Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-10-27
DINNERS IN FRISCO.
CURIOUS COSMOPOLITAN RESTAU-
RANTS ON THE COAST.

| On6 OF the features or Cosmopolitan
| San Francisco is its restaurants. Every
| foreign colony boasts of a place where
! its native cooking can be had, and ad-
! venturous San Franciscans who care to
| look these places up can dine in the
manner of a different country every
| night in the week. If an elaborate Chi
nese dinner, with its numberless impos
| sible courses, each accompanied by
| Eweetmeats, proves unattractive, 4 Ha-
waiian dinner, with poi and sailed fish,
| can be had by walking a few blocks.
Lor those who like highly spiced dim
| neTaa here are the Italian and Spanish
TsaNTurants TO choose from, and for those
| Yicl small appetites, who look for nov
| city in service there are the Turkish
restaurants. with their unpronounceable
dishes and delicious coffee.
The most popular of the foreign res
| taurants are the Italian. There are sew
eral of these scattered about the Latin
quarter, which are much trequented by
San FranCiscans on account of the excel
lencO of the cooking. Most of them are
dirty, very dirty, as to floors and walls,
and the Italians are not oversqueamish
regarding the table linen. When party
of Americans enter, however, there is a
general shuttle among the walters to Sc
cure the service of the table and the
prospective tip. The question of prece-
dence being settled, the wine stained
tabIccloth Is whisked off and replaced by
one not always newly Numbered or else
suspiciously 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 n 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 IL famous for cooking Italia
RIM, - a paste made by himself and cut
i'll strips and cooked with Il sauce made
of tomatoes spices and mushrooms.
1t is extremely rich and very peppery,
but all Italian dishes are strongly dashed
with chill peppers.
The dinner Is attended with great
ceremony. a bottle of their sour clarct
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 i'll a cork,
and then carries the bottle to the table
where it is needed, sometimes four feet
from the bar, and impressively produc-
ing his corkscrew draws the cork rs
carefully rs though he We're handling the
finest burgundy. His demeanor is so Sc
rious throughout the performance thas
one dare not look amused.
y very popular restaurant is Baz-
ZurO's, which is situated near the water
front This is greatly patronized by tho
Italian fishermen, who file in after their
days work, still wearing their gum
boots and smelling strongly of their
craft. 1t is also frequented by the Ital-
ian vegetable gardeners. who drive il
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 q merry fell
low, and between his Juggling feats, toss
ing his pan into the air to turn the cook
ing fist or meat exchanges gossip and
jests with the diners. This place is
kept comparatively clean. The floor is
covered with sawdust and the ceiling
festooned with gaudy colored paper cut
in fanc;ful designs. Two parrots add to
tho 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 a chat
and drink. Instead of a liquor, the
host pours generous glasses of claret for
himself ana his guests, and these are
speedily tossed off. y casual visitor, aft
er witnessing this ceremony about %
times III quick succession, is apt to grow
nervous about the health of the host,
but he appears none the worse for his !
ccnviviality at the end of the evening. |
The Younger brother sometimes relieves
his brother ut the bar. He is quite as !
hospitable, and his invariable drink be- |
ing absinthe and settler his case seems |
even more alarming
This restaurant, at 7:30 i'll 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 on, geSticulating and talking |
excitedly across the room, while they /
roll the spaghetti round their forks and /
dexterously transfer it in yard lengths :
70 their mouths \ butcher. with all 1
the marks of his trade about him, occu-
pies 4 table with the policeman on the /
beat, who gets the best service of all; "A 4
few men about town. who have heard of |
the chefs fame, and forget the unsavory !
looking company in their enjoyment of /
the plates. and often a table or two taken /