Panino's rebrands downtown Colorado Springs eatery | Table Talk

Jan. 18—Panino's Restaurant, 604 N. Tejon St., a family-owned business, is celebrating being open since 1974 with a rebranding. Owners Christina Frasca-Lashwood and her husband, Bobby Lashwood, have renamed the restaurant P74: The Downtown Panino's.

"We love the Panino's tradition and what it has meant to this community and to our family for so many years," said Frasca, who is the third generation to operate the Tejon Street restaurant since it opened.

Her grandparents, Tony and Evey Frasca, opened their Pizza Plus in 1974. In 1984, their son, Mike, bought the business. He rebranded it Panino's Restaurant in 1992 for the popular panino sandwiches his mom had created for the eatery.

There are two other Colorado Panino's Restaurants, which are also owned by third-generation members of the Frasca family: 1721 S. 8th St. in Colorado Springs, owned by AJ Frasca; and 310 W. Prospect Road in Fort Collins, owned by Marie (Frasca) and Jon Beck.

Christina Frasca bought the North Tejon eatery from her dad, Mike.

"We bought Panino's Jan. 1, 2022," Frasca said. "In October we rebranded this store to bring our own touches to the place and make a visual difference."

The menu remains the same with crowd-pleasing daily soup rotation, pizzas, salads and, of course, panino sandwiches. "We have customers call each day to see which soup we are serving," she said. "The lasagna soup is one of the most popular. It's one of my grandmother's recipes, as is the panino bread crust. Others have tried to make paninos like ours, but without the crust recipe, they have not been successful. It's unique."

The lasagna soup is a treat. It's a hearty stew of meat, pasta and cheese that tastes like flavorful lasagna ($5 for a cup or $9.50 for a bowl). The green chili is excellent, too ($3 for a cup). Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Details: 719-635-7452, paninosdowntown.com.

Italian on wheels

Robert and Laurie Tust, former owners of Rocco's Italian Restaurant, which they closed in 2019, have brought back the foods that made their restaurant a go-to for Italian food for years, in the form of Rocco's Mobile Food.

"We couldn't be happier," said Laurie. "It's just the two of us, and we don't have to worry about staffing a restaurant."

The menu has all the old favorites from the restaurant days: cheese garlic bread, fried ravioli, chicken Parmesan sub, meatball sub, sausage sub and eggplant parmesan. And they sell their tasty marinara, too.

"We got started doing the truck during the shutdown," Robert said. "People couldn't go to restaurants, so they were happy when a food truck would come to neighborhoods. Now we go to breweries, truck fests and do catering. I'm working on getting another food truck fest going on North Academy (Boulevard)."

Visit tinyurl.com/5bvsvc2d for locations.

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Lunch under $10

Chris Shultz has set up his Stump Dogs mobile hot dog cart downtown at the Great Pumpkin at South Nevada Avenue and East Vermijo Street, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, weather permitting. It's a great place to get a lunch that won't break the bank. Meals start at $5. All-beef hot dogs are served in six styles, plus pulled pork sandwiches, nachos and Frito pies, with chips and drinks. Visit tinyurl.com/yk8nr38p.

Burger of the month

Bingo Burger, with locations at 132 N. Tejon St. in Colorado Springs and 101 Central Plaza, Pueblo, offers a Burger of the Month for the year. January's creation is The Resolution Burger ($14) designed to get the year off to a healthy start. It's Red Bird all-natural ground chicken breast, grilled and topped with thick-cut bacon, Swiss cheese, chunky guacamole and chipotle lime mayo.

The Shake of the Month is the Bingoccino ($7.30), made with Old Colorado City Creamery cappuccino ice cream, Bingo chocolate sauce drizzle, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Details: 719-418-6223, facebook.com/ bingoburgerCOS.

Wine dinners

Here are a couple of wine dinners to warm up chilly, wintry nights:

— Joseph's Restaurant & Bar, 1603 S. 8th St., 7 p.m. Jan. 25. For $110, you get a four-course meal paired with California wines.

Details: 719-630-3631, josephsdining.com.

— Jake and Telly's Greek Taverna, 2616 W. Colorado Ave., is offering the Napa Valley Wine Dinner at 6 p.m. Jan. 26. For $95 (plus tax and tip), you get a five-course meal paired with wine. Details: 719-633-0406, facebook.com/JakeandTellysGreekTaverna.

Sunday school

The Carter Payne, 320 S. Weber St., is having Sunday school wine classes 1:30-3:30 p.m. Jan. 22-Feb. 26. The Complete Experience is a five-class tour of the world of wine. The first class is A Wine Primer: Talking and Tasting, followed by Sunday weekly tours of white wines, red wines, all the rest (sparkling, rose, orange and fortified), and a class on pairing wines with food. $200 for the complete series. Details: 719-306-5006, thecarterpayne.com/sunday-school.