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In today’s review… we’ll cover an old school Americanized Italian staple satisfying locals’ itch for a simple and comforting meal in Mt Vernon Triangle.

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The Ratings

Our simple & honest checklist covers a restaurant’s key ingredients:
Ambiance, Service, and Food.

5/10

In 2005, James Beard Award Winning Chef Michael Schlow opened his first location of Alta Strada in Massachusetts. Since then, the restaurant concept has spawned four more locations in Connecticut, Virginia, DC, and a second spot in Massachusetts.

Alta Strada truly is your middle of the road, old school, Americanized Italian staple restaurant. Simple tables and booths, a bar with a sports game on TV, and smells of tomato sauce in the air. The restaurant isn’t too crowded, but isn’t empty and is filled with local diners who want to satisfy their urge for a comforting Italian meal.

5/10

The general run. Altra Strada is your local standard restaurant that isn’t aiming for perfection, but also won’t leave you with any complaints. The hosts and waiters are friendly and greet you with big smiles on their faces. Alta Strada is the type of restaurant where we’d imagine local regulars might even get a complimentary dessert on their birthday. You get the picture: an easy-going local spot.

5/10

Ordinary. Alta Strada serves dishes that will warm your bellies, fill you up, and leave your taste buds satisfied with Italian flavors — just as nonna would like it. In fact, the most popular dishes are stereotypical and predictable: garlic bread, chicken parmesan, and tiramisu.

To kick off your meal, the restaurant offers Our World Famous Garlic Bread for $11. Sort of steep pricing for such a simple appetizer. The bread is crispy with just the right amount of garlic… but, way too much olive oil. We mean, way too much — our hands and palates were basically swimming in oil. Nonetheless, the ever-so-slightly spicy tomato basil dipping sauce was tasty.

For the main course, we’re told the Chicken Parm is the greatest chicken parmesan ever. We got flashbacks from Will Ferrell in Elf as he ran into the local coffee shop screaming, “you did it! Congratulations! World’s best coffee!” The chicken parmesan is good and again, satisfies the request for Italian flavors. However, this dish is one you can easily make at home.

Finally, you wouldn’t be having a classic Italian meal without a Tiramisu. The portion is quite generous and definitely keeps things traditional — which is on-brand and satisfying given the trend to experiment with this classic dessert. Our only commentary to the chef here is to give those Ladyfingers an extra ten seconds to soak in the espresso.

Overall, if you’re craving that standard local Italian meal, swing by Alta Strada.

Reservation & Menu: