In Federal Way, Papa Luigi's Pizza Is A Hit With This Pair

Ah, the romance of fine dining!

For Megan Murray, 8 ("and a half"), Papa Luigi's Italian Ristorante in Federal Way was just the place to wear that special white hat with a T-shirt and corduroy skirt.

And the food - just the stuff a kid would love!

Pizza.

Forget the multiple choice of pastas and sauces this 3-month-old restaurant is built around. When it comes to children, it's into the most basic of basics - pepperoni, Canadian bacon and pineapple and good, old plain cheese.

For small appetites, the child-size, individual pizzas at $3.95 were a real hit with Megan and her cousin, James McDonald, 9.

And thank goodness, because neither child liked spaghetti or pasta in any form.

Megan gave the restaurant top rating for the atmosphere, too.

"It looks like a real Italian place, a really nice place to go to for dinner. There were Italian people there. They acted like it, sort of. And kind of looked like it."

The wait for the food, however, (about 35 minutes AFTER we had waited 30 minutes to be seated) annoyed our party of four.

I ordered what turned out to be a very marginal canneloni ($6.25) smothered in a blanket of cheese so heavy you wondered what the chef was hiding. And my companion ordered spaghetti with marinara sauce ($5.95) which he raved was the best he's ever eaten.

The salads that were supposed to accompany the dinners never arrived, but to make up for it, the waitress provided the four of us with free desserts. The chocolate mousse cake was all that my canneloni wasn't.

We also ordered foccacia with roasted garlic, which was good, and an ordinary calamari as an appetizer.

All in all, the price was right - $35.74 for the four of us.

But what's fine dining for children and fine dining for adults is another matter. This is a great place to take the kids - but don't plan to take your significant other for any big occasion.

Megan would like to go back "with (cousin) Gina and maybe my friend Sonia, but not (cousin) Brandon. He's too wild."

Restaurant: Papa Luigi's Italian Ristorante, 31406 Pacific Hwy. S., Federal Way, 839-1333.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday through Saturday.

High chairs/booster chairs: Yes.

Children's menu: Yes.

Nonsmoking area: Yes.

Beverages: Full bar. Taking the Kids appears the first Saturday of each month. Seattle Times reviewers visit restaurants anonymously and unannounced. They pay for all food, beverages and service. When they interview restaurant personnel, it is after meals have been appraised.