Why go: As this low-lit, 17-table dining room proves, few things are more satisfying than a plate of house-made pasta, a simple salad, a fresh-filled cannoli, and the dulcet tones of Dean Martin.

What to get: Pastas marked “fresh homemade,” including fettuccine amatriciana (noodles in a sprightly tomato sauce with bits of bacon and onion) and fettuccine with reconstituted porcini mushrooms and crushed garlic; fried polenta with marinara sauce for dipping; cannoli.

Best for: A pre– or post–AFI Silver Theatre dinner.

Insider tip: On Tuesday, the restaurant becomes a pizza parlor offering 15 thin-crust varieties; we’re partial to the white pizza with potato and rosemary.

Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner.

>> See all 2009 Cheap Eats restaurants here