Our waitress looked at me and said, “Shirley Temple lots of cherries?” I nodded my head. We were looking for lunch.
Peg and I had been waiting for Joeseppi’s Italian Ristorante in Tacoma’s West/North End (2207 North Pearl Street, Tacoma 98406 – 253-761-5555) to open. Joe is a past Pierce County Executive and his restaurant has helped many non-profit organizations raise funds by taking over his restaurant and waiting on and clearing off tables. He offers good solid food at fair prices. When my aunt and uncle come down from Alaska to visit, they always ask, “Are we going to Joeseppi’s?” It is a must stop for them. And obviously since the waitress knows my order, we are regulars.
Peg ordered a salad with a vinaigrette dressing. It was delivered piled high with lots of grated Parmesan cheese. Right away Peg asked for a “to go” container because it was big enough to use half for dinner. I had a few bites. It was excellent.
When I order a salad I prefer it with blue cheese dressing AND extra blue cheese. This time, however, I ordered my favorite appetizer, Sicilian Sausage Soup. I would recognize that soup anywhere. It has a great flavor and lots of sausage.
Still adjusting for the pandemic, Joeseppi’s has double-sided printed sheet copies of their dinner menu. They throw away these sheets of paper after each customer shares them. We ate in the bar. The tables were about eight feet apart. All the waitresses and kitchen staff were masked. It looked like a Lone Ranger convention. Joe, wearing a mask, came in to greet everyone, but no handshakes like before. He wore a mask, but people took the house suggestion to remove our masks while sitting at our tables.
Peg ordered the salmon fillet with spaghetti. She forgot to ask for the salmon not to be cooked all the way through. We were a little out of practice. The salmon was good, but a little dry for our tastes. As a left-over Peg poached it a short time in chicken broth and it was excellent.
When I was looking over the menu, the waitress mentioned that the prices were 50% off. They are only serving from their dinner menu. Once Peg heard this she told me to order the ribeye steak, which is what I usually order, but was looking at the Eggplant Parmesan. I ordered the steak, medium rare. It was perfect. I was a little disappointed they didn’t have whole wheat spaghetti noodles, which they usually offer. We can live without them, but we do prefer them.
The ribeye steak was excellent. I ate all my spaghetti even though it wasn’t whole wheat. We took home a major portion of the steak as well. The steak with the salmon was a great combination for dinner as well as lunch.
We didn’t order dessert . . . this time. Their tiramisu is a classic and very popular. Do not ever order their chocolate cake. It is tasty and huge. I mean HUGE! We ordered it one time while dining with another couple and it was enough for all of us. Rich chocolate – YUM!. If Jesus had Joeseppi’s chocolate cake, one piece could have accompanied the wine and served everyone at the wedding in Cana. (Small exaggeration)
Peg and I were really happy to see Joe and his people back at work after all these months. We’ve missed him and his food.
Joeseppi’s Italian Ristorante – joeseppisitalian.com/
