Ancora open for lunch 7 days a week

Ancora is so underrated when it comes to food discussions. Good lil place

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Happy that I don't need to go to Pizza Domenica ever again!

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Has it gone downhill since the Shaya split, or is this just a personal thing?

Pizza Domenica was dead, and I mean dead, last time I went. Crazy how much that place has dropped off the map.

I find it easier to park on Freret (free city lot and smaller pay lot) than on most stretches of Magazine. And I can *almost* walk from work. The young manager/part owner was personable, remembered me from an earlier visit, yet didn’t annoy or bother. (When Ancora opened back in 2011, service was the real sorry spot—hipper than thou, not cheerful or smiling or happy. One particular incident stands out in my mind—I’d chatted w/Jeff, the founding chef, across the counter about something or other, while he worked w/the oven. Finished our meal, paid the tab, putting on my coat to leave, when the hipster stone faced manager comes over to our table with a plate of charred peppers...I thank him, but say, “sorry, we’re already on our way out, please thank the chef.” Manager actually says to me, “oh, no, you’re going to sit back down and eat these!” ???? Sorry, dude, I’m not. You know we’ve paid the bill, you can see us standing up, yet you still bring over a complimentary dish and then try to make me feel bad about not sitting right back down and eating it? He was a strange cat (can’t remember his name). Add to that the silly seriousness (no takeout, then takeout but no phone orders) and it became an every-once-in-a-while for me, rather than every other week. So this new iteration is happily so much more hospitality-minded than the opening gang.

RE: Pizza Domenica, the pizza has fallen off a bit. Not as many seasonal options, cheese overload on the last two I got about 2-3 months ago, and indifferent service. (I resorted to ordering a calabrese with no cheese to stop the dairy madness.). It had a great neighborhood vibe w/many interesting drink options when it opened....now it just feels kinda lame. No one was trying very hard during my last visit. Still love the garlic knots, tho.