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il Radicchio

Shhhhh ... don't tell.  This is, IMHO, the best Italian in the area for pasta.  It's not flashy, upscale or even a place tourists hit.  It's purely locals and that is just fine with me.  There is handmade pasta, spongy fresh mozzarella and a plethora of sauces made on the spot with local ingredients.  You can have salad with a wonderful collection of dark greens, pizza which is authentic, all for an extremely reasonable price.  It's a small place with Italian music always playing in the background, paper napkins on the faux marble tabletops and roosters painted on the walls.  I love it.  It can be busy on weeknights as it fills a great little void between Courthouse and Rosslyn.  Chefs will cook to order and have often fulfilled my request for off-menu items, like pasta aglio e olio arrabiata (garlic and olive oil, spicy).  Attempts have been made to update the offerings a tad.  Appetizers have become "small plates" and the dessert menu is more tempting than in the past (tonight I had an incredibly fluffy foam chocolate "cake" which was a perfect finale to the meal, sweet and light), but none of the fancifying is necessary.  This is a place which does what it does quite well and a restaurant which is a local favorite.  It doesn't need fancy.  But don't let the outside world know!

Family-style Italian Restaurant
1801 Clarendon Blvd
http://ilradicchio.com/

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