Mezza Luna

Mezza Luna doesn’t particularly stand out amongst its neighbors on 19th street, which I have deemed ‘the less fun version of Adam’s Morgan’.  Truth be told, the restaurants along 19th street in NW shine their brightest during the week, serving lunch to the droves of businesses that hold the majority of the commercial retail space there.

Despite the slight difficulty in finding the restaurant (you have to descend a set of stairs from the street level to garner entrance), Jen and I eagerly looked forward towards our dinner there.  Inside, the layout and design was…less than aesthetically pleasing.  A large bar area filled the left portion of the restaurant, illuminated by strips of blue LED lights, reflecting tirelessly against the polished chrome barstools.  Dallas Cowboys propaganda fan memorabilia proudly adorns the walls.

We had barely walked in and already, this place was not going in a good direction.

To the right, several tables and booths filled the remainder of the restaurant.  Our reservations were for 9:00pm, which is not an unusually late dinner, but not late enough to explain a mostly empty restaurant.

Not good.

We looked around, and save for a few girls sitting at the bar and a handful of wait staff milling about, Jen and I were one of four groups of patrons here for dinner.  We were taken to a booth closest to the entrance of the restaurant, and started reading over the menu.  Our waiter, a diligent young man, arrived three times checking to see if we had decided what we were going to order before actually making our decision.  Well, let me rephrase that.  Jen knew in about 10 seconds what she wanted for dinner, I took a RIDICULOUS amount of time being tempted between an inordinate selection of pastas.

We put our order in and really took in our surroundings.  There was a private section for staff behind Jen, and a large white coated plywood area where a man (who I assumed was the manager) stood, observing the restaurant.  I made the comment to Jen that if it were a manager’s observation section, it should be raised higher up on a platform and more closed off, instead of making it look like a cheap cashier’s counter like it actually did.  Aside from the bar, very little was remarkable about the restaurant.  The furniture was contemporary, the walls adorned with paintings, mirrors, and a lonely potted plant did its best to camouflage the pillar that stood behind it.  It all seemed a bit too effortless, and not in a positive way.

To my point earlier, I’m sure that passes well enough for patrons during the week who stop in for a quick lunch, but for a dinner, it really negatively affects the people seeking a meal out in the town.

Our appetizers arrived quickly, thankfully, and we dove right in.

Jen’s Mozzarella Caprese came out with great presentation, but fell short of being a satisfying appetizer.  Neither of us could quite pinpoint what it was about her dish that was lacking, but something was definitely amiss.  Like awesomeness.

I ordered the Calamari Fritti, which again, remained fairly unremarkable, and started to get me worrying that this was how the entire evening was going to play out.  The portion was good, the calamari was fried well, and nothing about this dish was bad.  But nothing about this dish was great, either.

We cleared our food and as our waiter cleared our plates, we suddenly realized that the rest of the staff was clearing the room.  Being the last patrons in the restaurant, I guess they didn’t really see the need to keep the tables out on the floor.

But no, that wasn’t quite it.  There wasn’t a cleaning crew idling around with a mop bucket.  The wait staff were quickly piling chairs and tables into the corner behind us, which again, totally ruined the idea that we were even at a restaurant.

I noticed an African American woman carrying two cases with her towards the white plywood cashier’s desk, and instantly realized what was happening.  She walked back outside, and came back carrying two more bags, and began setting up behind Jen.  She disappeared for a few seconds, and then slowly stood up, holding a CD turntable in her hand, which she gently placed on the desk…and I instantly realized what was happening.

We were slowly watching the restaurant turn into a club.

As I looked around us, I made a second important realization.  This wasn’t an ordinary club night.  How do I say this?

Aside from the guys working at Mezza Luna, I was the only man there.  Several groups of girls congrated near the bar, a few at a table, and a strange Voltron-looking thing that was sipping on a cocktail, but otherwise, the place was slowly filling up with women.  It wasn’t really a problem for me, but I definitely got some strange looks, as if I didn’t belong.

Our entrees arrived, and our focus was back on to the food.

My Pesto Chicken Fettuccine was surprisingly…outstanding.  The noodles tasted fresh, the pesto cream sauce was rich with flavor, and the chicken was tender and juicy.  Bits of wilted baby spinach, pine nuts, and roasted red peppers all helped in really making this dish much better than just average.  and A complete 180 from the calamari, I was really pleased with this dish.

Jen’s Quattro Formaggi Ravioli was equally as good.  The ravioli was cooked al dente, and the tomato basil cream sauce tasted super fresh, as if the chefs were making the last dishes of the night.

Which, I guess, they were.

I suppose this better explained the big rush our waiter had us in at the beginning of the meal, to get us through before the club patrons started to pour in.  By the time we were finishing up our meal, the lights had been cut and the jams were pumping out the speakers.

Mezza Luna’s strength clearly comes out in their pastas, but as a restaurant, in very little other ways.  They proudly hold a ladies-only club event, Socalite Saturdays, every first Saturday night of the month, starting at 10:30pm.  The event benefits The DC Center and the Women in Life Association, who both fight for the rights and social justice of the LGBT community.

I’d assume that the place gets crazy with all three Dallas Cowboys fans in DC during the fall as well.

See Mezza Luna on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Dallas Cowboys Fans
• Pastafarians
• Girls Who Like Girls Over Boys
• Vegetarians

Not Recommended For:

• Wedding Receptions
• Impressing Your Date with Hard to Get Reservations
• Romantic Dinners
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters