Nibbles: Scarpas 1

For a late lunch I ordered the full Roma Classico ($7.25), also known as the Caesar salad. Scarpas tosses it with its own dressing and tops it with anchovies. Ah, a Caesar isn’t a Caesar without anchovies. The dressing was unbeatable. The salad also had shredded asiago cheese and croutons, with a slice of buttered Italian bread on the side. The salad was so immense that I could eat only half; the rest I took home in a to-go box.

For the main course I got the Pasta Veneto ($8.65). It’s a vegetarian dish with penne pasta tossed in a delightful lemon sauce with capers. There’s a lot more. Swimming with the pasta and capers are artichoke hearts, sliced mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, with shredded asiago cheese and parsley over it; and a slice of buttered Italian bread. Again, this delicious dish was so plentiful that the remaining half went into its own to-go box.

Scarpas 1

LOCATION: 5500 Academy NE (east of San Mateo), 821-1885

HOURS: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Scarpas 2 is at 9700 Montgomery NE (at Eubank)