Let me get down to writing about what happened to my daughter and I last Thursday while dining at Chicago Joe's... \n\nAs my daughter and I were driving up in we went through a small driveway to the rear of the restaurant where there was more parking... she cautiously said to me.. \"I don't know about this place, Dad...\". \n\nAs you enter through the rear, the first impression of the restaurant is how small this Italian eatery is... very small. And dark. And infused in a glow of Reddish-Pink color... so much Red that you would think that you'd just walked into a Massage Parlor. I have to admit I've never frequented a Massage Parlor... I've seen some from the outside or waited while friends were being \"serviced\"... I swear! The Red and Green string lights around the restaurant serves two purposes - it'll remind you of the Holidays or they can serve as the colors of the Italian Flag. We were seated at the very first table to the right of the entrance, by the window with white lacy curtains.\n\nCJs is celebrating it's 35th Anniversary this very month! Ray, an elderly gentleman  was our waiter, had been employed here over a decade. Ray is an avid Photographic memorabilia collector - some of his collection are the Photographs you'll see displayed around the restaurant.\n\nWe had...\n\nFrench Bread (**** 1/2 Complimentary) Piping Hot mini-loaf French Bread brought around regularly sliced 3/4 of the way through so you can break apart the Bread with ease with wrapped pats of (real) Butter. I've always just liked basic hot French Bread... better than Nora's ( http://www.yelp.com/biz/noras-cuisine-las-vegas ) Garlic Bread by far... I think we had three re-fills to our basket.\n\nMussels Marinara (***** $7.95) Wow! What an Appetizer! There must have been three dozen Mussels about each over an inch in length in a steamy Butter Broth cooked with Pasta served in a bowl usually serving Cioppino. This is as YUMMY as you can get. Finished the whole thing, including the Broth - Kathy was embarrassed for me for dipping the French Bread into the Butter Broth - she reminded me that the Broth was mostly Butter and really wasn't good for me. This is just between you and me... it tasted soooo Good!\n\nMidway through the Mussels we heard a KaBoom, KaBoom and was followed by four quick Pops from outside the restaurant! All the Diners looked around at each other, the Waiters didn't know what to do and had that Deer-In-The-Headlights look. Kathy looked a little worried... I checked by Head and Chest for Gunshots and / or Blood, checked to see that all my Limbs were still there... everything OK. I reassured Kathy I was sitting in front of the window in front of her and I'd take all the Bullets coming through the Window - Kept on Dipping and finished off the Mussels.\n\nI looked through the window and saw to my amazement... Las Vegas' Metro PD had their SWAT Team of about Six officers with their Black German SS Helmets and their Black Ninja Outfits ready to rush through the rearmost apartment on the Second Floor North of CJs! An additional four members of SWAT were stationed at the base of the Stairs leading down to the Apartment's Parking Lot. Wow! A Drug Bust? Or a Perp Take-Down? Are we going to be on Cops?\n\nWe asked Ray if this was a regular occurrence... He replied that this was the first \"incident\" since he's been employed at CJs. Ray did say that the Apartment Owner had been trying to \"clean-up\" his apartments of \"undesirables\" the last few months.\n\nPasta with Snails in Garlic Butter (**** 1/2 $14.95) More Butter! Gimme More! This was Kathy's Dinner Entree. Got to try some of the leftovers... Snails very, very tender. And you've gotta love that Butter!\n\nPasta with MeatBalls in Marinara Sauce (**** 1/2 $14.95) Two HUGE Meatballs, both close to three inches in width, embedded with Onion Bits and Herb-infused.\n\nI like how Entrees are served at CJs... On hybrid Bowls / Plates about 9\" in diameter... Instead of fighting a flat plate throughout your meal, the China is actually helping you! A plain Iceberg Salad or Soup also comes with each Entree. I chose the Lentil Soup (****), it came in a 4\" wide bowl... liked the Elbow Macaroni cooked with the Soup, but the Soup was more like Navy Bean than Lentil.\n\nNo more food descriptions... During the consumption of our meal, occasionally some Diners and / or Waiters would come by and peer out of the Window behind me to see what was going on next door. LV CSI took over the duties next door bringing down filled Black Garbage Bags and loading them up in Pickups. The SWAT Team was gone by then leaving only holster-armed plain-clothes officers and CSI.\n\nYes dear, there is an actual person named Joe behind the name of the restaurant... don't know if he's from Chicago. Joe comes in on the Weekends starting Friday night to meet and greet guests.\n\nFrom our experience... maybe a Flak Jacket as a Fashion accessory item on future visits?