Italian treasures: Il Localetto Rossi creates memorable experience in ABQ dining scene

I had just returned from a trip to Italy when my friend texted to suggest we visit a new Italian restaurant across from the University of New Mexico that he had heard good things about. Having spent the previous two weeks plowing through plates of pasta and scoops of gelato, I was more than a little reluctant to revisit Italian cuisine so quickly after my return.

What a surprise, then, that I enjoyed dinner at the restaurant, Il Localetto Rossi, so much that I went back to it a few days later for lunch.

Il Localetto Rossi was launched near UNM in early April by a team of chefs with years of experience at Italian restaurants. Its unpretentious, affordable menu of classic Italian dishes has already drawn raves online. It fits a niche in the neighborhood, being much more intimate than M’Tucci’s Bar Roma in Nob Hill and with none of the pizza that has made Saggio’s a draw for decades.

The restaurant is located on Buena Vista Drive across from the decaying husk of the old Vortex Theatre, still vacant after the company moved to a new home on Carlisle Boulevard. It’s open daily for lunch and dinner. There is a small free parking lot on the north side of the building, and metered spaces along Buena Vista Drive and Central Avenue that stop running at 6 p.m.

My first visit was for dinner on a Saturday night. Since there was no online option for booking a table, I called and got the last spot: a table for two at 5:15 p.m.

The restaurant occupies a small, freestanding stucco building with a sign above the entrance depicting the colors of the Italian flag. It’s bigger inside than it looks from the exterior. The dining room unrolls from the entrance, with tables for two along the wall and a handful of larger tables by the front and in the back. The clean, no-frills space features a drop ceiling over tomato-red walls hung with artwork depicting Italian scenes. Tables are covered with red-and-white checkered tablecloths. Songs from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin provide the musical backdrop.

The menu, fitted on one side of a laminated page, is divided into four sections: Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Pasta and Main Courses. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are helpfully marked. Prices are reasonable, with almost everything checking in at less than $20.

Appetizers include Calamari ($12), Mushroom Bruschetta ($11) and a lavish Charcuterie Board for $26. We ordered the Bread Basket ($3), five slices of Italian bread still warm from the grill. The bread was crusty on the outside, soft in the middle, and the accompanying cup of thick, rusty red Calabrian chili oil imparted a touch of heat.

A soup and four salads make up the rest of the starters. We shared a half-portion of the Mista Salad. ($6/$11). Named after the Italian word for “mixed,” the salad was made up of spring greens, chopped tomatoes, feta cheese and bits of bacon. A tasty white balsamic dressing, milder than its conventional cousin, tied everything together.

One of the seven pasta dishes on the menu is called Pasta Bolo ($17), perhaps to spare diners from having to say the word “Bolognese.” But that’s what it is: a ragu of pork and beef slow cooked in tomato sauce and red wine. Il Localetto Rossi’s version combines the ragu with marinara and alfredo for a thick, creamy sauce that coats the tubes of rigatoni pasta. It was spicy, hearty and satisfying. I longed for a glass of red wine to wash it all down, but the restaurant does not have a liquor license yet.

Like M’Tucci’s Bar Roma, Il Localetto Rossi will swap out any of the pastas for a gluten-free penne version. We did that for the Shrimp Scampi entree ($19) and got a prodigious serving in a broad, shallow bowl brightened with asparagus and chopped tomato. This was another solid dish, the butterflied shrimp pairing with capers to add some brininess to the butter and lemon of the sauce. The regular version comes with spaghetti.

Il Localetto Rossi creates memorable experience in ABQ dining scene

The dessert menu had seven options for $5 to $7. The hefty slices of chocolate cake I spotted of coming out from the kitchen were tempting, but I decided to try the Tiramisu ($7). It arrived as a big, multilayered block in a coffee liquor sauce. The lady finger cookies were softened but still tangible and the bitterness of the coffee and cocoa powder cut the thick, sweet mascarpone. I was certain I would finish it, but halfway through I gave up and took the rest home for later.

The gelato flavor that night was Salted Caramel ($5). Comprised of two scoops, it had good flavor, but the consistency was a more icy than creamy.

Two servers handled the dinner service admirably, checking people in, taking orders and bringing out food. They maintained high spirits and a brisk pace even as the dining room filled to capacity.

I returned for lunch the following week with my friend from northern New Jersey whose taste in Italian food is unimpeachable. There were plenty of spaces in the lot next door and the dining room was about half full. The lone server was very friendly and efficient.

We started with the bread basket and a Caprese Salad ($8) in which slices of marinated tomato and thick, oval-shaped slabs of mozzarella overlapped on a bed of arugula. The fresh, simple ingredients were elevated by the intensely sweet and sour balsamic reduction and the more subtle presence of the minty, peppery basil. It was enough for two to share.

Il Localetto Rossi’s version of Spaghetti and Meatballs ($17), perhaps the ultimate barometer of an Italian restaurant, was excellent. The pasta soaked up the tomato essence of the sauce and the mix of pork and beef made the three hefty meatballs juicier and less dense.

Main Courses include a New York Strip Steak, A Pork Chop and Grilled Salmon. I opted for the Gnocchi Caccio e Pepe with chicken ($17). The potato dumplings were good but the buttery, nutty sauce was the star of the dish. It brought the otherwise dull grilled chicken breast to life.

For dessert we split an order of Cannolis ($6.50), two pastry shells filled with sweet ricotta sweet cream and served on a plate dressed with chocolate sauce. These were very credible versions with fresh shells and chocolate chips mixed in the filling.

As we headed out to the sounds of Dean Martin singing his version of “Volare” on the speakers, my friend from Jersey gave the place his seal of approval.

As did I. A meal at Il Localetto is a memorable experience, even for someone just back from Italy. It’s a worthy addition to the city’s Italian food scene.