SEASIDE – Two sets of friends recently returned from extended visits to Italy. In addition to taking in the sights and absorbing the local color, both couples spent ample time patronizing small-town, neighborhood joints where they sipped local red wine and sampled the cuisine.

Or, more correctly, the cuisines, because north to south, Italy is a land of everything from minestrone soup and artfully prepared seafood to pizza and panini. Typically, my friends reported, Italian trattorias and cantinas serve simple but robust fare using the freshest local fixings, what the locals call cucina casalinga, or “home cooking.” (More formal ristorantes, on the other hand, are likely to offer novella cucina – usually lighter, more internationally influenced preparations.)

None of those globe-trotting friends accompanied me to Guido & Vito’s. Too bad – they would have enjoyed the gnocchi. Ditto for the seafood, although they wouldn’t have recognized the bruschetta, here a collection of unadorned toast points and a scoop of tapenade blended from olives and sundried tomatoes.

But that bruschetta (in Italy, it’s pronounced “brou-SKET-a,” my friends confirmed) is about the only unconvincing dish at G & V’s. Start instead with Vito’s antipasta, a platter arrayed with assorted greens, olives, marinated veggies, meats and cheeses and a reliable indication of what this restaurant does best – namely, purvey an Americanized version of the lovingly concocted fare so prevalent in Italian trattorias. Comforting vegetable soup, lusty lasagna, excellent eggplant Parmesan and cioppino awash with the local catch all grace the rock-solid menu.

But back to that gnocchi. A pasta preparation featuring bite-sized potato dumplings, gnocchi is a mainstay in many big-city Italian-American restaurants, particularly back East. This delightful rendition, bathed in a chunky-with-tomatoes Pomodora sauce (Alfredo, marinara and puttanesca sauces can also be had), is firm yet tender and the finest I’ve tasted in the Columbia-Pacific region, with the exception of the gnocchi purveyed by the now defunct Parma, formerly in Aberdeen, Wash.

Other entrees captivated our palates during different visits. Expertly grilled chunks of fresh-caught wild Oregon salmon come intermingled with spaghetti tossed in a red sauce redolent of some of the same ingredients that flavored the gnocchi. Sliced carrots and bell peppers add sweetness, while celery adds crunch. Eggplant Parmesan features two slices of thickly layered, breaded and seasoned eggplant. Even ubiquitous spaghetti and meatballs (or Italian sausage) is a treat and much superior to the more typical plates of egg noodles drenched in a mediocre marinara.

Starter salads arrive with delectable dressings, such as a creamy Italian spiked with tarragon and garlic, and fresh-grated Parmesan is an option on virtually anything served. Specials might include clams arabiatta, veal picatta, chicken Parmesan, what I’m told is a spectacular pork osso buco and hand-crafted lemon ice.

Owners Trea Lamarre and Bob Bradley (who also own the nearby Happy Clam restaurant) are the same folks who operated the first G & V’s, a restaurant that was squeezed into a storefront a few blocks west of the current operation. Open just over a year, this more spacious and visually pleasing locale faces Broadway and is situated a few steps from Quatat Marine Park and the Necanicum River. Beige walls painted with outdoor scenes, a high ceiling, a huge mirror and hardwood floors lend a distinctive hospitable feel, like one of those neighborhood trattorias in Italy that my friends raved about. All 10 tables are bedecked with red table linens and vases adorned with a single rose. Matching wicker-backed chairs complete the color scheme.

Already a viable player in a section of Seaside lately being called the Gilbert District – home to well-regarded restaurants (Kalypso, Lil’ Bayou), a coffee roaster, a seafood purveyor and, upcoming, a renovated bank building (purported to become a brew pub) and an indoor mall – low-key G & V’s may be off the radar screen of many diners. Nonetheless, it’s one of Seaside’s sweet spots.

Servers are pleasant, but ask for advice and you’ll likely hear that all the starters and entrees are wonderful. Well, most everything we tasted is, but that kind of feedback doesn’t help much if you’re trying to choose between, say, the penne rustica and the veal Parmesan. Prices are moderate, and for imbibers, a healthy pour of imminently drinkable Italian red table wine fetches a mere $4.25, or $20 for the bottle. Two could feast for less than $50.

More than anything, what’s missing here is a stalwart bread to sop up all those yummy made-to-order sauces instead of the garden-variety slices of sourdough and focaccia offered with meals, what one of my dining companions termed a “low-carb bread basket.” For dessert, steer clear of the Chocolate Decadent, a hardened chunk of molded dark chocolate flavored with cinnamon, crowned with whipped cream and drizzled with globules of white chocolate. Essentially, it’s a glorified Hershey bar. Better to subdue that sweet tooth with house-made tiramisu or the peanut butter pie, an ethereal mass of peanut butter-infused whipped cream counterbalanced by a stout chocolate-and-chopped-nut crust.

Contact the Mouth at The Daily Astorian, P.O. box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 or phone (503) 325-3211 or e-mail mouth@dailyastorian.com

Guido & Vito’s Italian Eatery

Two and a half stars (out of four)

604 Broadway, Seaside

(503) 717-1229

Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 9:30 p.m. Fri, Sat

Prices: Moderate. Starters cost $2.95 to $8.95, entrees $10.95 to $21.95

Superior selections: Vito’s antipasta, gnocchi, salmon ragu, lasagna, eggplant Parmesan, peanut butter pie

Atmosphere: Like a laid-back neighborhood trattoria, with about 10 tables and a visible kitchen

Service: Friendly and casual, but unpolished

Kid-friendly: Yes, and there’s a children’s menu, too

Vegetarian options: Eggplant Parmesan, pasta prima vera, fettuccine Alfredo, spaghetti with marinara sauce, butternut-squash ravioli, gnocchi, cheese tortellini

Alcohol: A small selection of wines and beers

Access: The entrance and restrooms are accessible to those in wheelchairs.

Credit cards: Mastercard, Visa

Personal checks: Not accepted

Reservations: Recommended, especially on summer weekends

Smoking: Not permitted