Paisano's in College Hills Mall

Rating: Avoid lunch like a GOP men's room.

To preface the context of this story, let me start by saying over the weekend, my girlfriend and I went to Chicago. While we were staying downtown, we went to Pizano's (no relation) and had some incredible food. When we heard a "Pizano's" was here in town, we had to check it out. I found out beforehand however that they were two different places.

We showed up around 11am just when they were opening and were seated right away. Angi ordered water with lemon and I had my usual Diet Coke. The waitress brought out our drinks shortly and I was already a bit disappointed. The drink was loaded with ice and only about 12oz (so about 4oz minus the ice). I would proceed to order 4 more before leaving and each time would have to set my glass at the end of the table in hopes of getting the waittress's attention.

Looking over the menu, the place was pricey. Well, I am cheap when it comes to lunch. So I decided to try the Italian Beef with mozarella, hot giardinera, and a side of marinara. Angi went with the Chicken Parmesan which is not on the menu. They only had the chicken parmesan sandwich on the menu so she had to customize the order.

Apparently, all things there are made from scratch including the marinara, so it took about 25 minutes to get our food order. At least the waittress warned us about 15 minutes after we ordered. Angi had ordered a side salad and that came out after about 10 minutes with some bread. The bread was pretty good, crispy crust and spongy center. We dipped some of it in ranch (no olive oil or permesan cheese on the tables).

When the meal came here is the take: The sandwich was small. The hoagie bun it came on harkened me back to hot lunch days at my old gradeschool. There were a handful of fries that were not very remarkable. Angi's came out with a good size serving of pasta and hardly any marinara. However, since I ordered marinara to dip my sandwich in, she used it to offset the small portion. She had leftovers so it really was a good size.

The final bill (with tip) was $24.02 which is about $14.02 more than I'd like to spend on lunch. The chicken parmesan was $8.75 which really isn't bad if you figure it was enough for two meals. The side salad was $2.50 and should just be included with a pasta dish. The sandwich was $8.25 which is ridiculous for what you get. Way, way, way overpriced for very little substance.

Bottom Line: This is definitely not a place where I would eat lunch. They make everything from scratch which is good, except they start when they open and waiting around for your food is not fun when you're a professional and on a schedule. With a plethora of Italian places in town, this one ranks a fair in service and food quality. Factor in the waiting time and the price, and I will not be returning for lunch. I may try the dinner palate but I will wait 6 months to see if they stick around that long.