Vivà la Hill!

I'm putting forth a Non-Binding Resolution in the city of St. Louis. Are you ready?

Anyone within reasonable proximity (~30 sq. mi.) to the highly Italian American populated St. Louis Neighborhood known as The Hill should rule out every restaurant on The Hill before choosing a chain restaurant like, but not limited to, The Olive Garden, Carabas, Maggianos Little Italy or Macaroni Grill.

It baffles me that in a town with some of the best Italian food you can get in the country, many of my neighbors and friends choose fake stucco walls, ridiculous terra cotta roofs and whatever the hell an "italian margarita" is instead.

What possible reasons could one have for not choosing the experience you get on The Hill?

Maybe someone isn't into way better tasting Italian food, authentically prepared, and usually by someone who actually speaks Italian.

It could be that they don't think about the benefits of supporting the local community and helping to boost the St. Louis economy.

Some individuals might be self conscious about having to read from a menu that doesn't simplify the names of the items to begin with a well known Italian city and end with the type of meat or pasta in the dish. Tuscan Chicken. Sicilian Scampi. Florence Filet.

Or maybe someone from out of town gave them gift cards to one of the chains for Christmas. Which is exactly what happened to me this weekend. I actually got a really good compare and contrast. Saturday night I was on The Hill at Cunetto's House of Pasta for Valentines Day. Sunday I went Gift Carding at The Olive Garden. The experience only solidified my stance, and actually made it a lot more stedfast.

Let's compare:

Wait Time:
Cunetto's - 3+ hour wait | Olive Garden - 30 min wait

Winner is Cunetto's. Believe it or not, I take solace in the fact that probably 75% of people that were confronted with a three hour wait at Cunetto's stayed. It's a testament to the food and service, or maybe it was just the bar... either way.

Atmosphere:
Cunetto's - Rat Pack | Olive Garden - Fake

Winner is Cunetto's. Don't get me wrong O.G. was beautiful, pristine, clean... all that. It was just fake. From the flowers, to the paintings all the way to the balcony seating for two that was not actually accessible by anyone. Cunetto's is dark and plain, but sophisticated. Not pretentious. The set decorator for The Sopranos couldn't ask for a better template.

Service:
Cunetto's - Quality/Classy/Stereotype-reaffirming | Olive Garden - Good/Friendly/Stereotype-reaffirming

Winner is Cunetto's. You knew where this was going. O.G. was good, and as I said friendly, but it was stereotypical chain restaurant service. Our waitress was missing teeth. Her missing teeth were not her fault, what can be faulted to her was the fact that she didn't know how to pronounce many of the items on the menu. And apparently neither could her counterpart serving the table behind us. The special of the day was Gnocchi (NYOH-kee), not NOTCH-ee, as both of them kept calling it from table to table.

Cunetto's server got everything right, though I probably didn't. The service was impeccable. Even during our wait, the busy hosts were patient with folks checking their status in the queue. And the best and most telling moment of the night happened when we were leaving (close to four and a half hours after arriving). The owner, who I had seen, but not spoken to throughout the night, thanked me by name, "Mr. Hutti," and then proceeds to assure me that the next time I am in he will, "Take care of me".

Awesome. Talk about a stereotype I am okay with being reaffirmed... great Italian service and class.

So, next time you're wanting Italian food consider The Hill first; maybe consider Cunetto's House of Pasta. If you can't get there and settle for a chain, I guess thats ok. I think MSG can taste really good with some Italian seasoning.

PS. I am against Olive Garden on principle also due to their rediculous comercials. See what I mean:



Or this:




Mad TV feels me: