Mississippi Pizza Pub (3552 N Mississippi Ave)

Have you ever seen the movie My Fair Lady? At the very beginning, Audrey Hepburn, a vagrant, is selling flowers on a London sidewalk, trying to earn her keep. An old man, a professor, is on the other side of a streetlight, writing down each word she says, in phonetics.

The other night at Mississippi Pizza Pub, we listened to the Flat Mountain Girls, a spirited bluegrass band. The room was super crowded and it was difficult to maneuver in and out if you had to get a drink or pizza, or make a trip to the restrooms.

There was a woman at our table who got up at least 5 or 6 times, despite the difficulty, to get another drink. She was there by herself - a 50ish woman. She was quiet and would occasionally yell out in support of the band. She had a little notebook and wrote in it nonstop before the concert, during the concert and during the breaks. What was unnerving was that she would look up every couple of minutes and look straight ahead - at us - and then keep writing.

After some time of her looking at us and writing, I wanted to shout out, just like Audrey Hepburn did in My Fair Lady, "That woman's taking down every bloody word I'm saying!" Doesn't that sound fun? Alas, I could not do it, but the urge was strong.

So back to Mississippi Pizza Pub. Their pizza is good. Thin crust and good toppings. It's always crowded. They have excellent music shows there and I think for the most part the cover charge is pretty cheap, $5 or so. If you are already sitting in the bar when the show is about to start, the pub girl walks over to you with a pitcher full of money she's collecting and asks you to pay your cover charge. Then, she draws a little red heart on your hand, instead of the usual ugly stamp, to show that you have paid. I think that's nice.

Good atmosphere, good music, good pizza.