MN:How to eat Italian in Minne

So after a rabblerouser night in downtown Minne, we slept in.

We skipped breakfast and turned right to lunch at Pizzeria Lola. We went for a couple reasons. Another Diner, Drive-in, and Dive, and of course, there's the whole Lola reason! The place has a cute local homefeel the large woodfired oven is in the center with a family friendly environment around it. The plates were all different, which added to the charm. And to top it off, the pizza was amazing. I was glad we sat at the bar, that let us watch the process.

ALR/MJR: Sunnyside  (La Quercia guanciale, pecorino, cream, leeks & two organic eggs sunnyside up) and My Sha-roni (house red sauce, mozzarella, natural-casing pepperoni & house-made fennel sausage)

Pinkerton's: Hawaii Pie-O (house-cured bacon, fresh pineapple, mozzarella, provolone & serrano peppers) and Korean BBQ (Niman Ranch beef short ribs, mozzarella, scallions, arugula, sesame & soy-chili vinaigrette)

It had been raining all day so we headed off for some shopping, Remynse-style. We went Penzey's a great spice shop that we wandered around check out options. We bought a few things there that we'll have plans for as we get home AND coincidentally a store called Kitchen Window where we managed to put together a few items too and a mental wishlist! 

To get out of the rain, we headed over to Midtown Global Market and sat and enjoyed a microbrew and a Dean's Kombochu flavored Blood Orange. Was fun to sit and enjoy the scenery a little while we dried off. 

That night, John and Allison took us to a regular place of their's that John's dad likes, "that pasta place" OR as it's properly called, Buca di Beppo. We ordered so much! There style is family style and we ordered enough for a couple families. This included cheesy bread florentine, spicy chicken rigatoni, spaghetti and meatballs, and italian broccoli. But my favorite was baked ziti. It was so filling and fun to share!

In Penzey's Spice Shop
MJR walks over to ALR
MJR looks at ALR's hands.
MJR: We are going to need a basket, huh?

MJR to Pinkerton's: Well do you think Kitchen Window would have any crocks?
Allison: If you want to look at crocs, you'd probably want to look at a shoe store.
ALR giggles.