Just looking at those images will trigger wonderful memories for my immediate family. Memories of scampi, escargot, sliced chicken salad with green peppers, garlic bread, Bolla Valpolicella, veal marsala, veal parmesan, fettucine alfredo, spaghetti with meatballs, spumoni, cheesecake, and coffee. Birthdays, graduations, homecomings, celebrations, and just because we had a hankering. The long drive down and back, tipsy parents, great conversations, the 2+ hour meals, feeling like a grown up, the paper placemats of Italy, the teensy bathrooms that were renovated, the tv in the lobby, the carts full of food, the restaurant's owners always greeting us when we arrived and coming to talk to us at our table, the same waitress for years, Pop's generous tipping, eating with "Champ" and Jeanie, always people waiting to get in, the wine cellar room, the room with mirrors, the wrought iron little fences, doormen who helped us out of the car, the narrow parking lot, weren't there mints?
Yep, Pino's. The restaurant central to our family for years. Nowhere has replaced it in our traditions or memories. So important that when Mama Hungry came to Houston for the first time, we took her there. But I think that visit with Mama might have been one of my last, as the restaurant inexplicably closed not too long after.
And today, in a nostalgic Google search, I came across the website! Complete with pictures. And a history. And jars of sauce for sale! Yep, you can buy Pino's sauce in stores all over Texas. I think I know what I'm adding to my Christmas list!
Even though there's no way a jar of sauce can compare with the memories.
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