It was late on a Thursday evening when I walked under the red awning with yellow cursive letters spelling out Lex, the name of a neighborhood Italian restaurant between 90 and 91st Streets at 1370 Lexington Avenue. I had walked past many times before, passing by the table out front, picking up take out menus and glancing at the sandwich board reading “Open for lunch and dinner”. Lex feels Italian in a Sicily down-home kind of way, there are formal place settings juxtaposed with a somewhat plain, but dependable interior.

Walking inside, the restaurant has all the air and intimacy of a small, neighborhood Italian Restaurant. It is rather formal, with not too much to offer by way of décor and ambiance. This is nice for weeknight, no frills dining. There are no flashy paintings or lighting fixtures, but there is a very comfortable and clean Mediterranean ambiance with a few paintings dotting the cream-colored walls. An eclectic mix of music played as we ate, at moments, we heard nondescript elevator music, and then surprisingly hip Bjork.

It was late for dinner, about 10:00p.m. At this hour, the dinner rush had died down and it was quiet. A group of men gathered around a friendly man behind the bar occasionally erupting in laughter. I sat at one of the round tables near the window. The creamy white tablecloth was spotless. A single peach-colored rose poked from a simple glass vase.

The menu was large in scale and ripe with options. I was relieved of the burden of choosing from the multitude of pasta and entrée options when our waiter, who hailed from Montenegro, told us the specials. It was a tough call between the soft shell crab and the chicken sautéed in an artichoke and mushroom sauce, but in the final moment of truth, I went for the latter. At the waiter’s suggestion, my companion and I opted to split a salad of fresh mixed greens and warm goat cheese ($6.95).

The service was impeccable, water being filled, bread and butter replenished. The one salad we ordered was split in two portions and brought to us immediately. Just as we finished, this was followed up without delay by our entrees. This quick and dirty service was appreciated so late on a weeknight. At first, the entrée seemed pricey to me at about $17.95, but the portion was indeed so large that there were leftovers to later cart home.

Passing by on my way home from work, I often see a dinner crowd gathered at around 6:30pm. Diners tend to have frosty or peppered hair, men wearing dress coats and women donning fancy skirts and dresses.

Lex Restaurant is a dependable, delicious place to grab dinner in the neighborhood after a prolonged day ... where you can find hearty and authentic Italian favorites such as chicken marsalla ($14.95) and veal Milanese ($18.95). Bon apetit.