Family feedbag

I’m sure that many readers remember the episode of The Simpsons when Moe converts his renowned bar into a family restaurant: “If you like good food, good fun and a whole lot of crazy crap on the walls, then come on down to Uncle Moe’s Family Feedbag.” It’s a great episode. And it wasn’t until I saw it that it occurred to me that “crazy crap on the walls” is indeed a crucial part of the family restaurant formula.

The best wall craziness is usually found in out-of-the-way places in small towns. I once visited a diner in rural Wyoming with eccentric portraits of creepy, big-eyed children displayed among looming animal heads, spears, tomahawks and newspaper-clippings that ran back hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. It was initially disturbing, but after a moment, I began to enjoy the decorating as the idiosyncratic expression of restaurateurs who seemed to lack the need to recreate some artificial sense of comfort for their patrons.

There are places in Reno that employ wall ephemera quite effectively. Papa Joe’s Kitchen is one. Pinocchio’s Bar and Grill is another. And Jake’s Place—Pinocchio’s little sister diner, just two doors down—is a third.

A quick refresher: Pinocchio’s is an excellent mid-priced restaurant that serves a range of dishes—Italian fare, burgers and sandwiches—all of which are pretty good. I like Pinocchio’s, but I had never eaten at the lesser known Jake’s Place, which shares ownership, and I was curious to see how it would compare. Turns out, it’s about the same. Well … not exactly. It’s sort of like when the singer of your favorite band releases a solo record, and for the most part, it sounds the same, except maybe quirkier or more relaxed, and maybe you hear vocal nuances you missed before.

Jake’s Place has much more of a “bar and grill” feel than Pinocchio’s. It’s essentially an opportunity to enjoy the Pinocchio’s menu in a super-relaxed, friendly, bar-type environment. The difference in scenery made me more conscious of the decorations—which might be why I had such a positive reaction to all the “crazy crap.” There are a lot of Pinocchio-related things, most of which are thankfully not Disney, and some awesome lamps.

“Check out those awesome lamps!” I said. “They have stained-glass mosquitoes on them!”

My friend Natalie corrected me.

“Those are dragonflies.”

“Oh yeah. Of course.” Then I started thinking about it: Why does it make so much more sense to decorate with dragonflies than mosquitoes? And then it occurred to me that dragonflies don’t normally suck your blood or give you diseases.

The food at Jake’s Place is of the same high quality as Pinocchio’s. I had the Grilled Chicken Philly, on a seeded baguette, with sautéed peppers, onions, mushrooms and melted cheddar ($7.95). Natalie had the Veggie Melt, with eggplant, mushrooms, avocado, roasted peppers, red onion, cheddar, mozzarella and pesto mayo ($6.95). She told me it was good, though a bit oily, which might have been because of salad-dressing run-off. The side salads, by the way, are good: large with blue cheese and a whole lot of Italian dressing. We also had a fudge brownie sundae ($5.50) for dessert. But I couldn’t fully enjoy it because I was totally full.

Anyway, go check out Jake’s Place for good food, good times and, of course, some high quality "crazy wall crap."