Monday, November 23, 2009

Mathias loved this one ... for days!





MATHIAS: Check back soon ... I have something to say about Vocelli's!

The 411:
Vocelli Pizza
2823 West 26th Street
838-8884
Vocellipizza.com

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Train Pulls Into Town with Papa Joe's Pepperoni Cafe Engine





CONSTANCE: Papa Joe's Pepperoni Cafe was suggested by a FaceBook friend of a friend and oh so delicious! We had trouble finding them at first. Formerly on 8th and Walnut, they're now on West Ridge Road, just past Powell on the north side. Can't miss them!

So we ordered a large hand tossed pizza with ham topping and zinger wings. They had a special, so everything was about $18. Half-hour on a busy Friday night for our wait. We got there and our decision was reaffirmed - the place was packed. There was even a nun decked out in full habit attire (which, sidebar, prompted a debate between Mathias and I on where nuns buy such garb ... turns out there are 489,000 URLS when keywords "nun uniform" are searched - who knew?). This photo was selected with love to remind Mathias of his primary education environment and my piano teacher, Sister Estelle Marie who trimmed my fingernails till they'd bleed and smack my hands with a ruler during my lessons).

Talk about an outta the box experience - when we opened the za box, the slices weren't slices at all but little squares and triangles. That was a fun surprise and I could eat more quantity! The wings were zingers and very flavorful too. Not too spicy. Really meaty.

After a whole year of pizza and wing blogging, some of our descriptors are getting repetitive ... but this place was memorable and different and very popular for good reason! One of my favorites all year for sure and I'm awarding an 8 outta 8 slice review.

Try them sooner than later ... for me, so I can live vicariously through you till January, when we can repeat visit to some of our favorites! Papa Joe's will be at the top of this list!

Oh, the Train concert was very good too. The Clarks were the warm up band. They didn't play many of their oldies but focused on their new CD which has a country flair, and I really wanted to hear "On Saturday" for the line, "That's not the color I wanted, I said blu-e!!". Pat Monahan was incredible and such a showman. I loved the new release "Hey Soul Sister" which he performed with his daughter. And his son also played guitar for another song. It was such a diverse performance and he made Erie proud, and vice versa! Check out "Hey Soul Sister" at Pat's URL: http://www.patmonahan.net/

See you next week - we don't know where we're going yet, but I'm sure there will be stories on how we got there! Or send your thoughts on our next pizza and wing destination to us. Have a good week filled with pizza and wings!

The 411:
Papa Joe's Pepperoni Cafe
3826 W Ridge Rd
Erie, PA 16506
(814) 835-3360

Yamato and Cornerstone are the Pulse of Life




CONSTANCE: Yamato's show was sold out. They've traveled the world over and have reached more than a million people, but I felt like they were freshly performing for me, and Mathias. The 11-member ensemble performed at Mercyhurst's D'Angelo Performing Afts Center on Sunday November 1 and we were there! They believe that the drumbeat, like the heartbeat, is the pulse of life.

And our blog believes that of pizza and wings, too. What a great combination and fun evening.

We went to Cornerstone after the performance and placed our order. Large pizza with split topping of ham and banana peppers and cajun ranch wings. With $2 tip, the order came to $15. Not bad!

It was a 20 minute wait so we drove to Giant Eagle in Wesleyville to pick up a birthday cake for my friend and called my Mother on the way. She wants a telephone and slippers for Christmas. How practical! She's getting more than that of course, but it was a great catch-up call.

Our order was ready when we got back. It was a later night to eat, but we settled into Curb Your Enthusiasm and enjoyed some good za and wings. While everything was really good, it wasn't memorable. I'd rate 4 outta 8 slices. Value and very nice service! It would probably be a fun place to eat there and shoot some pool and chillax!

The 411:
Cornerstone Bar and Grill
809 E 38th St
Erie, PA 16504-1768
(814) 825-3700
hcornerstonebar.com/