Angelo’s Spaghetti House, 6341 La Vista, is a relatively new inhabitant of the Lakewood Theater square. Angelo’s reminds me of Michelino’s, formerly located in Matt’s Rancho Martinez’ spot just up the street.
Angelo’s cooking is like Ma Ma Lucia would have made in her kitchen at home in Italy. It is, simply, good.
The plate-glass window and glass double-doors lead you into a room full of tables covered with red and white tablecloths. The smell of tomato sauce and garlic bread lingers in the air.
Your waiter will approach with an appetizer, a wonderful, fresh-baked bread accompanied by a small dish of a tasty tomato sauce. Even if you aren’t hungry, this appetizer is addicting.
The spaghetti dishes include the standards, priced at $6.95, including a satisfying Caesar salad and fresh-baked sourdough bread.
Specialty pasta dishes are Angelo’s version of old favorites, such as chicken pasta primavera, lasagna, three-cheese pasta, and scampi fettuccine alfredo. Prices range from $7.95-$8.95.
The wines are reasonably priced, and the selection is good. The house wine is a relative bargain at $2.75 per glass or $10 per carafe.
Another newcomer is the M Street Grill, a new name for a familiar location at 2014 Lower Greenville.
It looks like a New York bistro upon entering, with white walls and big green plants and local photographs of the M Streets tastefully displayed throughout.
The menu isn’t gigantic, but that doesn’t matter because you get quality, not quantity. Appetizers are a meal in themselves. The new potato skins, with sauteed onions, mushrooms, peppers and cheese, should be enough for most diners. The spinach pie or the pizette also are good beginnings, priced at about $4.95.
The salads speak for themselves, ranging from the field salad of greens, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and M’s sauce to the Greek salad with feta, onions and kalamata olives. The lamb salad also offers a unique twist. Prices range from $3.50-$6.95, depending on size and choice.
The M Street Burger grilled with the works for $5.50 may be a more elegant way of having a hamburger and a beer than just hitting the nearest drive-up window. And for those who think healthy, there’s a veggie sandwich; for those who think Greek, there’s the gyros.
The specialties, which are served with the field salad, bread and herbed olive oil, include such wonders as Mediterranean chicken, grilled with a mandarin orange sauce. The fresh fish is so fresh it may not even have arrived yet. The strip steak is a treat for those who enjoy red meat. Prices range from $7.95-$12.95.
Don’t forget to stay tuned next month for the results of the Advocate Reader’s Taste Awards.
