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2 Amys, Wisconsin Ave. and Macomb Street - Great Wine, Small Plates, Pizza, and Desserts - No Longer DOCG Pizza, but Who Cares?


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For a short time only (I would guess), but very good right now at 2 Amys: Durham bread crostini with fava bean puree, olive oil and shaved pecorino.
Bonus -- watching every member of staff variously set to skinning fresh favas at each lull in their other duties.

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For a short time only (I would guess), but very good right now at 2 Amys: Durham bread crostini with fava bean puree, olive oil and shaved pecorino.

Bonus -- watching every member of staff variously set to skinning fresh favas at each lull in their other duties.

Oh man that does sound good. I cannot wait for the these to show up at the farmer's market. To me there is nothing better than fresh fava beans with olive oil and salt, eaten with good Italian bread. :lol:

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Peanut's papa is playing hooky to help care for the little one recovering from pink eye

Peanut had peas for lunch, papa was too lazy to cook and wanted to go somewhere nearby.

But what did he want? Peanut wasn't much help in deciding but he knew by the gleam in her eye.

That she was thinking, "today is a perfect day to have some pizza pie".

"Where to go?", pondered papa as he wiped her face clean of peas.

"It's got to be someplace close. Someplace we can get to with ease"

Most of the places in Silver Spring are junk filled with grease!

A lightbulb went on over his head, he fell upon his knees.

By Jove I think that I've got it! We'll go to 2 Amys!

Down East-West Highway thinking of cheese before Wisconsin.

In and out of traffic that little Honda moved faster than Ben Johnson.

There it is! There it is! Ready to stuff his face.

Exclaiming further, "Now I just need a fucking parking place."

Carrying Peanut through the door with a belabored pace.

Sit down. Iced Tea. Temporarily out of the rat race.

"Bresaola and arugula white pie that should do me right."

It came out quick and, oh my, what a sight.

The crust was a little too salty but it was perfectly chewy and light.

Papa almost forgot Peanut was there, satiated and face aglow with delight.

Then some fussing it did begin as Peanut was a little ill at ease.

"Check if you could kind waitress and hurry if you please!"

Run out the door, to the car, fall down upon his knees.

In the passenger seat,

the changing pad laid out neat

Peanut's well-fed papa changed a diaper full of poop made green by her peas.

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Peanut's well-fed papa changed a diaper full of poop made green by her peas.

This poem was clever and really quite pleasing,

Until I read this line and began to feel queasy.

I know what you'll say, about me not having kids,

But I don't need to read about a baby's green skids. :lol:

;)

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[Posted on eGullet 2003-2004]

Between dine-in and carry-out, I've been to 2 Amy's more than any other restaurant in Washington DC, so that should tell you what I think. This ranks right up there with my all-time favorite pizza, and Peter Pastan is a genius for having opened this restaurant when he did.

A brief report from last night:

Wines - still a fine little list at painless prices. The default is to get them served with water glasses, but if you order a bottle and ask for stemware, they'll happily bring it to you. A 1999 Salice Salentino for $24 was a great pizza wine at a fair price.

Bread - they'll only bring bread if you ask for it. A bit too oily/rubbery with too much bad-tasting flour on the crust this time around, but certainly homemade and honest.

Salad - a mixed green salad (arugula, endive, frisee, etc.) was simple and perfect, with just the right amount of dressing.

Pizzas - all pizzas were unevenly cooked, with parts of the crust charred and other parts not. I took a lap around the restaurant and confirmed that this was an ongoing problem last night. A special of "fresh Hawaiian giant prawns" with tomato, grana, etc. was the single worst pizza I've ever had at 2 Amys. The prawns were overcooked and beastily salty, and the pizza had nothing to like about it at all, right down to the burned crust. Another special of "2 Amy's Sausage" was much better, the sausage being housemade and fabulous, and the crust being cooked properly 80% of the way around the circle, with 20% being charred. A ripieno stuffed with mozzerela, grana and tomato was good as well, although not at the very best level that I've had here.

Desserts - the cookies and truffles plate has gone to hell in a handbasket. Dried out, boring, and nothing like it used to be. Pistachio chocolate chip ice cream was fabulous, world-class ice cream that could have used smaller chocolate chunks. Grapefruit sorbet was as good as any I've ever had in my life. Despite the chocolate chunks, nothing has changed my experience that 2 Amys has my favorite ice creams and sorbets in the entire city.

