Orlando's

WORD OF MOUTH has worked well for Orlando's, a friendly family- style Italian restaurant tucked away in the corner of a Commack strip mall and nearly invisible to passing traffic. I first heard about the pretty, pastel-hued dining spot from a respected Long Island chef who regularly goes with his wife and children for hearty, satisfying reasonably priced Italian fare.

You'll find value on weeknights, when a three- course dinner is $20. On weekends, folks have the option of ordering family-style (each dish serving two to three) or in individual portions.

One midweek evening, our price-fixed dinner began with an appetizer of baked clams, done the way I like them, the meat whole (not chopped) and simply topped with bread crumbs. Another starter, clams posillipo, featured impeccably fresh mollusks in a garlicky red sauce, great for mopping up with bread. From the weekend a la carte menu, we found the fried calamari to be a mixture of the tender and the rubbery. But a balsamic portobello mushroom, an off-menu special, made me forget what a cliche the dish has become. Pass up the mozzarella, tomato and basil, worth ordering only when worthy tomatoes are used.

While the garlic-intense linguine in white clam sauce was terrific, an otherwise delicious penne al pesto was marred by a surfeit of sauce. Rigatoni amatriciana-made with bacon and tomatoes- was smoky and resonant, chicken scarpariello, with mushrooms, peppers and sausage, was the rustic favorite I had hoped it would be. Chicken zingara translated into tender boneless breasts sauteed with artichoke hearts and mushrooms in a zesty tomato cream sauce. A friend declared the Chilean sea bass marichiara (made with tomatoes, olives and lots of garlic) superb; I concurred. Red snapper Livornaise, another special, was a lusty and flavorsome treat. As part of the price-fixed meal, grilled salmon with Dijon mustard sauce on the side featured a generous slab of fish grilled to delicate moistness.

Almost all the desserts here are house-made. Tirami su was lush and perfumed with liqueur, flan with caramel sauce fragile and eggy. Cheesecake, creamy and light, seemed a cross between the American and the Italian. Although my husband thought the walnut pie needed more sugar, I found its unalloyed nuttiness pleasing. There could be no disagreement, though, regarding the considerate, genteel service.

Location isn't everything.

Joan Reminick. STAFF WRITER
Reviewed 07-21-2000