Pistones Italian Inn

My husband and I go to Pistone's about once every three weeks.  It is a neighborhood staple for us.  The food is outstanding, and like other reviewers, we are big fans of the eggplant parmesan, cannoli, and gnocchi.  We also particularly like some of the appetizers, the smoked salmon and calamari.  And can't resist sharing a tiramisu for desert.  We quite enjoy the atmosphere - it does remind me (in a good way) of Italian restaurants I would have gone to with my grandparents, with Sinatra often playing on the sound system, or the piano bar in the background.  The fresh bread with olive tapanad served before every meal is a nice touch.

Ah Pistone's. This restaurant is like a woman who was really beautiful in her youth but refuses to admit that she's aged. Instead of being a good looking older woman she's a parody of what she once was. Imagine Miss Haversham or Bette Davis as Baby Jane. We walked in and I noticed the bar stinks but as we moved into the main dinning area the smell went away and I was relieved for a few seconds. The decor is ghastly. The banquet seating is the color  and appears to have the spongy texture of a cow's intestine and every chair I looked at was heavily stained. They've seen a lot spilled drinks over the years or Bladder Incontinence Anonymous must hold their meetings there. How hard would it be to clean the chairs, reupolster the chairs or buy new ones? THe chairs look like they were new in the 70s so the owners have clearly gotten their money's worth out of them. I was not comfortable.It just felt dirty. Now about the food: it's excellent tasting. However, it was not worth paying nearly $50 for two people in that nasty smelling, old run down atmosphere. It especially wasn't worth when I vomited it up the next morning.  I love me some Italian food but I'll go to Olive Garden or CiCI's pizza ten times in a row before I cross the threshold of this place again.

Pistones was sold a few years back and lost its special real Italian kitschy touches.  The new owners struggled with the restaurants simple concept and removed several endearing items, especially the grandiose salad bar and I mean grandiose.  It appears anything like the old Pistones no longer exists-- simple southern Italian with warm service and abundance.