Service - a mixture between curt (when we were seated), responsive (when we asked for stemware, polite (when we asked them to delay our pizzas for awhile in order to enjoy some wine and salad), and forgetful (the 2 Amys Sausage pizza was ordered with pepperoni as well, but brought without, and the server told us the ice cream and sorbet would arrive in two separate dishes so as not to mix them together, but they arrived in one).

So, there's one night at 2 Amys. As you see, it was a mixed bag, but I see nothing that couldn't have been prevented with some more attentive supervision over the kitchen and waitstaff, other than the giant-prawn pizza which simply may have been beyond repair.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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We went to 2Amys last night, so that visiting vegetarian bro-in-law would have reasonable options. Hub and I had fennel-crusted, smoked swordfish, which was more like swordfish gravlax--thin slices with a slight background hint of fishyness, a bit of fennel seed crunch and not much smoke in the mix, but we thought it was tasty. Hub's bro and our teenage daughter went for bufalo mozzarella wrapped with roasted eggplant. With good olive oil and fresh basil, what's not to like? I seriously fell off my low-carb regimen, a sacrifice I was willing to make in the interest of family harmony. We all ordered Margherita pizzas, which were perfectly cooked, chewy, crispy and not burned at all. then we ordered caramel chocolate chip ice cream for dessert, except for teen angel who expressed her need for independence by having vanilla bean panna cotta, which was appropriately cool and silky. The caramel on the plate with the panna cotta was a bit pale and undercooked and so lacked flavor, but the kid was happy. The ice cream was FABULOUS. Not too sweet, creamy, and I loved the paper-thin crispy-crunches of good dark chocolate in every bite. Hub and I drank some very nice, medium-bodied aglianico that had notes of plum and cherry and a hint of leather, which complemented the pizza nicely, and seemed like a pretty good deal at $6 a glass.

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To 2 Amys today to forget two weeks of too few carbs. (Albeit 11 lbs lighter.)

Stuffed squid with saucy eggs, stuffed pizza with lamb meatballs, fontina and pecorino, all the chocolate/toffee icecream we could stuff in our faces.

Maybe it's the insulin reaction talking, but I can't think of three better courses I've had in a row for, like, a really really long time. Must. Not. Go. Back. Tomorrow.

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Erm, is there a shamefaced emoticon? Because, well, we were sort of in the neighborhood, so...

(By the way, lunch is fast going the way of dinner, crowds-wise. While it's not Pizzeria Bianco crazy yet, they were two-thirds full today within a few minutes of opening the door at 12:00. Tim says the current record is zero to chock-a-block in 13 minutes.)

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Today, I help Stretch (and his 4-month old son) fall off the low carb diet wagon. We met for a spot of lunch at 2 Amys so that I could see for my self what all the fuss is about. All the fuss is about what everyone except my seems to know is the best pizza in town. At 2:00 on a very rainy Friday afternoon, the place was packed.

I started off with the special crostini, two toasts covered with tomato confit and some chiffonade of basil. Very tasty. My pizza was a DOC extra, with olives and the house made sausage. How they get the pizza crust so think, it was almost paper thin, is a miracle. The blend of ingredients, what with the bufala mozzarella, the fresh cherry tomatoes, the kalamata olives, the spicy homemade sausage, combined to produce one of the best pizzas I have ever had.

Stretch had the deep fried risotto thingy for an appetizer and he gave me a bite, it was very good. A friend of mine that I brought along for the field trip style lunch, had the bowl of meatballs and sauce for an appetizer. Those are a good choice as well. I have to tell you though, I don't know how people save room for desert. We had to skip what is alleged to be world class ice cream because we were so full.

Thanks Stretch for showing me the ropes at 2 Amys.

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Any excuse to go get a good pizza. On that note, I should add that I think they've now perfected one of the special pizzas that shows up from time to time -- the one with fontina and hot and sweet peppers. Previously, this was usually served with the house-made sausage, which is very good but perhaps added just a touch too much oiliness to the already-quite-unctuous cheese. Today they were doing it with gabagool (capicola, for those that don't watch The Sopranos) instead and it was great. The ham is drier and adds a salty/spicy kick that nicely complements the sting of the peppers.

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Stretch,

When are you at 2Amys? I'm there pretty much every week now -- usually there on Sat. afternoon, Sun. night, or Monday night, sitting at the bar. I think you're the only one who's a bigger advocate of 2Amys than me.

