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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