Mountain Italian: Mangia Mangia

To the uninitiated, Woodland Park is a "bedroom" community of Colorado Springs – or a relatively close suburb that really is "out in the sticks." Today, Highway 24 up Ute Pass is our easiest route into the mountains, as it was to the Ute Indians and gold miners; hence the name of our county, El Paso, or "the pass."

Most UCCS students know Woodland Park as the only real outpost of civilization before the emptiness of South Park, or the last place to pick up anything you may have forgotten before hitting the road.

Weather in the Pikes Peak region is fickle. It snowed everyday during the several-day window I had to go up to Woodland Park and explore a rumored new brewery. On the last day I decided to just go for it, and ended up driving through a "Where the heck is the road?!"- type of whiteout.

When the forthcoming Woodland Park Brewery turned out to be little more than stored brewing equipment, I turned recalled a friend's advice of the area: She said a place called Mangia Mangia, or "eat eat" in Italian, was fast becoming the local favorite, so I had to check it out. Located across the street from the dinosaur museum in the skeleton of an old fast food joint, this simple Italian eatery is worth the stop.

Once in from the snow, the subtle interior feels like a café on the Mediterranean, where soft opera music warms and soothes. A seat at the café-style bar affords a view of the chef in action in a clean, professional open-air kitchen. If you have a designated driver, pitchers of the outstanding Italian beer "Peroni" are only $11.

The dinner menu contains all the classics ($10 to $17) but a student, usually passing through, will probably encounter the more reasonable lunch menu (served 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Mangia Mangia offer hearty classic sandwiches like the homemade meatball or sausage hoagie, Reuben and Colorado cheese steak, as well as innovative spins like the Tuscan turkey and the tasty Mangia burger (all $7 to $8). Praise for the daily homemade soup was the first thing out of the waitress's mouth, which was a good sign.

Having spent many years in Italian kitchens, I have always said, "The proof is in the pasta." Cheap pasta, like cheap bacon, sucks, and properly salted and cooked pasta is not consistently easy. Mangia Mangia shines in the pasta department. Lunch pasta is $7 to $8 and includes an excellent salad, but could use more of the delicious garlic bread. My favorite pastas were the pignoli with roasted garlic, baby spinach, and pine nuts, and the carbonara with bacon, eggs, and cheese.