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Argia's - Pragun and Salina Rana's Italian in Falls Church Next To The State Theater - Chef Steve Benincasa Comes from Filomena - Closed


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This is one loud restaurant, after having to suffer through a shopping trip to Tyson's I was really in the mood for a little wholesome food. Unfortunately, I only got a little. The menu says that the Calamari has a cornmeal crust and is dusted with parmesan, well it does have a cornmeal crust, it was hard to tell that the squid were nice and tender under a very tough crust, and while the meat was tender it did not have much flavor, the only parmesan evident was the small bowl on our table. The accompanying sauce was flavorful, but it was wasted on this squid.

The pasta dishes were hit and miss. I ordered the "Penne E Salsicca" which was a bowl of penne with pleasantly spicy sausage, broccoli rabe, red peppers, and Riccota Salata. The first bite was a bit deceiving, I found that it was rather bland, but after my second bite I was sold. The flavors melded very nicely together. The one thing that I would have changed was to cook the rabe a little longer; the stalks were close to raw. On the other hand my wife ordered the "FETTUCCINI DI SPINACI CON GAMBERO" which was advertised as being spinach fettuccini with shrimp, artichokes, fresh tomatoes, and lemon zest. The pasta tasted like it came from a box, not a bad thing except the state that all of their pasta is homemade, and I just expect that it tastes like it, the shrimp were lovely specimens from Asia, lacking any shrimp flavor, but thankfully not overcooked, and the artichokes were frozen artichoke hearts with all of the flavor of the shrimp. The one thing that I never tasted was the lemon zest.

For the price the food was decent, and I enjoyed the wine by the glass list, it was better than most. If this restaurant were in my neighborhood I would be quite happy, and if I find myself in need of dinner on my way home from another shopping hell at Tyson’s I will give it another try, I just now know what two dishes I will not be ordering in the future.

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Argia's recently (and temporarily) lost an important line cook, Elio Martinez, so they can be cut some slack for any miscues coming from the kitchen.

But there was no miscue with the cup of special Zuppa di Giorno ($4.50), a dish I always hesitate to order in restaurants because it inexplicably seems to be different each time. Tonight it was a cream of tomato with lots of basil, and after the first obligatory spoonful, it became an elevated dunking sauce for the housemade foccacia, and was dabbed-and-absorbed (as opposed to dazed-and-confused) all the way down to the bottom of the cup.

A Caprese Salad ($6.95) was mistimed, served at the last minute, and consisted of dry cheese layered with mediocre tomatoes, drowning in too much balsamico. Interestingly, chefs tell me that we're at the height of tomato season right now, but as a diner, I haven't seen it, as my caprese salads have really dropped off in quality in the past couple of weeks.

"This soup would make a really good pasta sauce," my young dining companion told me, and sure enough, a variant of it was used in the housemade Lasagna Verdure ($16.95), a spinach lasagna layered with vegetables and cheese. This lasagna is more vegetable than noodle, and is expensive at the price, albeit a perfectly honorable and respectable version.

But I didn't love the Pizza Quattro Formaggi ($9.99) despite it's gentle price, the crust seemingly done on a griddle rather than an oven, and the cheese kind-of glopped on, especially the ricotta. It wasn't bad, but it's also not calling me back.

Stray from housemade pasta at Argia, and you're likely to be disappointed. But stick with the homemade noodles, and take your cues from the very good, descriptive list of wines by the glass, and you'll have a good meal here. The atmosphere in the room on the left side (the one oppposite the bar) is really pleasant, almost in a Bistro du Coin way albeit much less cavern-like. Service is unfailingly friendly, and Argia's remains a fine neighborhood restaurant, and most certainly one that cares about its employees and staff.

You're in our thoughts and prayers, Elio.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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I recently became employed by a company up the street just past the State Theater, and I've had the pleasure of eating at Argia's about a half dozen times. I have been impressed. The Asian woman who runs the kitchen obviously understands Italian fare. Each pasta dish I've had -- usually the daily special -- tasted fresh and perfect. Salads here are ample and tasty. And the soups are a real treat, especially the daily special. There are way too many choices in the Falls Church area to eat, and my moniker usually draws me to Lebanese Butcher. But Argia's might be in my top ten list for Falls Church.

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"A small is plenty for two," our server said about the Caesar Classico ($7.95), and he was right. A properly dressed Caesar with hearts of romaine and shaved parmesan comes with house-made, do-it-yourself croutons that demand to be broken into the salad.

Gnocchi con Pesto ($17.95) is made with ricotta and comes in a cream-based sauce, coincidentally the second creamy pesto I had yesterday (the first being on a pizza at Pupatella). While not a pasty cannonball-type gnocchi like you find at Pulcinella, there was a medium-heavy gumminess to this that was fine at first, but came across as monolithic two-thirds of the way into the dish. A decent gnocchi, I'd probably pass on it the next time and stick with the straight pasta.

