Paradise City Tavern Serves a More Casual Crowd

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Claudio Guerra, owner of six Western Mass. eateries including the new Paradise City Tavern in Northampton. PCT is a hip but still casual restaurant, watering hole, and entertainment spot that replaced Guerra's more formal restaurant, the Del Raye, earlier this year.

Guerra said high-end dining has been declining since 2001, and finally, he made the decision to close Del Raye and open PCT as an answer to this cultural change.

The decor is great, the food is unique, and the beer list is extensive - we taste-tested a creme brulee-flavored beer yesterday that was to die for.

Guerra's been in the restaurant business for more than two decades, and he knows his stuff. In the case of PCT, I think he's proven that casual doesn't need to be cheap, and hip doesn't need to be expensive.

Just a tip, too -- my friend Charlie plays at PCT every Thursday night with his funk band Iron City. Check them out - they're worth the boogie.

--WJ