Years ago, this little spot, with a dozen indoor and a few outdoor tables next to Connecticut Avenue, was called Marcella's and run by the family of an Italian soldier turned comedian and his feathered helmet sat high on a shelf collecting dust. They had great pizza and pasta and the family photos and newspaper clippings were fun to explore. About 4 years ago, the place experienced a renaissance and emerged with a leaner/cleaner interior to rival nearby Starbucks and a menu that straddles Greek and Italian food beautifully. The pizza is still great and in addition to the home made sauces (like Pesto and Walnut) and pasta you can take home from the freezer, you can take home some of the family made/imported olive oil from the Greek co-owner's family. The menu is bipolar, with many Italian and Greek standards and I've never had a bad meal. Its not the kind of place where you'll roll out stuffed - the portions are appropriate but not overbearing. On our recent visit, we had Super Salads and a Greek Salad followed by the white pizza. The pizza crust is home made and on the thin side, though not paper thin. The sauce was homemade and perfectly seasoned. The highlight is the homemade mozzarella that was on my Super Salad and the pizza. Just perfect. You can take home some of the homemade mozzarella too. We finished up our meal with canoli. They were out of the "regular" size, so we enjoyed 2 each of the smaller finger size, perfect filling, drizzled with raspberry sauce and sprinkled with miniature chocolate chips. Food was excellent! On a Saturday afternoon, the service was attentive, but gave a moment's humor. When the pizza arrived, one of us asked for grated cheese - thinking of the hand-grated Parmesan we have gotten in the past. Instead our young server misunderstood and brought us a plate of sliced mozzarella. We went with flow and layered on the mozzarella - yum. Although we stuck with the homemade iced tea, you can enjoy a glass of wine with your meal as well. During our Saturday afternoon, we shared the restaurant with a family with kids, a few neighborhood folks and a few couples. No blaring music, no jockeying for a chair or wifi, just quiet hum of conversation. The old pics and newspaper clippings are still hanging on the back hall, along with some pics of new family members - great blend of old and new.

This restaurant ought to be available all over! "Pasta con Melanzane...Penne pasta with eggplant, garlic, basil, their famous homemade mozarella cheese, "...and the tomatoe sauce tasted like a special inhouse recipe as well...everything done to perfection...our car overheated and we left it to cool at a gas station across the street from Manoli Canoli's, on the way home from Fort Lauderdale and onwards to Canada...the food soothed the nerves and is a spot from Italian food heaven, I Love Greek food as well, so now we have to go back!

Soggy pasta, burned sauce and weak tzatski sauce. Won't return.

This family-run restaurant is a great place for lunch or family dinner. The food is top quality, authentic Greek and Italian. Much of the menu incorporates olive oil from the owner's father's grove in Greece. Great Greek dishes include the chicken souvlaki and the horiatiki salad (which can be ordered large/small and with or without chicken/shrimp/gyro). Great Italian dishes include the pizza, pasta melanzano, and cold cut subs made with real Italian cold cuts that friends say taste just the way they do in Italy. Free parking in back (it's in a strip mall about 1/2 mile from the Connecticut Avenue exit of the beltway). Tiramisu and Greek desserts. Full bar. Side of broccoli can be ordered, and it is very nicely steamed in a plain and healthy manner. Starbucks next door--and gas stations too--so you can stop here on your way through the area if you're on a road trip.