In retrospect, I'm surprised I hadn't tried the Parpardelle con Ragu di Agnello ($18.95) in the past. It's expensive, but so are all of Argia's pastas. Regardless, it was an excellent bowl of parpardelle, arriving precisely at al dente, the hearty ragu having chunks of lamb meat and undertones of fennel.

Having dined at Argia's numerous times, I can say with confidence that it continues to be one of the very best casual restaurants in Northern Virginia for pasta, although it does fall on the pricier end of the spectrum.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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We just had another nice meal at Argia's last night. We like the spaghetti and meatballs and the beef tenderloin. Reasonably-priced wine selections. They just expanded, moving into the hair salon that used to be next door. Waiter says it is for private parties and overflow. The restaurant now also takes reservations! This means I don't have to rush over at 6:15 to ensure I don't have to wait or go somewhere else because we wanted to dine later. Now I will go even more often.

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Two of us dined Sunday night (6:30) with a Living Social coupon. Several things on the menu called to us, so we had the wild mushroom ravioli small plate and the arrancini to start. Both of these dishes were excellent. The ravs were perfectly cooked and the mushroom flavor was strong and earthy. There were only four of them, but the rich, cheesy cream sauce made the dish plenty hearty. There were 6 arrancini which were more than enough for the two of us, and yet we ate them all. The spicy marinara dipping sauce was delicious, and while it may not be proper for the dish, we love marinara with our arrancini.

I agree with Rocks re: the salad plentifulicity. We tried the arugula salad and found it to be a heaping mound of 4 people's-worth of arugula, parmesan shavings, fennel and orange pieces with a citrus vinaigrette. My official review of that dish is "meh". I prefer more acid in my vinaigrette, but the ingredients seemed to be high quality.

Here's were things get a little weird. The room was very busy at this point and we waited a very long time for our entrees after the salad. As we waited we both said we'd had enough to eat and we just wanted to pay and go home. Finally, our mains came out, but we each wished they hadn't. I'd ordered the wild Coho salmon special but subbed spaghetti with marinara for the "vegetable forest" whatever the hell that's supposed to be. I knew I wanted some housemade pasta, but the others pastas just didn't hit me. The salmon was nicely cooked and well-seasoned, however the pasta, while I could tell it was housemade, was terribly undercooked. And I mean terribly in all ways it has meaning. I couldn't eat it, but I was stuffed, so I didn't make a big deal about it. Mrs. DrX ordered a fettuccine dish with peas, shrimp and a cream sauce. This pasta was excellent, but the shrimp were inedible. They were tough, stringy, tasteless, pink curls of crappiness.

So, here's our dilemma. If I'd paid over $90 (the pre-discount total) for this I would be kicking myself and would probably not go back. Thankfully, I had a coupon that I paid $25 for to give me $50 of food so I'm less upset. Did we just get poor entrees because the kitchen got in the weeds? I can't imagine undercooked pasta can be served much in a restaurant that prides itself on its pastas...and charges for it. It's easy to screw up shrimp, I understand that, but it can't be served like this often, can it? The fantastic mushroom ravioli and the fettuccine in the entree are glimpses of what could be so we're willing to try again, but maybe we'll go earlier and perhaps on a weeknight when there's less chance the kitchen will get overwhelmed.

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So, here's our dilemma. If I'd paid over $90 (the pre-discount total) for this I would be kicking myself and would probably not go back. Thankfully, I had a coupon that I paid $25 for to give me $50 of food so I'm less upset. Did we just get poor entrees because the kitchen got in the weeds? I can't imagine undercooked pasta can be served much in a restaurant that prides itself on its pastas...and charges for it. It's easy to screw up shrimp, I understand that, but it can't be served like this often, can it? The fantastic mushroom ravioli and the fettuccine in the entree are glimpses of what could be so we're willing to try again, but maybe we'll go earlier and perhaps on a weeknight when there's less chance the kitchen will get overwhelmed.

OK, I've done my due diligence and I can comfortably say I'm done with Argia's. We tried another night (Thursday) and earlier (6:30 or so) hoping we'd find the kitchen in its prime and ready to go.

The young server was nice enough. The bread was OK. The Italian Shrimp and Grits (polenta and shrimp) was the highlight of the night. While we were both kind of freaked out about the cream sauce that covered the entire dish within the bowl, the dish as a whole was very good. The polenta was hearty and well-cooked. The shrimp were delicious and tender. Flavors were great.

