Lawrenceville has never been hipper. Some long-term Pittsburgh residents may still think of avoiding parts of the neighborhood after dark, but rising real estate prices and shiny new storefronts tell a different story.

Whatever your feelings about gentrification, rest assured that Lawrenceville will remain an eclectic mix. It now sports a cupcake cafe, artisan bakery, chic boutiques and a bevy of architecture and design firms, but there are still plenty of "neighborhood places" that make up for lack of shiny-newness with old-school charm.

And if you're wondering how these elements will coexist, there's no better place to stop than Geno's Restaurant and Big Belly Deli, where the old and the new collide.

Owner and Chef Geno Giguere grew up in Maine, but he came to Pittsburgh during the summer of 1997, met Lisa (now his wife), and never left. Geno's may be a new restaurant -- it opened less than a year ago -- but it feels like it has been in Lawrenceville for a generation already. Lisa provides that Pittsburgh connection -- she's had family living in the neighborhood for almost 100 years.

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Geno's Restaurant and Big Belly Deli

1 star = Good
Ratings explained

5147 Butler St.
Lawrenceville
412-781-3432

• Hours: Tuesday 11 a.m.-midnight; Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-last call; closed Sunday-Monday.
• Basics: New England seafood shack meets Italian-American restaurant meets neighborhood watering hole.
• Recommended dishes: Chicken wings, shrimp cocktail, artichoke dip, French onion soup, fried cod, fried sea scallops, fisherman's platter, prime rib, spaghetti with meatballs, amaretto biscotti torte.
• Prices: Appetizers $3.95-$9.95; salads, $9.95-$11.95; entrees, $12.95-$17.95; desserts $4.50.
• Summary: One small step at door but otherwise wheelchair accessible; dining room is nonsmoking, bar allows smoking; park on street; credit cards accepted; reservations encouraged for weekends; corkage, $13.
• Noise level: Low to very loud if there's live music or an open-mike performer.

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Contrasts abound: The food is unapologetically old-school, but the bar stocks a decent selection of microbrews. On Wednesdays, musicians, poets and stand-up comics are encouraged to attend open-mike night.

The dining room is defiantly plain -- navy blue linens, plain wooden chairs and pale-peach walls. But those walls are decked out with the work of local artists, an art gallery that rotates weekly. On any given night, the dining room runs the Lawrenceville gamut, and everyone seems to be having a pretty good time.

During the day Geno's goes by the name "The Big Belly Deli" and sells subs, salads, pizza and wings. That menu also is available at night, at least on weekdays (there was no mention of it on a bustling Saturday night). But a separate dinner menu offers a number of Italian-American classics, as well as a wide range of seafood, much of it available broiled or fried. Prime Rib is offered Thursday through Saturday.

The menu lists fairly standard appetizers, but Geno has put his twist on many. The artichoke dip ($6.95) was dominated by actual chunks of artichoke, rather than the usual glut of cream and cheese. It came with toasted pita bread, instead of the baguette slices on the menu, which made a pleasantly crispy base for the piquancy of the artichoke.

Slightly less successful fried calamari ($7.95) consisted of whole fried bodies, rather than the more typical rings, and the breading tended to slip off.

I enjoyed the straightforward French onion soup ($3.95), as well as a creamy clam bisque (cup, $2.75). Multiple soups of the day were offered on each of my visits, a nice addition on these blustery winter days.

The salads -- maybe because it's winter -- were less satisfying. If you're looking for a light meal, you're better off choosing some broiled seafood.

Speaking of seafood, if you're in the mood for fried seafood for a reasonable price, Geno's is a great choice.

You can order fried fish ($13.95) or scallops ($15.95) separately. Or you can order the Fisherman's Platter ($17.95), which includes fried cod, scallops and shrimp along with a crab cake and a pile of fries. It's large enough to feed a small family (our waitress was quite impressed by how much of it one of my guests managed to polish off).

The fish was flaky and moist on the inside with a crunchy shell just a bit darker than golden brown. The fried scallops also were perfectly cooked, delicate rather than rubbery. My only complaint would be fries that tasted a bit raw, as if they had only been fried once.

The grilled Cajun shrimp ($14.95) were not terribly spicy or flavorful and confirmed my suspicion that fusion items weren't the best option on the menu.

Of course, as the name suggests, Geno's has a distinct Italian-American bent, and the menu features such classics as Spaghetti and Meatballs ($12.95) and Veal Scallopini ($13.95) to prove it, and these were straightforward interpretations.

A few other surprises included a solid shrimp cocktail for an extremely reasonable price ($7.95 for five shrimp), and incredibly moist and tender chicken wings ($3.99, half dozen) whose size suggested they had come from a chicken rather than a package. Though the Garlic and Parmesan wings (and drumettes) we tried were a bit under-salted, I expect that's not a problem with flavors such as barbecue or hot wings.

Geno's may not be for everybody. It has a lot of heart, but it could use a bit of a redesign. Though the dining room is non-smoking, if a few people in the bar are smoking, it definitely wafts through the large doorway. Open-mike night can be quite loud, so cross your fingers that volunteers will sing on-key.

Service is casual and friendly, but there's not quite enough of it. On both visits, there were too few servers to provide speedy service, despite their valiant attempts.

Fortunately, the servers were competent and quick with a joke, which is just the right attitude. Lisa Giguere, Geno's wife, is likely to stroll through the dining room, sometimes holding a happy baby, checking in on customers and lending her free hand. This place, in short, is welcoming and fun.

To finish off the meal, the diner-style desserts ($4.50) were deliciously retro -- an unexpected delight. Amaretto Biscotti Torte topped a thin layer of angel food cake with creamy amaretto custard and a sprinkle of thinly sliced almonds. Lemon meringue pie had pleasantly sour lemon curd with a marshmallow meringue topping. Desserts may change slightly, as they have started buying about 75 percent of them from Jean-Marc Chatellier's French Bakery in Millvale.

French desserts at an Italian-American restaurant? Just another way Geno Giguere is putting his spin on an old standard.