The ladies who lunch

It’s easy to track down Paula Davis. Just head to Picasso’s for lunch on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Her tradition started 14 years ago with a group of 10-15 Lake Highlands moms. All of them had children in the ninth grade who were in the class of ’03, the year Davis’ daughter Meredith graduated. They attended a weekly Bible study at North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship, and began eating lunch together right afterward.

order like a regular

Davis typically sticks to the salads at Picasso’s. “Every salad I’ve ever had was absolutely delicious,” she says. When she orders home delivery, it’s usually a pizza, most often the chicken Florentine. “And that was one I thought, ‘Chicken and spinach and tomatoes? That’s crazy.’ But it’s my favorite.”

“It was easier to go to the same place,” Davis says. And if anyone missed the Bible study, “you knew we’d be there by 11:15.”

That was back when Picasso’s was on Skillman just north of LBJ. Most of the business was carry-out pizzas, but customers could also eat in and pay at the counter.

To this day, 20 or so women attend the Wednesday lunches on occasion, and “four or five of us are there every week,” Davis says. Some of the attendees’ children wound up marrying each other.

Both Davis and another Wednesday luncher attend the Tuesday lunches, too. That’s a group for class of ’07 moms, the year Davis’ son Oz graduated.

When their kids were growing up, after a football game the families would head to Picasso’s, which sometimes even stayed open late. Davis remembers one night when about 100 people packed into the former spot at Skillman and LBJ.

Owner Jennifer Albert was their waitress in the early days, and Davis is still close to Albert and her husband, Andrew.

“Jennifer and Andrew are incredible community members,” she says. “I have never asked them to support something in the neighborhood that they said no to.”

These days the restaurant is at Skillman and Walnut Hill, and their waitress is Sylvia, who has Davis’ drink on the table before she walks in.

“Because we go twice a week, we have the same waitress, we sit at the same table, I sit in the same chair, and for months on end, I eat the same food,” Davis says.

Right now, she’s on a chicken tender salad kick.

“Sometimes I don’t even look at Sylvia, and she’ll go, ‘OK, you’re having the chicken tender salad today,’ ” Davis says. “She knows which ladies like lemon, which ones like Sweet’N Low, and which ones like apricot tea.”

Not only that, but their table is kept open until the women arrive each week, and if they feel too hot or too cold, or think the music is too loud or too soft, or want the TV channel changed, the staff quickly accommodates them.

“We are treated like queens because we’re regulars there,” D avis laughs.

Davis also takes advantage of Picasso’s takeout and home delivery, and says her record is dining there five times in one week. She also has eaten there twice in one day, “but never three times,” she says.

She could win a contest for most loyal Picasso’s customer, especially if measured in Yelp check-ins.

“My daughter works for Yelp,” Davis says, “and over three years I have 150 check-ins at Picasso’s — and sometimes I even forget to check in!”