"1"^^ . "I don't know if coming early would help any... but when we got there at 8pm, the place was hoppin'. There were people seated from as close to the kitchen and all the way up the stairs by the sidewalk. There were hopefuls milling about a bit to get down and place their name for a seating. When we were able to reach the desk, the wait time was 50 minutes.\n\nWe went to Mercurio's for a while, took a stroll around Walnut, and eventually sat down by some very convenient benches nearby. After what we thought was 'adequate' wait time, we peered a bit over the fence and down towards the man (who we think may have been the owner). After a bit, he nodded at us, and started moving a couple of tables around inside. We took that as a signal, meaning, \"Come on down. I'm wrestling these tables apart for you.\"\n\nWe ordered the carne special (steak with alfredo for $30) and the torcia ($15). I wouldn't say that they were the best that i'd ever had, but they were pretty good. The vegetables are fresh; the pasta was just right and sauced/souped enough to my liking. The service, provided mostly by Diane, was excellent. She was friendly and attentive, despite the throngs of customers. The crowds are loud, the atmosphere very.. cozy.. and the walkways very narrow, and, yet, the food and drinks keep coming, accident-free. It seems like it could be highly stressful for the servers, but Diane was smiling every time she came back. Awesome."^^ . "2009-06-30T00:00:00"^^ . . "4"^^ . "2"^^ . "1"^^ . . .