Red Sauce1114 Beacon Street

Newton, MA 02462

(617) 965-0110

If you find yourself with an insatiable craving for Italian food other than cheap pizza but are on a tight budget or too lazy to brave the weather to stand in long lines in the North End, have no fear. There is a new chain of Italian restaurants from the company who owns the Naked Fish chain.

Offering standard Italian fare with no extra frills, Red Sauce serves up traditional favorites like ravioli and gnocchi, most of which are served -- not surprisingly -- with red sauce. The red sauce is less like marinara and more like a spicy tomato sauce. It first appears as a dip for a baguette-like loaf of bread, which was brought promptly to the table along with a pitcher of water.

I suggest you start with one of Red Sauce's many generously portioned and inexpensive appetizers, such as "Mushroom Bruschetta," "Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella" or "Crispy Zucchini Strings." Red Sauce also offers basic soups and salads, in addition to their delicious and substantial offerings of antipasti.

For the main dish, Red Sauce serves homemade pastas like "Cheese, Meat or Pumpkin Ravioli," "Gnocchi" and several gourmet pizzas, such as "Margherita" or "Potato and Rosemary." They also have the classics you would come to expect from an Italian restaurant, like "Chicken Parmigiana" or "Veal Marsala" and several delicious eggplant options.

While the red sauce is common, there are plenty of other sauce options. Aside from the gnocchi, ravioli and lasagna, the only other pastas to combine with the sauces are penne and linguini. All dishes are liberally -- but not exorbitantly -- portioned, and the prices will leave you with money left to enjoy dessert and coffee. Red Sauce offers basic desserts, coffees and cocktails.

Red Sauce has a casual environment. The main room sports an abundance of tables, but it is more enjoyable to sit at one of the booths. The corner booths are circular and curtained for more intimate dining experiences.

The walls are plastered in a giant collage with magazine cut-outs from Italian newspapers. The bright colors helped create a festive and lively ambiance. Adding to the cheerful atmosphere were jazz standards playing over the sound system. The waitstaff and hosts were eager, efficient and extremely friendly.

The Naked Fish chain emphasizes freshness, and Red Sauce lives up to this standard. Most of their pasta, sauce and soup is made on site each day. There are two Red Sauce restaurants within a 10 minute drive of Brandeis -- on Beacon Street in Newton and another on Arsenal Street in Watertown. If you are looking for a fresh, yet not too expensive alternative to dining hall food, try Red Sauce.

For more information on Red Sauce and the Naked Fish restaurants, please visit www.nakedrestaurants.com.