I don’t remember the first time I saw Giovanni Pizza Stand on South Lamar at Barton Skyway, and was surprised to learn when I finally visited this past weekend that it has been there for two years. Giovanni is easy to miss – it’s a small white trailer with unassuming signage set in the back of an empty parking lot.
Owned by Julio Rangel, word is he settled on calling his little pizza and pasta stand by an Italian name to avoid people driving up and asking for tacos. Julio …

When Ilyse asked me where I would recommend for our MUD board’s holiday lunch, I suggested La Traviata because it is walking distance from her office and serves delicious food with little pretense. I’m also a sucker for exposed brick.
La Traviata is a perfect spot to meet clients, go on a date, or grab a quick bite before a show at the Paramount or Long Center.
Speaking of lunch, I try to conserve dollars and calories by bringing a salad with lots of stuff in it to the office from home. …

Like most people, I enjoy reading reviews on sites like Yelp after visiting a restaurant from people who had similar experiences and opinions. In the case of Yelp’s 93 reviewers of Mandola’s at the Triangle, that was a small minority. I’ve been to Mandola’s 3 times and tried pizza, pasta, a sandwich, and gelato. I’ve included excerpts of some of the comments I read that I think are spot on:

Another one of those fake italian restaurants- maybe its a theme park ride version of an italian market. Although it’s a …

On Friday I took Brooke out for her birthday dinner at Primizie, an Italian Osteria on the quickly gentrifying East 11th Street. I’d been there twice for lunch and enjoyed wonderful sandwiches and was looking forward to checking out the scene for dinner. At lunch we had always sat inside and it gets pretty loud because of the acoustics.

It was a gorgeous evening so we sat out on the sidewalk. We split a glass of Pinot Grigio — neither of us was in the mood to drink but wanted …