Second time out in two days. I feel like this tends to happen when you’re about to go out of town (Chicago for wedding-times), so it’s hard to justify groceries if it’s possible you’re gonna waste food. Instead, you just waste money.
I was bored with the day and we had nothing to do tonight so finding ‘dinner’ was more about finding ‘2 for 1’s’. Aaaaand…BOOM: AnimA (big a?!?) Italian Bistro
Just the facts, ma’am:
The Restaurant: AnimA Italian Bistro
Location: 458 Myrtle Avenue
What I eated: Toscana Pizza and some complementary bar potato chips
Price: $25.05 for a pizza, 2 Stellas, a Brooklyn lager, and a Sierra Nevada Pale, general mood-based tip was $5.
Ratings!
Tasty: Blandisfying
Service: Friendly
Atmosphere: Yeah, I’d hang out here.
Portions: Pizza is the size of a pizza. Pasta is smaller than a pizza.
For the money: 4 beers! For the price of 2 beers!
Comments: Let’s be real; I went to AnimA because there’s a sign outside that says 2-1 every day, 4-8. I didn’t go for subtle hints of basil washing over rich cream sauce. I didn’t go for the exquisite texture of freshly-baked pizza crust. I went because I could get 4 good beers for 12 dollars.
The pizza came with mozzarella, peppers, onions, gruyere cheese, and grilled chicken (subbed cuz they were out of chicken sausage). What resulted was a pizza that lacked the tangy kick of tomatoes and the pleasant salty creaminess of a good white pizza. It was crunchy, it was filling, I asked for Tabasco. So alright, in the end, I wouldn’t go back for the pizza.
A brief aside: Emily and I discussed what could potentially be a problem for me as a food blogger during dinner. Mostly, it’s that I’m not all that critical. I can tell the difference between bad food and good food. I calls the bad food like I sees it. Unfortunately, I’m a bit of an apologist. If there’s something that redeems the restaurant for its so-so food (cheap drinks+nice lady at AnimA) or its horrid service (medium spicy curry+much food for cheap at Thai 101) I’ll probably go back and make the same mistakes over again.
In the case of AnimA, I ate some homemade potato chips that were not as good as Lays, I ate a pizza that was almost there, but needed some culinary love (or some chicen sausage) and didn’t come away needing to eat more of their food. On the other hand, I drank a bunch of beer at a price I didn’t have to feel guilty about and got some tips on how to make crispy chicken from a new friend (who had also come in for 2-for-1 beers).
So, a short moral of the story for restaurant owners: If you need to work out the kinks in your menu or your chef doesn’t give a shit, feed your patrons cheap booze, they’ll (read: I’ll) keep coming back.
Drink!
-kt
I Eated teh Brooklyns 