The verdict: Pretty decent, fast lunches in downtown Wilmo

Don't kid yourself. It can happen to you.

On June 16 sometime before 8:30 a.m., I walked into the New Castle County Court House fully confident, supremely confident, in fact, that I would fulfill my summons for jury service by reading a book. No way was I going to get picked.

A few hours later, I sat with 14 other very stunned jurors (in addition to a 12-person jury, they pick 3 alternates) and hunkered down for a six-day trial.

Yo, what just happened?

I'm not going to get into the details of the case, but I will talk about breaking for lunch each day.

On the first day of jury duty, assistant jury manager Cheryl Elzey - who uses humor to make a boring situation bearable - warned us about the overpriced, but very convenient, Dunkin' Donuts in the basement of the courthouse. Great advice- and, nope, I didn't visit the DD.

So for six days, I made the best of my civic duty and decided to eat at six different places. I considered eating D&H's Jamaican chicken on Fourth Street and Genelle's curry on Market - two places I've always liked but haven't visited in some time - but spicy food and long hours of sitting in court didn't seem like a great idea.

This is my eating diary, in no particular order:

Sushi at the Riverfront Market (we had a good 1 1/2 hours for lunch that day and I really needed to stretch my legs after sitting for so long);

Subway on Market Street; (a so-so turkey sandwich; we forgot we were wearing our Juror stickers and the guys behind the counter saw them and joked "we're not guilty")

Perky Bean on Market Street (very cute place, nice service; hefty chicken salad with craisins);

Amertige Bistro (they have a great "noshing" bar - free samples of cheese, olives and salamis, but wish the service was a little faster; we ordered a sandwich at the counter and had to wolf it down and practically run back to the courthouse);

Sugarfoot (awesome turkey BLT; we got out of court early that day - had a little more time that day to sit and relax).

A reader had suggested I stop into the Squire's Pub sometime, but the lunch menu didn't list too many things under $10, so I skipped it.

On the last day of the trial, we began deliberations during lunch hour so the state paid for an ordered in meal from Leo & Jimmy's.

Hadn't had a Leo & Jimmy's sandwich in years and my fat chicken salad on wheat was all white meat chicken. Really nice.

- Patricia Talorico