La Scala

On Shrewsbury Street, you can still find neighborhood hangouts
where the atmosphere is casual and the food is home-cooked

by Margaret LeRoux

La Scala 185 Shrewsbury Street Worcester 753-9912 Hours Tues.-Sat. Lunch noon-2 p.m. Dinner 5-9 p.m. Cash only Full bar Handicap accessible

Ah, Shrewsbury Street on a weekend night. It's a dream come true for fans of Italian food. Almost two-dozen dining spots await; each offers a different atmosphere from upscale and trendy to down-to-earth funky.

Not too many years ago, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything more exotic than spaghetti and meatballs or sausage, and bargain-basement Chianti, on the menus of any Italian restaurant there. Now you can find seafood in superb sauces, veal chops, interesting salads, and lots of different imported wines.

Yes, you can still find bargain prices and funky atmosphere, but even Shrewsbury Street's oldest restaurants are changing with the times. The Wonder Bar, grand daddy of them all, now offers pasta primavera and linguine with chicken and broccoli. And you can sip a glass of Saratoga sparkling water with your veggie pizza while listening to Italian opera on the juke box.

La Scala is another Shrewsbury Street old-timer that has put on a new face to greet the crowds. The restaurant's been redecorated. But it's charm comes from the fact that it remains a neighborhood hangout, where generations have been sharing bowls of pasta for . . . generations. The night a couple of friends and I dined, a young family with an adorable toddler was the center of attention; everyone from waitress to bartender stopped by to coo at the baby.

At La Scala, it's clear the love of food dominates even the conversations at the bar; we overheard a heated discussion on the best way to cook a lobster, and on what food to take to an upcoming tailgate party.

When we first walked in, we hesitated at the door. "Come on in, choose any table you like" was the encouraging greeting from our waitress. We sat at one of the three window tables, a bit of a tight squeeze getting in and out; but once you're seated, there's serious eating to do.

We started with antipasto, choosing the version with sausage ($7.95), and were quickly rewarded with a large platter bearing a tower of mixed greens, tomatoes fresh from the garden, cheese, olives, and plenty of spicy sausage pieces, all tossed together like a salad. The size of the antipasto should be a tip-off. La Scala caters to volume eaters; this is the place to come when you're really hungry.

The beverage list is another example of how the restaurant is adapting for a more upscale diner. There are carafes of house chablis and Chianti, but there are also merlot, chardonnay, and cabernet sauvignon from France and California and two Italian Pinot Grigios. One of my companions chose a Bass ale on tap ($3.25), while the other opted for a soft drink, and I enjoyed a bottle of Solé ($1.95), a sparkling water from Italy.

La Scala's menu offers all the red-sauce standards: spaghetti and meatballs ($8.50), veal parmigiana ($11.95), eggplant parmigiana ($8.95), as well as the "white sauce" version of linguine with clams ($9.95). But there are also a couple of interesting items: a simple linguine aglio e olio ($8.95) and sautéed scallops with chopped ham and straw mushrooms ($11.95).

There's a blackboard with daily specials, and one of my companions selected cavatelli with ricotta and sausage ($9.95), while I chose grilled chicken in pesto over corkscrew pasta ($10.95). Our third diner opted for the classic aglio e olio, olive oil and garlic over linguine.

Salads came with our meals, but after polishing off the huge antipasto we had had enough greens; we asked if the soup of the day -- chicken with spinach -- could be substituted and our waitress cheerfully obliged. The soup was outstanding: lots of white meat and bright green spinach in a rich broth given some heft with barley. A bowl of this soup ($2.95) and a side salad could satisfy anyone with a small appetite.

We thought we were serious eaters, but we were daunted by the size of the bowls of pasta placed before us. A small family could have made dinner from my serving alone. We tried our best, but barely made dents in the mounds. Not that we didn't enjoy our futile attempts to clean our plates, this food was delicious. The cavatelli (little pasta shells) were coated in a rich ricotta sauce and accompanied by two large, grilled Italian sausages. The pesto was fresh and chewy with chopped walnuts, and the aglio e olio was filled with garlic and flecks of parsley.

Our bowls were still half-full but we were stuffed. Nevertheless, we saved room for espresso ($2) and for an order of topnotch cannoli ($2.75). The shell was crunchy and the filling fresh and sweet -- the perfect ending to the meal. Our bill came to $51.50, not including tip.