{image1}Nessun Dorma, 2778 N. Weil St., is a hungry Riverwesterner's erotic dream: A smokey corner bar where the wine flows freely and the food is cheap, not to mention darn tasty.

The remodeled space that was once home to the Stork Club and Gordon Park Pub started out as a tavern more than a year ago and later added food.

A group of us girls went, only to realize that of eight tables, at least half were also filled with girls, mostly cute, cig-smoking types donning artistically-shaped eyeglasses.

The lighting is dim and perfect, the floors and bathroom are clean and the music was set at an ideal volume and a delicious mix of reggae, opera ("Nessun Dorma" is named after a Puccini aria that translates as "no one sleeps") and straight-ahead jazz.

The wine list is varied but selective and glasses range from $4 to $6. Plenty of local and micro beers are available, and the menu is half vegetarian and half meat-alicious. Luckily, my group craved a mix of both.

For appetizers, bruschette range from $4 to $5.50 and antipasti from $4.50 to $6.50. We tried a pesto bruschetta and a sun dried tomato and herb spread on toast. Both were good, with the creamy-topped toast teetering on excellence. The pesto needed more salt.

The service was commendable, with a couple of people -- including owner Joe Gilsdorf -- eager to make our experience appear seamless. At one point our server carried five glasses in his two hands. This former waitress was impressed.

To no one's fault, the dinners took at least half an hour, maybe 45 minutes, to arrive. It was a busy Thursday night and luckily, we were busy talking trash, sharing successes, toasting failures, making up lies and giggling.

But when the meal finally arrived, most of us felt it was well worth the wait. The portabella Philly was a delightful mix of balsamic-marinated portabella mushrooms, peppers, onions and provolone cheese on an Asiago ciabatta loaf with pesto mayo.

The formaggio sandwich was also very good, with fresh mozzarella, provolone and roasted red peppers on the Asiago ciabatta loaf with pesto.

Unfortunately, the steak pizzaiola was a little on the rare side for our friend, but had a nice array of toppings: onions, provolone and spicy tomato sauce on grilled Tuscan bread.

Overall, the sandwiches were every-last-bite yummy, filling and a very affordable $6 to $7.50. Other than the steak pizzaiola, the sandwiches were well presented with attractive grill streaks on them. If pressed to critique, they were a little on the cheesy side.

So if you don't mind a little second-hand smoke (it really wasn't that bad), and you don't want to dip into your gas money to enjoy a meal out, Nessun Dorma is your place.