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From an All-American Mutt (Irish, Celtic Spanish, Breton & Norman French, probably a little Welsh, a tinge of Bavarian and a couple drops of Mimwac Indian):

Olive Garden sucks. For good Italian, here at home, there is a little restaurant on the Hill, a family run place, although, they're actually Sicilian. Really nice people, though. The menu hangs outside the door (just like Italy) and you can even get a bottle of the water with gas (just like Italy). There's tables on the sidewalks. They don't have a vine awning like the hilltowns, but you can't have everything. FABULOUS linguini con marinara. Really good Vitello, too. My mom loves the salmon. The Risotto...I had better in Venice. And the wine is the good stuff.

Seriously, though, the best Italian dish I've had was a pesto lasagna in the Cinque Terre. Now I just have to go back.

Sorry, never going back to Olive Garden.

best Italian dish I've had was a pesto lasagna in the Cinque Terre. Now I just have to go back.

Having had first rate Italian food in Italian homes where the alta cucina was a way of life, in Michelin two and three star restaraunts in Italy, and in the best Italian restaraunts in New York and San Francisco, the absolutely best Italian meal I ever had was in (of all places) a tiny Italian restaraunt in Tokyo, Cucina Hirata, which I understand is no longer in business. Pity, the chef was a great artist.

For good Italian, here at home, there is a little restaurant on the Hill

A good restaurant on the Hill? ONE RESTAURANT?

Dee, lemme tell you in case you don't know this - the Hill in St. Louis has got to be one of the highest per capita concentrations of delicious Italian food in the United States. Outside of Manhattan's Little Italy, I'm uncertain if there is ANYTHING to compare to that area.

My fiancee's mother always says - "You can walk into a restaurant at random on the Hill and probably get one of the best meals of your life." I've eaten at many different restaurants there, and as far as I can tell she's right.

Try a different one other than your favorite and tell me if I'm wrong. If I could transplant one of those cooking staffs to Austin I'd be a millionaire.