The North End
While I've been to the North End a couple of times, I have never actually looked around and appreciated it for what it is. Some of the restaurants and stores have stood on the narrow streets for 50 years. Some Italian restaurants are still old school while some are more modern. Regina's Pizzeria and Mike's Pastry's still have the longest lines in the area, and people gladly brave the cold to get their favorite foods. This past Sunday, my parents and I went to Al Dente for dinner: a place we chose only because I wanted tortellinis and my mom checked the menu beforehand. My dad made the biggest dad joke of all and asked, "Who's Al? Can we meet him?" You could tell the servers had been waitresses probably their entire lives looking at how they walked, talked and served their tables (they were pros). Our waitress even told us that her nephew graduated from BU with a degree in neurobiology. Dinner was great but they do not serve coffee or desserts (probably because their restaurant is so small and they do not want patrons sitting around when they could be serving another couple or family), so we went to Cafe Vittoria down the street. My first time there was during the summer and I had no idea what to order because, prior to summer, I never really drank hot coffees, cappuccinos or lattes. However, everything they serve is amazing. I ended up having a cappuccino because I was ready for a nap and needed to stay awake to do school work. The set up of the restaurant is very strange, though, There are two entrances that lead to separate rooms only accessible to each other through a back hallway. I think there is some other type of store in-between the two but I could not be sure. Cafe Vittoria's decor is old espresso machines and plates, which somewhat reminded me of the old tea sets we saw in the MFA exhibit. The North End will always be one of my favorite parts of Boston since it combines my two favorite things: pasta and caffeine.