Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-02-07
DINNERS IN FRISCO.
CURIOUS COSMOPOLITAN REsTAU-
 RANTS ON THE COAST.

One May Dine In the Manner of q Differ
 ent Country Every Night In the Week,
 Dirty Italian Restaurant on the Water
 Front That Is Very Popular.
 One of the features of cosmopolitan San Francisco is its restaurants. Every foreign colony boasts of place where it's ratiye cooking can be had, and ad- venturous San Franciscans who care to look these places up can dine i'll the manner of a different country every night i'll the week. If all elaborate Chi nese dinner, with it's numberless impos- sible courses, each accompanied by sweetmeats, proves unattraetive, Ha- waiian dinner, with poi and salted fish, can be had by walking a few blocks.
 For those who like highly spiced din neIs there are the Italian and Spanish restaurants to choose from, and for those with small appetites, who look for nov city in service, there are the Turkish restaurants, with their unpronounceable dishes and delicious coffee.
 Tho most popular of the foreign res taurants are tho Italian. There are sev- eral of these scattered about the Latin quarter, which are much frequented by San Franeiscans on account of the excel fence of the cooking. Most of them are dirty, very dirty, as to floors and walls, and the Italians are not oyersqueam1sh regarding tho table linen. Whom party of Americans enter, however, there is general shutfiesamong the walters to se- euro the service of the table and the prospective tip. The question of prece dence being settled, the wine stained tableeloth is whisked off and replaced by one not always newly laundered or else suspioiously damp.
 These restaurants are rarely on the main streets and have to be approached through dark alleys. One situated be- hind the county jail occupies the back room of a small Italian grocery store. In going there one is reminded of dark deeds and sharp stilettos, but the din ner is worth the journey. The chef of this place is famous for cooking Italia rini, paste made by himself and cut in strips and cooked with sauce made of tomatoes, spices and mushrooms. It is extremely rich and very peppery, but all Italian dishes are strongly dashed with ehili peppers.
 The dinner is attended with great ceremony. A bottle of their sour claret is served with each dinner. Every Ital- ian drinks about two quarts of it with his dinner so the bottle supply some- times runs short In this event the waiter goes to the bar, fills an empty bottle from a demijohn, drives in a cork, and then carries the bottle to the table where it is needed, sometimes four feet from the bar, and impressively produo- ing his eorkserew draws the cork as carefully as though he were handling the finest burgundy. His demeanor is so se- rious throughout the performance that one dare not look amused
 A very popular restaurant is Bag zuro's, which is situated near the water front. This is greatly patronized by the Italian fishermen, who file in after their days work, still wearing their gum boots and smelling strongly of their craft. It IS also frequented by the Ital- ian vegetable gardeners. who drive in from the outskirts of town, and after dis posing of their stock stop to dine. When the place is reasonably we'll filled, there is babel of voices. They are all talk ing at once, and out of the confusion the word "scudi" is distinguished above all others
 This means money, which the pro- prietor says, with shrug, they talk about all the time, all the time. The fishermen bring the best of their days catch here, and the gardeners offer their choicest vegetables. The chef, whose kitchen is back of the dining tables and in full view of the room, is merry fel- low, and between his juggling feats, toss ing his pan into the air to turn the cook ing fish or meat exchanges gossip and jests with tho diners. This place is kept comparatively clean. The floor is covered with sawdust and the ceiling festooned with gaudy oolored paper cut i'll faneiful designs. Two parrots add to the general din, and all sorts and con- ditions of cats prowl around the floor
 The restaurant is conducted by two brothers, one of whom waits on table, while the other attends bar and looks after the cash receipts. Every Italian after dining stops at the bar for chat and drink. Instead of a liquor, the host pours generous glasses of elaret for himself and his guests, and these are speedily tossed off. A casual visitor, aft CT witnessing this ceremony about 25 times i'll quick succession, is apt to grow nervous about the health of the host, but he appears none the worse for his eonyiviality at the end of the evening. The younger brother sometimes relieves his brother at the bar. He is quite as hospitable, and his inYariable drink be- ing absinthe and seltzer his case seems even more alarming
 This restaurant, at 7:30 in the even- ing, when dinner is in full swing, pre- sents an odd sight, the Italians sitting around the tables. most of them with their hats OH, gestioulating and talking excitedly across the room, while they roll the spaghetti round their forks and dexterously transfer it in yard lengths to their mouths A butcher, with all the marks of his trade about him, occa- pies table With the policeman on the beat, who gets tho best service of all; few men about town, who have heard of the chefs fame, and forget tho unsavory looking company ill their enjoyment of III. |.