Cucina Italiana is everything you could ask for a quick bite to eat.  The pizza, salad, pasta and delicious italian desserts seem especially decadent in the deli, cafeteria style set-up.  The space itself is small – if you’re going anytime near dinner, you will be dodging people left and right, and you probably won’t have a place to sit.  However, when I arrived to that very scene, I moved quickly through line and a kind hostess accompanied my tray and me on a jaywalk across 50th Street to the other Broders’ restaurant, Broders’ Pasta Bar.  I got to pick any table I and stay as long as I wanted, quietly eating away from the brouhaha inside.  It was very sweet and personal service.  Usually, when things are less hectic, you sit in the Cucina Italiana deli.

The food itself was simple enough, but with an added twist.  My pistachio-lemon bar was a normal lemon bar but with whole pistachios right in it; I was sure I would be disappointed, but it was probably the sweetest lemon bar I’ve had in a long time.  Plus, that’s not something you can get just anywhere.

Prices are very reasonable: my dinner cost around $7 with a slice of pizza, drink, and dessert.  If you’re looking for a quieter or more refined atmosphere, check out the  Pasta Bar across the street.  It only serves dinner and has beautiful patio seating, but be warned: you’ll have to leave the Edina bubble and maybe even parallel park.