Bar-vissimo

By Daffodil Altan Catalyst

Send comments to: catalyst@wildcat.arizona.edu

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat Delissimo Deli/Daiquiri Ranch, located at Park Avenue and University Boulevard, sports an Italian feast for not a lot of dough. The deli/bar also provides a couple of pool tables and 22-plus beers on tap.

What do you get when you blend a quaint Italian deli serving the best bombers around and a small, relaxing bar with a couple of pool tables Ñ not to mention 22 kinds of beers on tap?

You find yourself at Delissimo Deli/Daiquiri Ranch on Park Avenue and University Boulevard, attempting a monstrous bite out of your chicken parmigiana reggiana sandwich (on fresh-baked bread) and then perhaps shooting a little pool afterwards with an Apricot Ale in hand.

Quietly expanding over the course of the summer, Delissimo is your favorite neighborhood deli gone mad. Owners Alex and Maria Bouzari opened Delissimo's deli section about one year ago and this summer the Bouzaris' expanded the deli with a small adjoining bar, Daiquiri Ranch, which opened about three weeks ago. Delissimo's new "darker half" is a cool green, in contrast with the deli's bright Italian atmosphere. It houses a couple of pool tables and 22-plus beers on tap. The bar's signature is, of course, the 20-plus kinds of Daiquiris that they feature, made with the same all-fruit ingredients as the Fruitissimo Smoothies down the street.

As if the sandwiches or the Sicilian bombers, (an elongated version of the calzone, stuffed with tuna and provolone or prosciutto and salami with cheese) weren't enough, beginning this week Delissimo introduces its new menu. It boasts five more kinds of bombers (including veggie) and has expanded completely with the inclusion of specialty salads, appetizers, Pasta and Risotto, Lasagna, soups and desserts. Nothing on the menu is over six dollars, and you can get a slice of pizza for 99 cents. Mama mia, we've hit another jackpot.

Whether youÕre in the mood for some good "authentic Italian," a rich, fruity daiquiri , or for a chat with Moe, the deli's signature cook who makes very sure that your meal is "good, good," then stop by this corner joint and get your own warm, hearty Italian fill. Ñ daffodil altan