Nearly Famous Deli & Pasta House

How I’ve never been to this gem of a place after living in Springfield for over 10 years, I’ll never know.
Maybe I caught it on a great day, I don’t know, but it was the best experience I’ve had dining out in years.
The hostess was very polite and accommodating (and I later found out she was the owner).
I sat at the bar and the waitress/bartender found out it was my first time and recommended the pear sandwich.
Yea, that’s right pears, on a sandwich.
I was skeptical but I’m telling you right now, it did NOT disappoint! I had a great conversation with the bartender, and even had a chance to talk to a few other employees and was blown away.
Needless to say, I WILL be back and be bringing my family and friends!

Good service.
The croutons on the salad were very tasty.
Unfortunately, this is where the compliments end.
I ordered the spinach lasagna and my wife had the tortellini marinara. The lasagna noodles were dried out, spinach was terrible and the sauce was very burnt.
Epic failure on the lasagna. The tortellini tasted like it had been frozen in a bag which was also topped with the burnt marinara sauce.
Epic failure on this dish as well. Portion sizes on both dishes were extremely small.
The picture of the tortellini is how much was left on the table.
When asked if we wanted a box to take the leftovers, we respectfully declined. We decided to order lemon bars as a much needed pallet cleanser and wouldn't you know it, they were equally terrible! I can best describe them as tasting like crunchy butter with a hint of lemon topped with powdered sugar.
How do you mess up a lemon bar? The lemon bars were also very small in portion size.
I've included a standard sugar packet in the picture for scale. It's pretty bad when the croutons on the salad are the best part of the meal.
Normally, I always give resturants a second chance to redeem themselves.
However, this time I don't feel I can bring myself to do it.

This is a charming little piece of heaven.
It has a small town café feel right in the middle of Springfield.
The food is excellent.
My wife loves the salad and I love the egg sandwich.