On the fava bean note...I was there a few weeks ago for a late lunch on Saturday and Peter Pastan was sitting at the bar peeling those fava beans. It was interesting to watch.

My latest favorite there...Any of the ice cream made by Amy. Wednesday night was the coffee chocolate chip and I am praying they bring back the mint chocolate chip. I swear they should start selling that stuff by the gallon.

Jason

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At 2:00 on a very rainy Friday afternoon, the place was packed. 

we got there at 2 on Friday as well and were surprised at how busy it was

not the greatest meal we've had there but good nonetheless

we had meatballs, the fried risotto ball special and the goat cheese w/ fig jam - theye were all good - some of the meatballs weren't fully heated through but thats a minor quibble

we shared 3 pizza's - margarita, arucola and pancetta, and a special with 'two amys sausage' - I really like the arucola and pancetta pizza although on this occasion they skimped a little on the arucola

for dessert we had the orange panna cotta w/ caramel sauce and shortbread cookie - dessert is quickly becoming my favorite part of a meal there - this was divine!

and a nice gesture - a free scoop of the mint choc chip for our 4 yr old - absolutely the best mint choc chip ice cream I have ever tasted - truly exceptional - the taste was akin to what you get when you pop a mint leave into your mouth - it made us want to order a full serving but by then we were ready to burst :lol:

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Any excuse to go get a good pizza. On that note, I should add that I think they've now perfected one of the special pizzas that shows up from time to time -- the one with fontina and hot and sweet peppers. Previously, this was usually served with the house-made sausage, which is very good but perhaps added just a touch too much oiliness to the already-quite-unctuous cheese. Today they were doing it with gabagool (capicola, for those that don't watch The Sopranos) instead and it was great. The ham is drier and adds a salty/spicy kick that nicely complements the sting of the peppers.

Went to 2 Amy's over the weekend and several of the small plates to start. We had some calabrese olives, marinated fennel with gorgonzola, favas with olive oil and pecorino rustica, grilled prawns served with basil mayo, and marinated sardines.

All the small plates were delicious, but the basil mayo served with the prawns was incredible. It starts off with the creaminess of regular mayo and then the basil slowly emerges to a wonderful finish. A tomato sandwich with that mayo would be killer.

After all those starters we split the housemade capicola special pizza above and agree with Stretch that it is something special, although I wish they had more hot peppers on it.

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Took a friend for dinner last night. She was tired of hearing me rave about it and wanted to see for herself. Fortunately she was thrilled to find good eats within walking distance of her place. I, however, was not that impressed.

We started with prosciutto and potato croquettes. If the menu had said potato croquettes they would have been the hit of the evening. Perfectly fried, crisp outside. The first bite reveals creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. Brilliant mashed potatoes. But there was no sign of prosciutto anywhere. I was quite disappointed.

We also had a plate of roasted olives which were wonderful. Perfect dish to linger over while catching up with a dear friend.

For our pizzas we both had the margaritas but I topped mine with the lamb meatballs. Finally, after a number of attempts I got there early enough to try the meatballs. Standing on their own they are amazing. If I had a Nona I imagine she would make meatballs like this. But as a topping for the pizza it did not work. The extra sauce make the dough soggy and the nuances of the pizza were overpowered by the meatballs. Next time I will have them separately.

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Took a friend for dinner last night.  She was tired of hearing me rave about it and wanted to see for herself.  Fortunately she was thrilled to find good eats within walking distance of her place.  I, however, was not that impressed.

We started with prosciutto and potato croquettes.  If the menu had said potato croquettes they would have been the hit of the evening.  Perfectly fried, crisp outside.  The first bite reveals creamy, buttery mashed potatoes.  Brilliant mashed potatoes.  But there was no sign of prosciutto anywhere.  I was quite disappointed.

We also had a plate of roasted olives which were wonderful.  Perfect dish to linger over while catching up with a dear friend.

For our pizzas we both had the margaritas but I topped mine with the lamb meatballs.  Finally, after a number of attempts I got there early enough to try the meatballs.  Standing on their own they are amazing.  If I had a Nona I imagine she would make meatballs like this.  But as a topping for the pizza it did not work.  The extra sauce make the dough soggy and the nuances of the pizza were overpowered by the meatballs.  Next time I will have them separately.

We had the croquettes last week when we ordered carryout while I was home sick for our anniversery. We both thought they were a touch dry and overcooked. Good concept, not quite the execution we wanted.

I think the lamb meatballs are best in the stuffed pizza with the fontina. But what I'd really love to do is have a side-by-side comparison with Palena's little lamb meatballs...

