Review: Ray Parella's

Ray Parrella's Italian Restaurant in Crescent Hill fits somewhere near the deli end of the spectrum of independent Italian eateries in town, with white-tablecloth establishments with tuxedo-clad servers at the other.

While it has expanded to a sit-down establishment from its now-closed, mostly takeout digs in the Douglass Loop, there is still a "to go" menu of family-style dinners designed to feed four to six. But the eat-in dinner menu, the addition of a short wine list and the you-don't-have-to-dress-up surroundings will make pasta lovers happy.

This is Italian comfort food. The flagship dinner is spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and carefully crafted meatballs.

Friends and I dropped by in search of simple Italian pleasures the other evening and found the experience to be a good one, though not uniformly so.

The dining rooms are smoke-free, which is a plus for full food enjoyment. The minus was the decor, which was just short of seedy. Plastic vines with little lights, garish wine glasses on the mantel and truly awful black drapes might appeal to your sense of humor, but they don't exactly create an inviting atmosphere. The same can be said for the Formica-topped tables covered with white paper (crayons are provided for drawing) that crinkles and bunches when dishes and glasses are moved around. (Tablecloths would improve the overall aesthetics a lot.)

Happily, the food mostly rose above the decor. Small bowls ($2.25 each) of chicken and minestrone soup were fine starters. Though "small" means the plastic bowls in which the soup is served contain about one ladle of broth. I suspect the same vessels are used for "large" with the addition of more soup. The effect is the same as if you ordered a small drink and got a half-full glass.

Slightly salty chicken soup was brimming with thin egg noodles, pieces of tender white meat and a medley of diced vegetables. The tomato-based minestrone broth supported several varieties of beans, some noodles and a subtle dash of seasoning.

Greek pasta salad ($7.75) easily could make a lunch entree. The plate was piled with shell and spiral-shaped pasta covered in peas, Greek olives, chunks of feta cheese, tomato and a raft of tiny shrimp. The vinaigrette dressing was seasoned with oregano and basil.

There are 10 entrees on the menu, most of which utilize the house-made tomato sauce. This might be a bit too much of a good thing. For example, the order of manicotti ($7.75), a pair of large noodle tubes stuffed with mild cheeses and savory seasoning, smelled remarkably like the meat ravioli ($7.75) that also arrived at our table. Both were smothered in the red sauce.

Nevertheless, both proved to be savory and filling dishes.

The manicotti was tender, not overcooked, and the blend of cheeses was good. Five large ravioli were filled with a mildly seasoned ground beef. (A cheese version is available, too.)

Penne and smoked chicken ($8.50) didn't prove as satisfying as the other two dishes. In fact, the consensus at the table was that it was a flop. Where did the monochromatic smoky flavor come from? Was it from a flavor-in-a-jar called Liquid Smoke? Or was the smoked provolone cheese just overwhelming the pasta and chicken? None of us cared to sample multiple bites to try to figure this out.

Sips from our glasses of 2000 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti ($12 for the bottle) helped clear the smoke. It's a simple Chianti that was just fine with the straightforward pasta and red-sauce dishes.

We also enjoyed sharing a cannoli ($3.25) for dessert; the sweet ricotta filling had been laced with amaretto.

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