Want the best pizza in Portland? Go to Micucci's (on India Street), and walk to the back where Stephen Lanzalotta and his family preside over the ovens. It's not fancy, and there are no options. It's just plain and simple good. People vote with the feet, and often there's a line waiting for the next one to come out of the oven and its five minute mandatory wait. You can even eat it there, and help yourself to free coffee.

I work nearby, and too often walk across the street to indulge in this treat. Today I found something new awaiting me on the tables -- a sign saying "Please Pay First".

Evidently some people have been eating their pizza and just walking out without paying. That's shoplifting, plain and simple, and it's wrong in any venue. But to rip off Micucci's -- one of our best local community stores -- seems unthinkable to me. You can watch Steve and his family going through the whole process, and can see how much work goes into that delicious slab that's for sale.

I can't fault Micicci's for putting up those signs. They're not in business to give away food. Their prices on most items are already lower than at other stores, the quality is unsurpassed, and if one item seems too expensive we always have the option of not buying.

Portland lost something. I don't know what it would take for those signs to come down. Meanwhile, their presence is a reminder that integrity does not always prevail in our fair city.

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