RESTAURANTS : THE MADDING CROWD : At Enormously Popular and Overcrowded Farfalla, the Din Can Overshadow Dinner

At 7:25, Farfalla is already buzzing with energy, but the din has yet to climb to the headache level it will attain later in the evening. At the spare modern bar, two people are eating pizza, two are eating pasta, and three are drinking martinis out of oversized glasses. To the right, waiters rush up the stairs balancing food and trying to avoid couples on their way down. Straight ahead, a little gaggle of people waits impatiently at the front desk; behind the desk, a woman with a small skirt and big hair says angrily into the telephone, “I told you, reservations for six or more only.” She taps a pencil, hangs up, looks up. “How many?” she says.

The maitre d’ approaches.

“Two?” I say hopefully.

He points to a table in the bar, next to the window. “Over there,” he says, starting to lead the way.

I hesitate. “Can’t we eat in the restaurant?” I plead.

He casts a harried glance around the room, shrugs and says, “Where?”

Just then his attention is captured by a man and a woman who are throwing down their napkins and looking as if they are about to storm out. The man rushes past. “The food,” he says, “was wonderful.” He pauses, then, as he heads for the door, says, “but the service stank.”

Without missing a beat, the maitre d’ looks at the abandoned table, looks back at me and says, “There?”

I can’t imagine what made the angry man go running out. The service is certainly inept, but my own feeling is that the waiters, waitresses and busboys are in constant danger of being swept away by the flood of people pouring through the door and that it’s all they can do to keep from drowning. In the face of this massive tide of humanity, they seem charming, willing--and overwhelmed. On busy nights, when it takes a waiter a long time to get to your table, you find yourself thinking that it isn’t his fault. At slower moments--and they do exist--the service is perfectly sweet.

It’s the food that troubles me. The pizzas are wonderful: They have thin, crisp and delicious crusts, lightly topped with cheese and sauce and a wide array of interesting toppings. The best--aside from the simple, classic Margherita--is the one that comes topped with arugula and sausages. It has a particularly fresh and refreshing flavor.

There are a couple of nice antipasti, too. I like the rollino al radicchio e mozzarella affumicata-- an upscale burrito made of pizza dough topped with smoked mozzarella and radicchio, rolled, baked and then topped with a dice of fresh marinated tomatoes. And the pasta e fagioli-- the classic soup--is a hearty, rustic bowl of beans. But on the two occasions I’ve had the seafood salad, it has been filled with tough little bits of squid and shrimp. The plate the restaurant calls Contadina--baked eggplant, roasted peppers, marinated zucchini and goat cheese--is depressingly bland. All the vegetables have been doused with the same solution of balsamic vinegar, resulting in a plate of vegetables that is remarkable mostly for being mushy and sweet. And the nicest thing I can say about the eggplant Parmigiana is that it is a very generous serving.

That’s pretty much what I have to say about the pasta dishes, too. Because when you leave an Italian restaurant and your mouth is vibrating with the flavor of burnt garlic, you know things have not been good. Here the vibrations are intense, and the pastas are, almost without exception, disappointing. They arrive in deep white bowls, looking rather wonderful . . . and then you start to eat them. The worst I’ve had was a special--spaghetti with tomato sauce and sauteed sea urchins. Sea urchins don’t do very well when they’re sauteed, and they absolutely rise up to do battle with tomatoes. Add some garlic and pasta, and what you end up with is an unappetizing mess. I didn’t much like the tagliolini with mussels and clams or the farfalle with smoked salmon, peas and vodka, and I positively disliked the ravioloni of eggplant served in tomato sauce and topped with ricotta salata.

But if the pastas are a bust, the next course is not. The dishes that the Italians call secondi --main courses--are large, inexpensive and good. There’s a fine roasted chicken that arrives on a big plate with vegetables and potatoes and costs only $12. What the menu calls bocconcini di manzo-- little mouthfuls of beef--turns out to be a fairly hefty serving of good steak in a light red-wine sauce. It’s generous, delicious and, at $16.50, a bargain.

The veal chop with porcini mushrooms is another bargain. The big meaty chop, which comes topped with a heap of freshly sauteed porcini mushrooms, costs $17.50. Less expensive--but equally delicious--is the grilled paillard of thin veal in a shiitake-mushroom sauce.

But if the secondi are an up, the desserts are a definite down. My advice: Skip them. After working my way through tastes of a spongy chocolate cake, a too-sweet lemon tart, a boringly sweet tiramisu and a creme brulee topped with Grappa (another idea that doesn’t strike me as brilliant), I gave up and settled for a strong espresso.

Clearly, it takes a few visits to Farfalla to figure out the menu. But once you’ve decided what to order, you’re still left with the problem of where to sit. On my first visit, I was led upstairs to the small, cozy second-floor room. It was so pleasantly quiet up there that later in the evening, as I descended the stairs into the excruciating noise of the downstairs dining room, I felt very smug. On my second visit, I immediately asked to be taken upstairs, only to discover that it was packed with beautiful people, every one of whom seemed to be shouting. The result: It was louder than the downstairs din.

So do a little reconnoitering before you accept your table. And then order carefully. You might as well decide what you like about Farfalla, because a restaurant this reasonable and attractive is going to be around for quite a while.

Trattoria Farfalla on La Brea, 143 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 938-2504. Open for dinner nightly and for lunch Monday through Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking. All major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$5 0 .

Recommended dishes: pasta e fagioli , $4.50; rollino al radicchio e mozzarella , $7.50; pizza with arugula and sausage, $9.50; roast chicken, $12; bocconcini di manzo , $16.50 .