Jennifer

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I know, I know and I needed a damn good meal too. The bottle of Gragnano saved the meal and day.

Just realized I forgot to go on and on and on about what a great find that is. I rarely have more than a glass or two during a weeknight meal but the four glasses were worth the small hangover I had this morning. See, the whole post/experience wasn't cranky :lol:

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I have my in-laws driving in tonight from Michigan, ariving around 7:00 or 7:30. They are staying up in 2 Amy's neighborhood .... how long do you think the wait would be for 4 around then on a Tuesday night? They might get impatient waiting, but I know they would love the pizza.

Craig.

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I have my in-laws driving in tonight from Michigan, ariving around 7:00 or 7:30.  They are staying up in 2 Amy's neighborhood .... how long do you think the wait would be for 4 around then on a Tuesday night?  They might get impatient waiting, but I know they would love the pizza.

Craig.

It shouldn't be too bad. Tuesday nights typically aren't toooo busy. You can always have a drink at the bar or have some of the bar menu food while you wait.

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Just wanted to throw this out there -

Had another great lunch at 2 Amys - but the dessert... oh my.

Had a strawberry semifreddo with lemon shortbread. It was amazing. Sort of dessert where I honestly considered looking around to see if anyone would notice if I was licking the plate. I sat there wishing I lived in Italy and could eat this way all the time.

Server said it's the first time this summer she's seen the semifreddo with strawberries. I am considering going back for dinner tonight to have it again.

Maybe it's been on the menu before, so I apologize if this isn't Breaking News - but it was so damn good. Run - don't walk.

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I had the octopus salad appetizer last night and... well, my pizza was good. There seemed to be something missing in the salad; perhaps the rather generous amount of olive oil overwhelmed the citrus, or perhaps the dish was left open to the diner's preferred level of saltiness. But still, this is the first time I've kind of been disappointed by a dish at 2 Amys.

That said, I had the homemade sausage pizza that was on special last night, with hot peppers, tomato, and sweet peppers... loved it.

Edited by Kanishka
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Had some nice fried squash blossoms today at 2 Amys. Didn't think the roasted beets were all that, though. The strawberry semifreddo was as good as DCJono reported earlier -- though it did prevent me from trying the chocolate brownie chunk ice cream and I'm still sorta wondering...

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Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very hungover today. Misery mitigated somewhat by three cold bottles of San Benedetto and a great pizza topped with chanterelles, fontina, garlic, parsley and hot, orange, burstingly-juicy sungold tomatoes from a local grower in the Northern Neck. Now for a little lie-down.

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Unless they don't eat it for religious reasons, get new friends.

That IS the reason. And, I know a lot of folks here like the meat balls and salami, etc hence the reason for providing that tidbit. Any one else with real suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Haven't been to 2 Amys for awhile. Going tonight though with a crew that doesn't eat pork, any suggestions? Any new specials that are worth trying?

Thanks.

They sometimes have a special pizza with various mushrooms that is pretty good. The Little Things section of the daily specials have also been good on various visits.

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Haven't been to 2 Amys for awhile. Going tonight though with a crew that doesn't eat pork, any suggestions? Any new specials that are worth trying?

Thanks.

They could do worse than consider the Etna. Eggplant confit, olives, capers, oregano, grana. I never ordered it for years because I thought I didn't like eggplant. Then I did, and now I do.

The menu is here, by the way.

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They could do worse than consider the Etna. Eggplant confit, olives, capers, oregano, grana. I never ordered it for years because I thought I didn't like eggplant. Then I did, and now I do.

The menu is here, by the way.

When did Amazon start posting menus?

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Haven't been to 2 Amys for awhile. Going tonight though with a crew that doesn't eat pork, any suggestions? Any new specials that are worth trying?

Thanks.

Fried zucchini cut into spears was on the menu monday night. a table of four will fight over an order of two small plates. by the way, the thermometer has been a bit on the sweltering side the past two times we have been in there, and we weren't sitting that close to the ovens. i guess air conditioning is not authentically italian.

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I was there on Tuesday and we dined at the bar. At various points during the meal, my friend and I were fanning ourselves. The bartenders seem to have control over the ceiling fans, and for whatever reason, they sometimes slow them down. A lot.

Anyway, we had a good meal. I wasn't all that jazzed about the potato and ham croquettes, but dessert was incredible: blackberry tart with cardamom ice cream. BLISS!

