On Christmas Eve, my mother, sister and I decided to dine out. We'd seen this cute little place since it opened in June 2004 and gave it a whirl. Overall, it was very good. I had Penne Arrabiata ("angry penne"), a spicy tomato sauce with calamari. It was delicious. My sister had the fettucine Alfredo with artichokes and broccoli, and our mom had a baked rigatoni, both of which got the thumbs up. We all agreed that the pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauces were well executed.

Prior to our meals, we ordered shrimp sauteed with mint and feta cheese, which was delicious but the shrimp could have been bigger or there could have been more of them (5 medium shrimp for $6.95).

All meals come with either soup or salad. We all had salad, and while it was a tasty salad, with large green olives, pepperoncini, carrots and tomato, we were served iceberg lettuce! I realize that all the hurricanes have created a shortage of certain produce, but here in California there is just no excuse for not providing a nice medley of greens. I would rather pay a couple of dollars more and have better greens.

Speaking of prices, they are very good here. Mine was the most expensive of the items we ordered, at $13.50.

The service was good, but a couple of the staff members were either overly formal or seemed to be really resentful of having to be at work on Christmas eve. It wasn't quite the warm Italian welcome we expected.

Overall, it was really good, and I would try it again but order the soup this time.