It’s close to noon on a midweek day, and Enoteca is bustling. Really bustling. A line runs from the cash register, around the counter where customers order at lunch, and out the front door of the Downtown cafe. Behind the counter, the staff is hustling, dishing up pizza slices on pizza-sliced- shaped plates, and serving sandwiches, salads and dishes such as lasagna and chicken Florentino. They are fast, they are friendly; they never seem to get your order wrong. Enoteca, in the home of a one-time Eegee’s, has been open barely a month, and it is a hoppin’ place for Downtown diners who want to eat well and fast. Owners Fiore and Kathy Iannacone had a ready-made customer base for Enoteca: They ran the Italian Kitchen four doors down for close to 20 years. The Fox Theatre’s renovation prompted the move and name change. In their new home, the menu is expanded, and it’s become a wine bar, too. But a leisurely glass of wine doesn’t seem to be wise during the rush hour. And that’s a shame, because the food here is good. You want to relax over it and savor it - not typical lunch-hour activities. Pizza by the slice ($1.95-$3.95) is a big draw here, and it’s no wonder. There’s a choice of Neopolitan, or the thick-crusted Sicilian pizzas. You can get a pizza with the works - sausage, onions, peppers and oh-so-much more - or a simpler pizza with chicken and blue cheese. There are lots of choices every day. But you won’t necessarily get your slice hot. The pizzas are made and ready for the lunch crowd, and unless you happen to opt for a slice that just came out of the oven, your pie is likely to be room temperature. At the Italian Kitchen, they automatically stuck the slice in the oven for a minute or two to warm it up. Here, you’ve got to request that. And there is a sense that if you do anything to mess up the system, you could bring it to a screeching halt. Still, even room temp, this pizza is better than most. The crust is yeasty, the toppings fresh, the cheese and tomato sauce judiciously applied. The pepperoni rolls ($4.95) were a tasty alternative to pizza. A crusty, golden bread wrapped around and held on tightly to thin rounds of pepperoni and loads of mozzarella cheese. It was warm, the cheese melted, and the pepperoni abundant and just spicy enough to satisfy but not distract. A special, St. Gennaro’s Feast ($6.95), bombarded the mouth with the flavors of sweet peppers, onions and gently spiced Italian sausage, all grilled together with garlic and olive oil. This was all crammed into an 8-inch semolina roll. You can pour the sweet marinara sauce provided over all this, but why would you? The sandwich is moist and delectable enough in its own juices. Not as pleasing was the Florentino panino ($5.50). The sandwich was loaded with lots of thin slices of roast beef, sweet caramelized onions, some pungent Gorgonzola cheese, roasted Roma tomatoes and a few leaves of spinach to add crunch. But the abundantly applied spicy Dijon mustard was way too much competition for the other flavors, and the herb focaccia bread was blah. Ah, but the salads. The choices were many, and the satisfaction level high. Typical was the Greek salad ($5.50), a bed of mixed greens matched with roasted red peppers and paper-thin-sliced red onions, vinegar-marinated cucumbers, fruity kalamata olives and a generous portion of perfectly salty feta cheese, all topped by a sweet and tangy dressing. Evenings at Enoteca are an entirely different experience. It is uncrowded, unhurried. There is table service - though that service was quite slow the evening we were there. The menu is abbreviated, with only individual pizzas and appetizers. Glasses, bottles or flights of wine can be slowly sipped. The portobello Roma ($7) - a nighttime appetizer - featured a meaty mushroom, roasted and stuffed with mild sausage and topped with a cream sauce made with Fontina and Gorgonzola cheeses. That sauce was luscious, but there was way too much of it, and it overpowered everything. We liked the entrees. We loved the desserts. A slice of moist amaretto cake ($2.95) was almondy, topped with a glaze, and served with a small scoop of vanilla gelato. The three-layered mousse ($5) - chocolate, mocha and white chocolate - was velvety and rich and not easily shared. And the carrot cake ($1.75), crowned with about six feet of cream-cheese frosting spiked with almond, brought childhood memories flooding back. Yup, no wonder they are clamoring to get into Enoteca.