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Fried zucchini cut into spears was on the menu monday night. a table of four will fight over an order of two small plates. by the way, the thermometer has been a bit on the sweltering side the past two times we have been in there, and we weren't sitting that close to the ovens. i guess air conditioning is not authentically italian.

Thanks for the rec. The fried zucchini appetizer was a big hit. You have to love good ingredients with a simple preparation that lets the food shine.

Also, last night was admittedly on the cool side, but we were just fine temperature wise and we sat pretty close to the oven.

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catherine deneuve in a movie by jacques demi never fiddled over any food more beautiful than the blackberry semifreddo we shared last night. the ceiling-fan air conditioning system here, which can provide a dubious reminder that it is sweltering outside, was perfect for displaying this voluptuous dessert -- a cool and silken mound melting into a pool of deep pink, tears of golden caramel sauce and three small ginger brown cookies standing as sentinels. the attack came from two sides, and our reverie was over in a flash. (i keep thinking things are running in honey this summer, when they are not.)

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I would like to add to the list of "Desserts that Make You Swoon" the blueberry chocolate chip ice cream I had on Friday night.  Oh my!

Swoon indeed! I think I'm going to have to start calling midday to see what their ice creams of the night are- that sounds amazing.

The New Englander in me can't seem to get enough ice cream as of late. I had the Cinnamon Nut Crunch ice cream last Tuesday night and that was absolutely lovely. I'm thinking I need to sit at the bar after classes, get a glass of wine and some ice cream, heh. (Back on the student budget afterall.)

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Took the kids tonight.

Had the Fried Risotto Balls for an appetizer. We had two pizzas, the margharita and they made up a white for me (Mozzarella, Ricotta & Gorgonzola). The flavor was great.

We got there at 5pm and we were able to get a two top on the deck, when we left at 6:15 there was a line down the block (at least ten tables or so), who would have thought on Sunday of a holiday weekend.

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We got there at 5pm and we were able to get a two top on the deck, when we left at 6:15 there was a line down the block (at least ten tables or so), who would have thought on Sunday of a holiday weekend.

I went tonight as well and I wasn't surprised that the bar was full at 9:30 PM. They ran out of dough tonight it was so crowded.

I encourage everyone to get the bean salad from the bar menu. I had it tonight and I was really happy with it. I also had ricotta cheese on a pizza for the first time...suddenly, I had a whole new world of pizza possibilites opened up to me.

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Went this afternoon at 5:00 and sat for the first time in the patio outback, which was just lovely on such a nice fall afternoon. When did it become fall all of a sudden.

I had the chanterelle mushroom pizza special which was great. The woodsy mushrooms were complemented by cherry tomatos, fontina cheese, and slivers of garlic that roasted when the pizza cooked. They said this special had been around a while, so go get it while it lasts.

Also, if you haven't skipped the pizza and tried one of their paninis yet, I recommend the smoked mozzarrella and lamb meatballs. I had it a few weeks ago and spotted it on the menu today. It is super.

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For the second Sunday in a row I had dinner at Two Amy's and am considering making it a weekly tradition. Both meals, preceded by a short wait of only 10-15 minutes, were fantastic.

Last week I started with the heirloom tomato salad with basil and sexy salt. It's taken me a lifetime to learn to like tomatoes and this dish throws in my face what I have been missing. It comes with three types of regular heirlooms and a scattering of heirloom cherry tomatoes. Last week there were purple cherry tomatoes in the mix and that was the only thing missing this week.

I also had the chanterelle mushroom, cherry tomato and fontina pizza that was a special both weeks. The flavor of the mushroom gets a little lost in the cheese and tomatoes but adds a nice texture. Not to mention that when it first comes out the fontina is nice and stringy (not that I would eat pizza there with my hands :lol::P ).

Tonight I had the vongole pizza for the first time. My only complaint was that my dad managed to get himself the slices with the most clams. Who would have thought that whole clams on a pizza would be good? I am glad someone did.

The oddest thing about my two trips was that at some point in the meal each week my friend or my father pondered aloud if every young family in NW with children were there for dinner. I can't blame them if they were.

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The oddest thing about my two trips was that at some point in the meal each week my friend or my father pondered aloud if every young family in NW with children were there for dinner. I can't blame them if they were.

Most tof the times that I have gone (either Fri or Sat night) I have thought that the place could double as a day care center. If it is that bad around 8-8:30 on a Sat night I would hate to see it on a Sun evening.

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