Turning the Corner

Robbie Mac’s is more of a joint than a restaurant. For that reason, rather than for its better-than-average food, I give it a good chance for success at its location--one of the busiest intersections in the Valley but a restaurant graveyard throughout the 1990s.

Robbie Mac’s, which does mostly takeout, suits the corner of Ventura and Van Nuys boulevards better.

Did I say it was a modest place? One evening I took 10 people to the restaurant and because the phone was ringing off the hook and the waitress was too busy to serve us, we were handed cups and told to fill them at the soft drink machine.

The first thing to come our way was Mediterranean salad--pretty good, though the Greek olives turned out to be canned--followed by a Chinese chicken salad with a sesame oil dressing I rather liked, and a few too many canned Mandarin orange slices that I didn’t.

The very good pizzas come either in chewy, thin-crusted or pan styles; the last is on the bready side but still delicious. The chefs will probably come out from behind the counter, pizza stand in hand, to serve you. That happened both times I ate there.

The Beverly Hills pizza, the menu said, has “flavors of the Westside,” whatever that means. It’s your basic cheese pizza plus enough roasted garlic to make a small necklace, sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan and fresh basil. I also liked Robbie Mac’s Combo: pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, olives, onions and bell peppers. It’s not substantially different from your basic deluxe pizza, but it is certainly a worthy example of the genre.

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The pasta dishes were quite good, as well. If you like heavily sauced, slightly soupy lasagna, this one is for you. It’s more like a casserole made with oven-baked sheets of pasta. The sheets are layered with ground beef, Italian sausage, lots of ricotta and even more mozzarella.

Ravioli Rave, when available, is large ravioli stuffed with either wild mushrooms, a mixture of spinach and chicken or sauteed mushrooms Alfredo. All three are exceedingly rich but fun to eat.

On the lighter side, there is spring veggie pasta, six kinds of sauteed vegetables, marinara sauce and linguine (which the chefs prepare nicely al dente).

All pastas and salads come with “garlic knots,” delicious little balls of baked pizza dough slathered with butter, garlic and Parmesan.

I also recommend the honey barbecued chicken wings, baked in the pizza oven to a deep bronze. They are just about the most tender in town, so you’d better look for that parking space.

BE THERE

Robbie Mac’s, 14502 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Open 10 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-midnight Sunday. No alcohol. Street parking. MasterCard and Visa. Suggested dishes: honey barbecued chicken wings, $4.99; Mediterranean salad, $6.95; Robbie Mac’s Combo pizza, $8.99 (8”)/$13.99 (14”)/$15.99 (16”); meat lasagna, $6.95. Call (818) 906-3000.