Amalfi's Italian Restaurant Prices and variety at pizzeria demand attention and attendance

It seems appropriate for Amalfi's Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria to be located at the "spaghetti junction" of highways 17, Lockwood Drive and Spring Street.

Even fitting that it is in a former Howard Johnson's. In fact, maybe they should bring back the brightly colored iconic orange roof and the Simple Simon and the Pieman weather vane so that Amalfi's jumps out at you as the pace of traffic funnels onto the James Island connector or over the Ashley River bridge.

Amalfi's is the restaurant appendage of the Best Western Hotel on Spring Street. It is family owned and operated. Its homage to the Amalfi Coast is limited: no crudo, no limoncello-based dishes, no octopus. But true to its Neapolitan roots, seafood prevails.

And like a Howard Johnson's, Amalfi's offers the familiarity and comfort of regional cooking — only the region is Italy.

The signature HoJo items of fried clams, butter roasted hot dogs and 28 flavors of ice cream are replaced by pizza, lasagna, Stromboli, pasta and red sauce.

It is casual enough for kids, careful enough for grandparents. Starving or just a little bit hungry, there is something on the menu for everyone. No attitude, no trendy Italian dishes, just a menu designed for many appetites. A message all hotels' restaurants should abide.

Italian-themed posters and prints of Rome and Amalfi decorate the walls. Murano glass globes make a visual statement in Amalfi's lighting. This is a modest and comfortable space with both booths and tables. The decor is sparse.

What Amalfi's lacks in decorating it makes up for in the integrity of its cooking. House-made bread is served with olive oil seasoned with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. Soups clearly are made from scratch, not bases, and fresh spinach made the Fiorentina ($3.50) green — generous amounts of cheese and chicken made it flavorful. Meatballs ($4) are hand-formed, slow-cooked, tender and packed with flavor.

The seafood is local, fresh and not overcooked. The red sauce is fresh, not watery. The herbs are robust and the garlic mellowed.

The pastas are soft. Less (cooking) would be more. The flavors, though, are right-on.

True to its Neapolitan roots, a zuppa di cozze e vongole ($8.50) is served in a cherry tomato broth. The mussels were small but tender, the clams in abundance, the herbs fresh. The bread rafts that anchored the dish are a bit much as this soup is billed as an appetizer. It easily can be an entree or shared first course.

Appetizers run the gamut of bar food wings, dips, sticks, rings and bruschetta. Caprese ($7.50), the salad of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil leaves, appears as an appetizer, not a salad.

Green salads are Caesar ($3.50), Garden ($3.50) and Greek ($6.75). The Garden is a vegetable alliteration of Romaine, Roma tomatoes, red onions and radishes. Its balsamic vinaigrette is too sweet. But you cannot fault it for its freshness and crispness.

The menu at Amalfi's is vast — usually a restaurant fault, but the ingredients, sauces and preparations align themselves to the alfredos, parmigianas, marsalas, primaveras, and piccatas of eggplant, veal, chicken or shrimp.

Classic baked dishes such as ziti, cannelloni, shells, manicotti and lasagna appeared to be favorites based on both our waiter's comments and what was being served around us. They were untried by us.

Six simple pastas can be had with your choice among six different sauces.

The kitchen at Amalfi's covers all its bases with thin-crusted Neapolitan pizza, Sicilian deep-dish pizza and gourmet pizza with pesto, ricotta or seafood. Not to mention Stromboli, calzone, sandwiches and subs. A return for lunch is on order!

Desserts are made in-house, and the tiramisu ($5.75) was creamy and light; not alcohol-laden as so many are. It was made with Savoiardi biscuits, as is tradition. These are Italian ladyfingers with a crisp finish compared with the sponge cake texture of French ladyfingers.

Our server was pleasant, not quite so accomplished in navigating the various sauces and pasta shapes but willing to find the answer to all our questions.

On a Saturday night visit, traffic in the restaurant was steady but never crowded.

This is a restaurant easy to be a "drive-by" in order to make the light at Lockwood. It deserves more. The kitchen turns out credible Southern Italian-American fare. The pizza is not blistered, New York style nor overstuffed as in the Windy City. The pastas need less sauce and less cooking.

But in this time of new frugality, the prices and variety at Amalfi's demand attention and attendance. After all, saving money always tastes good.

Amalfi's Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria

Cuisine: Southern Italian, American-Italian

Category: Neighborhood Favorite

Phone: 805-8131

Address: 250 Spring St., Charleston

Food: ***

Service: ***

Atmosphere: ** 1/2

Price: $-$$

Costs: Appetizers $5.95-$8.50, soups and salads $3.50-$7.50, pizza $9.25-$18.25, pizza by the slice $1.75, sandwiches $6.75-$9.25, pastas $8.50-$10.95, entrees $10.95-$18.25, seafood $11.95-$18.25, subs $6.75-$8.75, pizza specials $4.95 pizza, luncheon specials $6.75-$7.95

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Bar: Full-service bar

Hours: Sunday noon-9:30 p.m.; Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Decibel Level: Moderate

Wheelchair Access: Yes

Parking: Lot on property of Best Western Hotel, downtown Charleston

Other: Delivery available, carryout, lunch specials served 11 a.m.-3 p.m., coupons on Web site, www.amalfischarlestonsc.synthasite.com