Panino's Pizza & Pasta, Monroe

Gourmet pizzas fly through the air before landing on slabs in Panino's Pizza & Pasta's kitchen, where chefs slather the hand-tossed dough with sauce and toppings that complement pasta dishes, crusty paninis, and other Italian menu selections. Pineapple chunks, crisp bacon, and cherry peppers—just a few of those aforementioned toppings—weigh down slices slapped together according to a list of specialty and build-your-own pizzas. Homemade marinara and meat sauces add a hearty kick to pasta dishes, and a pan-seared sole fillet arrives in the straw hat of the Italian fishermen who caught it. The restaurant's BYOB policy means that diners can arrive with bottles of wine or six-packs of beer from their own collections, and a casual, festive atmosphere inspires conversations that continue long after the last plates are cleared.