Whenever I'm headed out to lunch with coworkers/vendors, and people are in the mood for Italian, two places come up as suggestions: Pasta Mia and Nora's.  I've been to Pasta Mia quite a few times and well...whenever these decisions come up I'm always rooting for Nora's.\n\nNow maybe it's because I grew up going to places like Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill, but for the most part I've never \"craved\" Italian food for the better part of my life.  Nothing against those two restaurant chains, I've had good family celebrations there, but the food never hooked me.  Well, my opinion of Italian is slowly changing after visiting Nora's repeatedly.\n\nI started out with fettuccine, spaghetti, etc. and all those other dishes that most places serve.  What really won me over was their Melrose Pesto.  I've had pesto before at other places, and there were times were I was gagging it down.  I'd given up on the green sauce, until a coworker brought back leftovers of their Melrose Pesto at Nora's.  I ate it the next day for lunch, and immediately knew that I had to try that on my next visit.  I was able to do just that this week, and here I am anxiously waiting for my next meal there.\n\nAlso of note is the skill of the bartenders.  They make some well crafted cocktails, and outside of Downtown Cocktail Room, this is the only other place that I trust to make me an Old Fashioned.  Nora's makes it to my list of repeat eats.