Lynn's Halloween Week Runs Through Its Dinner Tables, Starting With a Restaurant That Opened October 1

Ciao! Pizza and Pasta opened at 41 Sutton St. in downtown Lynn on Thursday, October 1. Four weeks later, on Thursday, October 29, it is one of five stops on "Boos & Bites: A Lynn Foodie Tour." That is a $50 evening walk through downtown kitchens that the organizers pitch as a way to "skip the Halloween-season chaos" right here in Lynn.

So while Salem draws the crowds, downtown Lynn has put together its own Halloween week around food, history and a costume contest for dogs. Most of it happens within a few blocks of Andrew Street, and the first night is all about dinner.

The newest kitchen downtown cooks a pizza in about 90 seconds

Owner Edson Coimbra opened the original Ciao! in Chelsea in 2015. According to MassLive, the brand already had two Boston-area locations before Lynn, which makes Sutton Street its first on the North Shore. Itemlive reported that Coimbra heard about the Sutton Street space from a vendor. The ribbon-cutting was held with the North Shore Latino Business Association. Mayor Jared C. Nicholson presented a citation from the Mayor's Office, and the offices of state Sen. Brendan Crighton and state Rep. Sean Reid presented citations too.

The menu centers on Neapolitan-style pizza from a wood-fired oven, plus pasta made in-house. Coimbra told Itemlive the dough is extra-fine Italian flour, water and salt, and it cooks for about 90 seconds once it goes into the oven.

"It comes out very fast. I think when people eat the pizza, they can tell the difference with the product quality and also the flavor."

That's Coimbra in the same Itemlive story. The pies include a Margherita, Prosciutto di Parma, Salsiccia, Soppressata and Funghi. There are vegan and gluten-free dishes as well.

Coimbra also told Itemlive that Ciao! hires locally, as it does in Chelsea. "We like to hire people from the community," he said. That local hiring is the same idea the foodie tour is built on.

The route reads like a map of downtown Lynn's kitchens

The Millennium Latino Project's event listing on Lynn Community TV names five stops. Together they cover a wide range of food for one evening on foot:

1. Ciao! Pizza and Pasta, 41 Sutton St. Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and fresh pasta, open since October 1.
2. Blue Ox, 191 Oxford St. The current dinner menu covers burgers, seafood, pasta, steak and other American-style entrées.
3. Tres Perritos Gourmet, 117 Munroe St. Colombian-inspired hot dogs served tapas-style, founded by chef Angel Medina with Marcela Muñoz and business partner Edwin Restrepo.
4. La Copà Cafe Restaurante Bar, 23 Central Avenue. Mexican and Italian cooking with a full bar and cocktails.
5. Kokomma. Nigerian food, with Comfort Ukpong as general manager and head chef.

That's Italian, American, Colombian, Mexican-Italian and Nigerian, all in one walk. Tres Perritos fits the "small bites" format of a tasting tour especially well. In an April Itemlive profile, Medina said he wanted smaller hot dogs so customers could sample a range of flavors. He described the classic as Colombian and the beef chili version as "a little spicier, (which is) more Mexican." The most popular item, the Doggy Gratinado, started as a special. It has fontal, cheddar and parmesan, plus caramel and bacon aioli. The sausages come from Cajun Foods in Chelsea, and the toppings are prepared fresh every day.

A tour built to send diners back

The organizers say outright that this is about more than one night out. The listing says each stop "introduces you to a local restaurant, brings new customers through their doors, and keeps dollars circulating in our local economy." Boos & Bites is a Halloween edition of the Millennium Latino Project's Foodie Tour Series. The ticket page says it's run with Lynn Walking Shoe Tours, and each ticket includes the tour plus a tasting at every stop.

That's why a restaurant that's only four weeks old fits so well. A tasting is the cheapest way for someone who lives a mile away to try a new place before booking a full dinner. Frances Martinez, president of the North Shore Latino Business Association, said much the same at Ciao!'s opening, as Itemlive reported: "We want the downtown City of Lynn to be able to welcome everyone and to be able to taste all the cuisines that we have here in the city of Lynn."

Here's what to know about the evening:

• Meet-up: 5:30 p.m. near the Andrew Street municipal parking lot. The organizers describe it as "across from our first stop."
• Ending: a mixer. The Lynn Community TV listing runs until 8 p.m., while the ticket page says 7:30 p.m.
• Cost: $50.
• Costumes: encouraged. The best costume wins a $50 gift card to the participating restaurant of the winner's choice.

Thursday through Saturday, the week stays downtown

The tour kicks off a three-day stretch, and most of it happens on the same few streets. The tour gathers near the Andrew Street lot on Thursday evening. The next night's event is on that same street, at the Grand Army of the Republic Hall & Museum.

Night at the G.A.R. includes a costume contest. The Downtown Lynn Cultural District's poster lists categories like Civil War, Renaissance, Gothic, historical, medical and military. On Saturday morning the costumes switch to pets for the Downtown Lynn Pet Costume Contest in Central Square, which is free to attend.

The Lynn Museum at 590 Washington St. also has two programs the week before: "Lynn Legacies: The Next Generation" on October 22 and "Fourth Saturday" on October 24.

After the tour, the dinners keep their regular hours

The tasting format only works if people come back on an ordinary weeknight. Ciao! is open 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. That means a pizza on the night of Night at the G.A.R. fits before the 7 p.m. start. Tres Perritos also takes its food out of the building. The founders have built a mobile cart and have brought it to local events and festivals, according to Itemlive.

The Thursday farmers market on Lynn Common keeps running after Halloween, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through November 19. That gives downtown a midday Thursday routine for three more weeks after the tour is over.

If you live in Lynn or nearby, keeping up with what opens on Sutton Street or Munroe Street is part of knowing the area well, and it's the kind of local knowledge Lynn D'Avolio brings to her clients. If you want to talk about where downtown Lynn is heading, or what's changing on the blocks near you, Let's Connect.