Italian Bistro owner Jason James, along with executive chef Jason Raynor, have introduced a new “Pick 2” option to the bistro’s lunch menu. 

The menu includes soups, salads and sandwiches, as well as an Italian-style mac and cheese. It’s designed to allow customers to pick two items – a side salad, a cup of soup, a half sandwich or a small mac and cheese, and receive a five percent discount on each item. 

“We already offered several lunch specials featuring pizza, soup and salad, but we did not have anything with our sandwiches, which are quite large portions, so we listened to our customers and started to offer a half sandwich with a side salad or soup,” James said. “We started working on this new menu idea over the winter and started offering an Italian style grilled cheese and tomato bisque soup which customers really enjoyed, so we added both of those to our new Pick 2 menu along with a side of mac and cheese and things kind of grew from there.”

Soup selections include pasta e fagioli, tomato bisque and a homemade soup of the day. Salads include a house or Caesar salad, as well as a spinach salad with mushrooms, bacon and hard boiled eggs; the Adriatic salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, roasted red peppers and feta cheese; and the Rustic with mixed greens, Anjou pears, candied pecans, blue cheese and a roasted shallot vinaigrette. 

Lunch sandwiches include a pesto chicken, an Italian club, an Italian grilled cheese, a turkey bruschetta, a chicken caprese and a tomato bacon and cheese. 

Instead of selecting the Pick 2 menu, customers can always opt for a whole sandwich, served with house made chips, fries, pasta salad or fruit, as well as whole salads. The lunch menu also includes a variety of appetizers, Italian specialties and entrees featuring chicken, veal and seafood. 

Italian Bistro, 8211 Market St., also specializes in traditional N.Y. style pizzas, as well as stromboli and calzones. Lunch and dinner are served daily, as well as a brunch menu on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Corporate catering and delivery are available. 

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