Obscurity/Curb Appeal: Brian
The Thurber household had yet to sample the cuisine of Italy since our debut on the blog circuit. Thus, we decided on The Italian Café on Lee Highway as our spot for the evening. At first I was a bit confused upon arriving at Italian Café. When I first scoped out this place months before our blog’s conception, the restaurant’s signature red, white, and green awnings could be seen from any distance. Currently, Italian Café’s simple black and white appearance denotes its location on the corner between the Budget Inn and Fairfax Deli & Pizza. The parking lot had ample space including a unique, reserved spot in front of the door we could only guess was saved for godfathers and crime bosses. Despite its average appearance, the restaurant proved to be much more than a simple Italian eatery. A Falls Church staple since 1978, Italian Café is a common site to locals, but many folks we’ve talked to have yet to taste the fare. We encourage those patrons in the Falls Church proper area to forego the older establishments (Taco Laredo) and make it an Italian Café night. We promise it gives Pistone’s Italian Inn a run for its money.
Rating: 2 Thurbs
Food/Beverage: Tommy
Let me first say that we picked Italian Café because we wanted to go to a restaurant that we thought might be pretty good. Admittedly a selfish decision, but I wanted something “normal.” When we sat down for dinner, the waiter promptly brought a small loaf of Italian bread, seemingly baked fresh. The appetizers were good, mozzarella sticks and garlic bread, and were brought out quickly after we ordered them. I ordered the benchmark by which I rate all Italian restaurants, the pollo alla parmigiano (chicken parmesan, for those of you who have never been to Olive Garden). Brian sampled the tortellini, Matt correctly pronounced his meal containing no meat, and Jim decided on the baked lasagna. The sauce was good but not amazing, the chicken was tender, and the pasta was cooked just right. Midway through our dinner, Matt exclaimed (with a note of disdain), “This is a completely legitimate restaurant!” While not hidden, this place is still a gem, serving up quality Italian food, and a house Chianti that will make you say, “Mmmm, that’s red wine.” I’d pick this over Olive Garden if OG ran out of breadsticks and salad.
Rating: 3 Thurbs
Customer Service/Cost: Matt
What can I say? You did a good job, Italian Café. Everything was fast, friendly, accurate and good. The cost was decently affordable considering the amount and the quality of the food. The waiter taking care of us even claimed to have been born in Italy – and I believe him! Usually with these blog dinners, I’m prepared for some kind of massive screw up or, at the very least, some kind of weird quirk worth highlighting. But not this time, Italian Café. You had to go and be all normal and legitimate. I’ll give you a good score, but deep down I wish you were a little bit more ridiculous and/or awful just so I could have something funny to talk about here.
Rating: 3 Thurbs
Ambience/Entertainment: Mark
The atmosphere was quiet and slow, but this probably had more to do with our truly Italian, 9pm dinner time. After being seated, Frank and I had a sing off during one of his numbers, and as the guest of honor will attest, Frank is almost as good as I am. The Rat Pack guarded the coat rack from above, behind a wooden frame and glass.
The Chi-Chi stuccoed walls, built in wine case, and separate, non air conditioned party room all pointed toward the owner being 3rd generation Italian.
Rating: 2 Thurbs
Italian Cafe
Overall Rating: 2.5 Thurbs
Guest of Honor Review: Jim Swift
While contemplating what my night of Thurber goodness had in store, an old Italian proverb came to me: “You can always judge a restaurant by its mozzarella sticks.” I think that Michaelangelo said that. Mark had just ordered them as our appetizer, and I was curious to see if The Italian Café would fare well under this litmus test.
Located in a lonely nook of Falls Church, the Italian Café is struggling to keep its restaurant looking dapper, and judging by the state of the Budget Inn motel next door, they’re not doing too bad a job.
We secured a corner parking spot, and truth be told we were kind of excited about it. Until we realized that we were the restaurant’s second customers. With the obligatory posters of The Godfather and The Rat Pack adorning the walls, The Italian Café looked like my grandparents could have decorated it – except that they’re not Italian.
The restaurant was so dimly lit that you could not take a picture without a flash, which made us look like stereotypical Japanese tourists, but we didn’t worry because we were alone. It was like something out of a Godfather movie, and no pistols were found in the bathroom.
The food was good, and this restaurant hardly qualified for what I imagined this blog stands for: questionable restaurants. While the mozzarella sticks weren’t amazing, they were better than average.
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