South Philly's homemade Italian haven

The Italian Market is down there, Rocky's home is in that neighborhood, and some of the best Italian food calls South Philly home -- and don't forget about L'Angolo.

When I called for reservations, a young woman answered. Coming from New York City, where reservations seem difficult to get, I thought the manager was being difficult. How hard was it to get reservations for a Sunday evening? Who goes out to dinner on Sunday? Which restaurant would be all booked on Sunday? After much hesitation on the other side, I managed to get "squeezed in." I expected the restaurant to be semi-empty, but I was completely wrong.

The host led us into a the dining room, which had tables so close together that elbow room was non-existent. Yet, there was a certain atmosphere that gave the small room a quaint charm. The staff all spoke Italian to each other, couples enjoyed a nice dinner together and the warm lighting seemed to envelop you.

The restaurant is BYOB, and had we brought wine, the waitress would have opened it for us. Instead, we opted for ice water.

The menu was only one page, but there were daily specials. I started my dinner with calamari and shrimp in a spicy tomato broth ($8.50). The seafood was so fresh and the tomato broth was thick and filling. My date had portabello al forno ($7.50) and was presented with two huge portabello mushrooms smothered in cheese and roasted tomatoes. The portions were big enough to fill us for dinner. My date had an aversion to seafood, yet she tried the calamari and even took second bites of my shrimp.

The main course took a while to arrive, but that was because we had both ordered homemade pastas. My date had one of the pasta specials: ravioli filled with butternut squash ($14). The ravioli complemented the hot cream sauce nicely. I decided to also get ravioli, but mine was filled with lobster ($14.95) and was accompanied by a light cream sauce, and the pasta was the freshest I had ever tasted in the city. If you do not like pasta, L'Angolo also has a variety of chicken and veal dishes. While we were waiting for our food and watching the tables around us, it took sheer will power to not pounce on the veal dishes other patrons ordered.

L'Angolo prides itself on its homemade desserts. Since the portions were so big and because we were not gluttonous, my date and I decided to split the tiramisu ($5). Good thing we decided share, because the block of cake that came out was huge. The table next to us looked on with envy and joked about skipping dinner just to save room for the dessert. The tiramisu was so moist and delicious that I also wished that I had not eaten dinner. Nothing like a piece of cake to win a girl's heart.

As I was silently congratulating myself for finding such a cute, romantic place for dinner, the elderly couple sitting on the other side of me struck up a conversation. We talked about Philly and restaurants. We talked about L'Angolo and how we liked the food. Finally, as they were getting up to leave, the woman sighed, looked into the man's eyes and said "This place is just like being in Italy."

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