It’s yet another stressful Sunday on Interstate 70, and once again you’re wondering why it always seems as though the other lane is barreling along while you’re stuck in the one sitting still.
Maybe it’s time to get off at Exit 239 and head into Idaho Springs, straight to Mangia!, where a warm welcome and a hearty plate of pasta will help kill some time in the nicest way while the rest of the horde makes its long, tortured way home.
Meanwhile, you can be tucking into a piping-hot meatball grinder ($12), slightly spicy and gooey with provolone, or a small (meaning 12-by-8-inch), medium-crusted pizza Margherita ($19), topped with fresh basil and fresh mozzarella, drizzled with garlic-studded olive oil and rectangular the way they do it in Sicily.
Another option: a bowl of creamy, garlic-heavy, freshly made fettucine Alfredo, which costs $9 mid-day on weekends, when the casual Italian eatery offers half-size portions that come with your choice of vegetable-choked minestrone or a Caesar salad.
It’s hard to decide between the two, especially on a cold day, because the soup is filling and comforting, simmered long enough that the contents are tender and have leached their flavors into the broth, and it’s also packed with Parmesan. But the Caesar, at first odd with its abundance of tomatoes, grows on you, salty and adorned with one white anchovy, plenty of Parmesan and asiago, the lettuce very cold and crisp.
What isn’t hard is saying yes to a second basket of bread, a crusty baguette warmed in the oven and brushed on top with garlic-infused butter, but it helped that our server was pretty cheerful about offering. In fact, the service here is all-around friendly, which is why it’s no surprise that this is a locals’ favorite.
There’s a bright, spacious table by the front window ideal for people-watching, and in fact, during our last visit, a group of locals was camped-out there, gossiping and snacking away the afternoon. Next time, we might sit at the bar in the adjoining room, where from 4 to 6 p.m. daily — including Sundays — you can get $2 slices and $3 meatball sliders.
After which, you could take your chances back out on I-70. By then, the coast may be clear.
Kyle Wagner: 303-954-1599 or travel@denverpost.com
Mangia!
Italian. 1446 Miner St., Idaho Springs, 303-567-4371. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.
