Reviewing Il Radicchio: A cozy Italian kitchen nestled right outside Washington, DC.
Are you looking for a quaint Italian restaurant to visit in the Washington DC area? Il Radicchio is high quality Italian cuisine located in the quaintest location. Its building is what looks to be an old house with a charming warm yellow and burgundy paint job that beckons to you from the street.
Il Radicchio is very easy to get to. It is a convenient walking distance from both the Rosslyn and Court House metro stations on the blue, orange, and silver lines. It also has a private parking lot, rare for the neighborhood, which makes visits to this restaurant a breeze.
Walking into this cozy establishment you immediately feel like you are in an Italian family’s kitchen. It’s hung with fun artwork of little animals and rustic pieces that add to its undeniable charm. In fact, Il Radicchio has been a classic family-owned restaurant since 1994, serving up all you can eat pasta and other Italian favorites in the greater Washington DC area. That’s right, all you can eat pasta is a staple on their menu! You can order your choice of one of four classic pastas and eat as many plates of it as you can while you dine at the restaurant. Build your dish by selecting from 13 authentic sauces and nine toppings to fill out your ultimate Italian dish. The only catch is, only the pasta is all you can eat. Refills on sauces and toppings will cost extra, but it is still a great deal and a unique experience!
On this visit to Il Radicchio, I started off my meal with the bruschetta mista. It was so fresh it tasted like the ingredients were picked straight from a garden! The bruschetta is a perfect starter to share before your main entree. You get to order two types of bruschetta per order. I went with the classic version and one with tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil. Both were great, I especially loved the lightness of the classic version, it’s simple flavor profile of garlic, extra virgin olive oil and succulent tomatoes is a wonderful antipasto that will leave you ready for our main entre. We also ordered a bottle of Chianti wine to go with our meal. Not surprisingly, it was the perfect pairing.
For our main course we ordered the classic parmigiana di pollo. This consisted of grilled chicken, mozzarella and aged provolone with smokey tomato sauce over spaghetti pomodoro. It was an excellent chicken parmesan dish, but the star of our visit was the entrée I ordered, the salsiccia e pepperonata. This was a pasta served with grilled Italian sausage, and a sauteed pepper medley in a salsa rosa sauce over Italian sausage tortellini with broccolini. The sausage came in thin slices rather than round link cuts. I didn’t expect this, but it added to the look of the dish. Every single bite in of this entree was so delightful. The glorious tastes of spicy sausage, ripe tomato, and sauteed peppers danced in my mouth. It was the best pasta dish I’ve had in a very long time. I cannot wait to go back and order this again.
Il Radicchio is an absolute gem in the Arlington neighborhood. It’s the perfect spot for date night or a weekend family dinner. If you are looking for an authentic Italian meal in a cozy atmosphere, you need to come here.