box TV hanging in the back too, just in case you forgot that TV's weren't always flat paneled. It isn't old world or quaint or anything like that. Rather it just clearly lets you know that they don't care enough to invest in the atmosphere to a reasonable degree. And the locals like this place well enough, so I guess to heck with those who complain about the very dated atmosphere.
To complement the atmosphere there's the slow as a snail service from a single server for the entire restaurant, at least on our weekday visit. The usual events occurred - empty beer glass, long delay to pay and leave, etc. Prices are also high here, so with relatively little food and drink you're finding yourself leaving a double digit tip if you just leave the expected norm of about 20%, so if that bothers you for slow, inattentive service then think twice about dining here.
Pizza crust was very good, perhaps the highlight of the experience. But on the whole the pizza isn't overall excellent by contemporary large metro standards (remember the small town insult above). We had one pasta entree but won't likely have another. This seems to clearly be a pizza place.
Parking is decent and you get to enjoy the headlights of cars as they park in the first couple of spots because the lights reflect abundantly throughout the restaurant due to the mirrored walls. This restaurant is so close to having a nice view of Black Mountain... if only they were one slot over where another restaurant is located, with the patio that overlooks the mountain. So close.... oh well.
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