Wahingtonpost.com
Entertainment Guide
By Alexa Beattie
Go to Argia's at noon and you'll be hard-pressed to find a table. This isn't surprising when you consider that, prior to its opening, lunch choices in the heart of downtown Falls Church amounted to Applebee's, the 7 Stars or the snack cart in the foyer of Kaiser Permanente.
The place is full, and lively with the chatter of guests - businesswomen and men, local women-who-lunch and couples.
Argia's is named for the owner's grandmother, presumably an Italian and the inspiration behind the business. The food isn't fancy, but some things - pasta - are prepared particularly well. Pesto fusilli ($6.95 or $12.95) has just the right amount of sauce and bite, polenta with mushrooms ($5.95 or $8.95) is creamy, soft and heavy on a garlicky mushroom ragu. The bread is ordinary; better in the basket beforehand than on the sandwich, when it was dry and thick and had a slight whiff of the freezer.
A talking point at Argia's is the mural
- an enormous fresco of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, done in Botticelli tones. Elsewhere, gatherings of small black-and-white photographs reinforce the idea of this as a family-run operation.
As the current trend dictates, most dishes can be ordered for the table: calamari fritti ($11.95), antipasti misti ($9.95), gnocchi with spinach and ricotta ($13.95), veal parmigiana ($21.95), spaghetti and meatballs ($13.75) in huge portions. Single servings are not skimpy. Share a salad of fresh spinach with crispy pancetta and warm balsamic vinaigrette (delicious), or even the polenta con funghi, which as a single appetizer is ample enough for two.
Sandwiches, only served at lunch, need to have the bread rethought. Their contents - prosciuttio, mozzarella, basil and the like - are too delicate for these cakey bookends.
One tip: Have your wits about you on a trip to the bathroom. The lavatories are gender-specific, but are only marked as such by two small Renaissance portraits (one male, one female) hung somewhat discreetly on an adjacent wall.