There's more to Iaria's than meets the mouth. Sure, there's that spaghetti sauce, the smooth and sweet one made from a recipe passed down through four generations. But you can't even step into the parking lot without getting a sense of the restaurant's long history.

The building exudes 1950s style, and the strong sense of times past abounds inside, too, where an old wooden bar bears the worry marks of a second-generation Iaria who stood at its end and wore down the layers with his fingers.

If you're the sentimental type, you'll be in danger of filling up on nostalgia before the bread baskets even arrive.

The Food

The menu has borne only a few changes throughout the restaurant's long run. Diners can now ask for pizza topped with roasted red peppers and artichokes, and seafood pasta has joined the specialties list.

Other dishes hang on not because of complacency, but devotion from regulars who've been celebrating birthdays and anniversaries in Iaria's for years.

A dining partner and I took part in an Iaria's birthday celebration recently and started with the pizza Margherita ($13.99), a cracker-thin crust pie with olive oil, Roma tomato slices, fresh mozzarella and basil.

Our dinners came with soup (a thick minestrone) and salad. You can upgrade to an antipasto salad for $4. We did, but the move proved overzealous -- that salad is hearty. Atop a smattering of lettuce sits pepperoni, ground salami, tuna, pimento, pepperoncini and artichoke hearts.

Lasagna ($13.99) has layers of that sweet spaghetti sauce, ground beef and ricotta cheese. It's heavenly and ample, enough for at least two meals.

An intense, wine-heavy sauce with mushrooms gives the chicken marsala ($15.50) delicious oomph. Choose a side of spaghetti or vegetables sauteed in olive oil, herbs and a wealth of garlic.

The restaurant's homemade tiramisu ($4.99) layers mascarpone between two layers of espresso- and liqueur-dipped ladyfingers, and bears a whipped cream topping.

The Service

Attentive servers and busboys hustle through the tight passages among tables in the often raucous dining room and bar. Co-owner Carla Russell was on the floor herself the night we went (and, I understand, most nights), stopping by to refill our drinks and deliver baskets of bread.

The Atmosphere

Everywhere is evidence of the provenance of the restaurant. It's in the glass block windows that give away the building's 1954 construction and in the family photos that line one wall of the dining room. Neon details show up inside and outside the joint, and diners sit on red vinyl booths at chrome-edged tables in the casual, family-friendly restaurant.

The Price

Our tab was $68 for two, including tax and tip. That seemed like a lot, but we definitely overdid it with our orders. No one dish price seemed excessive and some (like the $4 salad add-on) struck me as almost frugal.

Next Time

I could go to Iaria's a hundred times and never fail to get that lasagna. I definitely plan to explore more of the restaurant's pizzas -- I'm a big fan of the thin, crisp-crust pies that Iaria's bakes.

-- By Traci Cumbay / Star Correspondent, 12/15/2006