Cheap Eats 2007: Bebo Trattoria

Reviewed by Todd Kliman , Ann Limpert , Cynthia Hacinli , Michele Kayal

Bebo Trattoria

2250-B Crystal Drive
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: 703-412-5076

Cuisines:
Italian

Opening Hours:

Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes

Nearby Metro Stops:
Crystal City

Price Range:
Moderate

Dress:
Informal

Noise Level:
Chatty

Reservations:
Recommended

Special Features:
Party Space, Weekend Brunch, Kid Friendly

Parking:
Valet

Website:
Click here to open in new window.

Price Details:
Antipasti, $4.50 to $8.95; pastas, $9 to $13; entrees, $10 to $18.


 

Reader's Rating:
1 out of 5

This restaurant has closed.

Chef Roberto Donna has gone suburban—at least while the building housing his downtown DC Galileo undergoes renovation. At his new location—a soaring Crystal City dining room—the focus is not on the haute Italian he built his name on but on rustic cooking that feels familial.

You have to order strategically to keep the tab under $55, but think of it more as sharing than sacrificing. Appetizers—a heap of fried rabbit with orange mayo, or wonderfully rich pork sausages with smoked mozzarella—are made for passing around. So are the oversize bowls of pasta, such as the bucatini with a piquant sauce of tomato and pancetta, and plates like a chili-and-lemon-marinated game hen cut into four pieces. A $5.75 bowl of wedding soup, its broth bobbing with pignoli- and Parmesan-studded meatballs and leaves of escarole, is hearty enough to be a meal on its own.

Desserts are worth allotting for, especially the bomboloni. The light, freshly fried doughnuts dusted with lemon zest and sugar are the same confection that closed out a 14-course meal at Donna’s extravagant Laboratorio del Galileo.

Open daily for lunch and dinner, Sunday for brunch.


Reader ReviewsWrite your own review
 
Terrible Top 100? REALLY?
AEP313 — March 13, 2009 7:53 AM
My boyfriend and I took his sister to Bebo Trattoria while she was visiting the DC after seeing the reviews on the Washingtonian.

The mussels in my pasta were so fishy, our table stank. Her pork chop was rock hard and dry. The only thing that More ...
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