Via Tribunali's Happy Hour: The Verdict

Last Saturday afternoon, I was feeling a little ravenous, so I went over to Via Tribunali to check out their happy hour. It was my first time there, so I didn't know what to expect. The Crocodile was mobbed due to a late-afternoon Harvey Danger gig, but Tribunali wasn't overly crowded. I ordered a $5 pizza (you get your choice of two: cheese or salami) and a Peroni. In other words, the sign did my ordering for me. I thought I'd be hanging out there for 20 or 30 minutes waiting for the pizza to come out, but it arrived in less than two minutes. Obviously, they had them ready to go for all the cheap people like myself. I went with the salami option, and golly, it was really good. The only thing wrong with it was the problem that plagues most "authentic" pizzas: the dreaded soggy center. You know what I'm talking about, right? The outer part of the pizza is cooked, but the center is severely undercooked. It was still delicious and I devoured the whole pie, but I have yet to find an "authentic" pizzeria that confronts this difficulty in a satisfactory way. Oh, and the Peroni was really unexpectedly terrific. You don't usually equate Italians with quality beer, but this particular brand is very tasty. And I got to hear quite a bit of Harvey Danger live while I was there. During their days of fame, I was a total saxophone practice nerd, so I paid no attention to them. But I gotta say, they do play some catchy stuff.

So yes, I highly recommend Via Tribunali's happy hour - if you're fine with no-frills pizza and one kind of beer, as I am. It's good of them to offer those items on special, but it would be even better if they could expand the menu a bit. There are places like Wann up at 2nd & Lenora that have entire happy hour menus. The philosophy usually is that people will come in for happy hour items and end up ordering regular-priced stuff. But you've gotta have more than three items, especially here in Belltown where there's pretty fierce happy hour competition. That's all I'm saying. Anyhow, long live Via Tribunali. Even if they don't expand their menu, I'll hit them up once every few weeks for a yummy salami pizza.