Choosing pizza toppings is a lot like being married: if there is an irreconcilable disagreement, both parties take half. Grab a piece of the pie with today’s Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of gourmet pizza and pasta at Picasso’s.
Starting with mounds of fresh ingredients, Picasso's culinary artistes sling a full menu of savory pies and Italian entrees. The eatery's pizzas, built on a taster’s choice of New York–, St. Louis–, or Mediterranean–style crust, comes piled with selections from more than 70 toppings, spanning the spectrum from standard meats and veggies to pancetta bacon, shrimp, clams, goat cheese, and truffle oil. Bold and creative types can paint custom pies onto 12-inch, 14-inch, or 18-inch canvases, and patrons seeking expert opinions can order up a house specialty such as the triple-meat triple-cheese stuffed Italian ($13.75–$19.25) or the kitchen sink ($14.25–$19.75), named in honor of the fixture that once heroically resuscitated an unconscious staffer. Other eats range from the rosemary-encrusted snapper ($22) and rustic seafood chowder ($13) to pasta dishes made fresh in house using high-quality semolina durum flour, such as the lasagna bolognese ($11).
After kicking off meals with fried mac ‘n’ cheese ($5) or oysters Rockefeller ($8.50), guests can wrap up the evening with a seasonal fruit crisp, gooey butter cake ($4.50 each), or another of the chef’s sweet treats. Amid the fellowship of a common-room-style dining area decked out in warm tones, gleaming wood furnishings, and colorful hanging prints, guests can surround themselves in classic pizzeria cuisine, which is surrounded by a familial staff, which is surrounded by walls.