Where to eat dinner when you didn’t plan ahead? A forgotten restaurant, those no-longer-new, not-quite-classic places where the food is still solid and the atmosphere is still up-to-date, but the crowds are gone.

Popular Center City BYOB La Viola has solved its always-packed problem: Last October, the owners quietly opened an almost-identical location across the street, La Viola Ouest. Don’t worry: they didn’t try to reinvent anything. The street address and phone numbers are one digit apart. The room is still a sparse afterthought. The waiters are still Italian. The booze is still carried in by customers and the menu is almost identical, still red-gravy satisfying and suitably priced. Warm up with a bowl of red or white mussels ($7) then dive into homemade fusilli with cannelloni beans, sausage, onions and a drizzle of olive oil ($12). Both locations are great easy-peasy weeknight dinner spots. The new location has just one thing the old one doesn’t: elbow room.

Image, photos.com

Where to eat dinner when you didn’t plan ahead? A forgotten restaurant, those no-longer-new, not-quite-classic places where the food is still solid and the atmosphere is still up-to-date, but the crowds are gone.

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I love eating out. I hate making reservations. Okay, okay, I just never plan ahead. So where do I eat when I decide I’m hungry at 8:30 on a Saturday night? A forgotten restaurant, those no-longer-new, not-quite-classic places where the food is still solid and the atmosphere is still up-to-date, but the crowds are gone. It can be a challenge to find such places (because, well, if no one eats there they go out of business), so I’ll be regularly reporting on my re-visits.

Bliss
It has been recognized by Esquire and Wine Spectator, was designed by prolific DAS Architects (with ultra-flattering lighting) and is helmed by Francesco Martorella, an ex-Four Seasons chef. The latter is apparent. The New American dishes are concocted from the good ingredients, well sauced, ideally proportioned, delicately displayed and excellently cooked – most for under $30 an entree, a rarity these days.

The vibe here — like it’s what-neighborhood-is-this? Broad Street location — is hard to define. Dress up and enjoy a three-course, big-wine meal (like a baby lettuce, Maytag blue and spicy walnut salad, followed by braised short ribs with Parmesan polenta and housemade sorbet). Or dress down, sit at the bar, and mix and match from their bar menu (cheesesteak empanada or tuna sashimi) with a trendy drink concoction from the cute bartenders.