Columbia 10400 Little Patuxent Pkwy. No lunch on weekends, dinner till 11 Friday and Saturday. No lunch on weekends, dinner till 11 Friday and Saturday. Big and boisterous is the best description of these restaurants. While the restaurants have made some concessions to twosomes, the theme is big parties having a good time.
Servers bring to the table platters heaped with antipasto, pasta, and main courses.
Each platter provides a course for a minimum of two or three people, and sometimes as many as six or eight, as is the case with most of the pastas. Diners either pass the platters around themselves or get help from one of the servers. Among the various pastas, a slight edge goes to the thick versions, such as rigatoni and penne, but you won't go wrong with the linguine with clam sauce or the spicy puttanesca. Steaks and seafood are fine, but they easily can overwhelm the bargain budget. 2001 by Washington Magazine Inc.