RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Sunset Beach is a quirky town, filled with unusual people and businesses that seem to make no sense to outsiders, but seems perfectly normal to those of us who live here.

What other city could have a volunteer fire department, three massage parlors, three tattoo joints and a collection of bars that participate in an annual pub crawl.

The restaurants are equally eclectic and one I wasn’t sure would fit has actually acclimated to the neighborhood quite nicely.

Roman Cucina has been in Sunset Beach for years, anchored on a corner street with the side of the building facing Pacific Coast Highway. The outside dining portion of the restaurant appears to be a tad bigger than the inside, which is good because on a warm night it is definitely the place to enjoy the facility.

The menu is small, but diverse. I went with a new person in my life and wanted her to experience the restaurant, as well as the neighborhood.

One of features I have found amusing about this place is that the wait staff is made up of 20-something men who all looked like they stepped off a beach volleyball court. Not coincidentally, women 30 to 50 years old constitute a fair amount of the patronage.

On a recent visit my girl and I sat in the corner booth and watched as three 50-something women sat in a booth diagonally from us and gushed at their waiter. When he walked away to get a bottle of wine they ordered, one remarked he was “extremely cute.”

My guess was the food was secondary to their encounter with the waiter. My food was first priority and as usual, it didn’t disappoint.

We started with bake sausage mozzarella. It is two links of Italian sausage with red sauce and ricotta cheese with mozzarella melted on top. It is a good dish, though I like my ricotta in small doses. When I asked for more mozzarella than ricotta, this threw my server off a bit.

When the dish came it looked as if there were equal amounts of both cheese and rather than send it back, we ate it. While it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, it was enjoyable.

We were getting a salad with our meals, so we didn’t get one of the specialty salads, but ones I have had before I have liked. The one I seem to come back to is the caprese, which has buffalo mozzarella, Roma tomatoes and basil tossed with olive oil and garlic.

The waiter talked my guest into the house specialty, Rosa, and it was a great choice for her. The pasta with creamy tomato sauce was perfect and had a different texture and taste than the red sauce. It is very alfredoesque in its consistency and mixed well with her favorite type of pasta, fettuccine.

I went with penne pasta and sausage with red sauce. It was a simple dish I had not had before, but was meaning to try. It was well prepared and had an amount of sauce on it that didn’t douse the pasta.

If you want more than just red sauce, the bolognese is the way to go. The added bits of Italian ground beef give the red sauce more of a kick. There is also a sausage bolognese.

The pizza is good, but I am more partial to the slices at a place down the street, so I usually don’t order it here.

I have had the calzone and like it quite a bit. It is huge and usually lasts me a couple days.

What I like most about the menu is it doesn’t try to do too much. It has a few reaches with dishes like arrabiatta with shrimp and crab, and primavera that blend with the basic menu well, just like the restaurant has meshed with the city.

Address: 16595 Pacific Coast Hwy., Sunset Beach

Phone: (562) 592-5552

Cuisine: Italian

Specialty dish: Changing daily special, Rosa

Alcohol served: Full bar

Dress: Casual

Family friendly: Yes, kid’s menu doubles as activity book

Credit cards accepted: American Express, Visa and MasterCard

Rating: ** 1/2

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants for the Independent.