I really wanted a housemade pasta dish, but they were all served with meat sauce (I'm not a meat sauce guy). I had the Fusilli "with shrimp, pancetta, asparagus, smoked mozzarella & fresh thyme tossed with white wine-butter sauce". The fusilli were mushy and overcooked. The pancetta and asparagus were good, but how do you screw those up? Well, my mother-in-law boiled asparagus until they're green husks of what once was, so I take that back. What the hell were blobs of mozzarella doing at the bottom of the bowl, though? I got so smoke from them and they were just texture...and a weird one at that in this dish. I didn't finish the plate. Not good and definitely not good for $19. Mrs. DrX had a fetuccine dish with shrimp, capers and pine nuts. She wasn't enthralled, although the shrimp were properly cooked, which is a plus from our last visit.

Ugh. Expensive food and not very good. I won't be back, but I feel OK with that. We gave them two tries, which is more than some restaurants get, right?

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I haven't given up on them yet, but I do find the food sliding a little downhill. Spaghetti and meatballs are still good. The arancine I find to be outstanding. My old favorite, mussels over pasta, has been hit or miss. Sometimes fine, other times the mussels have been chewy--maybe they were severely overcooked? Last time, for a change, I tried their lasagna. Big mistake--obviously reheated and lacking any creativity whatsoever, not sure it even had any ricotta cheese in it. I guess I'll go back to spaghetti and meatballs.

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OK, I've done my due diligence and I can comfortably say I'm done with Argia's.

I haven't given up on them yet, but I do find the food sliding a little downhill.

Based on personal experience, I would advise calling ahead to see if Aimee is working that evening - she's a very good cook, and it makes a huge difference whether or not she's there.

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So last night on my official birthday we went to Argia's.  Matt and I haven't been feeling so hot, I think maybe we caught a bug somewhere.  We both wanted something fairly comforting.  We meant to go to Pizzeria Orso, but I forgot it wasn't open Mondays (I think that is the second time we have done that).  But it was a nice evening.  I don't know who bought this or if there is a different chef, but the menu seemed to be exactly the same.  But to me that isn't a bad thing necessarily.  I thought their focaccio bread had a really nice flavor and texture to it.  I got the veal with lemon and caper sauce with broccolini.  The noodles tasted homemade and were really good, the veal was nice, I think the artichoke hearts were from a can, but that didn't really bother me. The broccolini was really good.  The dessert menu was tempting but I had a really good cake I made at home.   Anyway it was very solid and on a night where we just wanted some traditional not rock the boat flavors, it did the trick nicely.  

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I was taken there for the first time in ages. My ex and I, and another couple we are long time friends with. None of us go there unless it's with a group like this. They have a new chef, and I can't remember the restaurant he was with other than it began with "F". The hostess informed us he was a CIA grad, which isn't necessarily a guarantee of greatness these days. We started with drinks, I had the Limone Martini, Absolut with their house made limoncello. I can't remember the wine, I'm afraid. I had the Pappardelle Bolognese, which came with a hearty ragu, but needed more flavor. Others ordered the Spag & Meatballs, the Mussels, and the Gnocci. The mussels and gnocci were praised, the gnocci was not leaden at all. My friend ate all his Spag & Meatballs, so I guess it was good enough. The Caprese salad was nice enough, and I liked my Tiramisu. Service is eager to please, if a bit in need of polish. We had fun, at a window table while it was still daylight out. 

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2 hours ago, rbh said:

I drove by today and saw a For Lease sign in the window, and then checked online and saw this:

"F.C.'s Argia's Italian Restaurant Closes after 18 Years" on fcnp.com

I want to issue a personal note of thanks to the wonderful chef (and equally wonderful person), Aimee Suyehiro, who essentially *was* Argia's for most of its existence, along with its excellent owner, Adam Roth (who catered the service for Joe Harran's beloved son, Lucas, on short notice). Aimee was always kind to my son Matt, and even let him do a mini-stage there one day when he was about twelve-years old. Thank you, Aimee and Adam!

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On 8/5/2017 at 8:27 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

Had dinner again at RPM only because it's close to the Game of Thrones bar and that's our ultimate destination.  The clientele is mixed.  We sat next to a lady in flip flops and there are many others in shorts and sneakers.  

As for the food, the pasta dishes are decent (spicy crab, special of clam and white wine), the giant prawns are still a bit overcooked, and the meatballs are loosely packed.

Service was a bit strange.  No one offered us bread until we ate the meatballs.  Then our waiter asked if we wanted bread to go with the sauce. 

A little closer to home for Eric ...

This has just been confirmed to me by a trusted friend: Gabe Thompson (the Executive Chef at RPM Italian downtown) is opening an Italian restaurant in the old Argia's space (Thompson's Italian). I don't know if this is an independent venture, or if it's part of Lettuce Entertain You (the Chicago restaurant group which runs RPM Italian).

The news was very quietly broken a couple of months ago:

Nov 28, 2018 - "Gabriel Thompson To Lead New Italian Restaurant in Former Argia's Space" by Sally Cole on fcnp.com

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