VISITING JP Spaghetti can leave you with the same unsettling feeling you get when running into old acquaintances whose faces register, even if you can't muster enough brain power to recall names and details of where and how they entered your life. Go see JP
if you’re a
spaghetti fiendThe JP flavors and menu seemed so familiar, fitting the blueprint drawn years ago by George "Cass" Castagnola and his Italian restaurants. Only the format of the Wahiawa restaurant is a little different.
For those unfamiliar with Castagnola history, long before Dolly and the University of Hawaii's mouse-multiplication project, there were -- still are -- Castagnola clones all over Honolulu. The first were run by his former employees, the later ones by relatives or former employees of the earlier former employees. The names differ, i.e. Salerno, Satino, Verbano, Onesto, etc., but they are all comfy little sit-down restaurants known for generously portioned, robust, garlicky pastas at reasonable prices.
JP Spaghetti marks, as far as I know, the first time the recipe has been tried in a fast-food format. It still works, even with limitations. For one thing, the other restaurants offered a range of pastas, from stringy capellini to stalwart penne. As the name implies, JP's is all about spaghetti for the simple reason that owner Johnson To (pronounced "toe") says, "I like spaghetti." Topping the preferred noodles are sauteed combinations of veggies, seafood and chicken, with plates priced form $4.90 to $6.50.
NAMES are self-explanatory, such as calamari vegetable ($5.50), tender strips of squid tossed with zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms and herbs. A shrimp and mushroom ($5.90) plate has five pieces of shrimp and button mushrooms sauteed with garlic, butter and wine, or JP Spaghetti's light, homemade marinara.
A favorite here is the chicken piccata, two pieces of breaded chicken served over pasta topped with capers and a white wine-garlic butter sauce.
For those who like strong flavors, there is chicken anchovy ($5.25), chicken sauteed with anchovy and twice-fried, crispy garlic.
Those who don't care for pasta may opt for $5 sandwiches stuffed with mushrooms, meatballs, sausages or clams.
Customers are so happy with To's offerings that he says they're asking him to kick things up a notch and go full service, suggesting Mililani Mauka as the place to be.
That would put him in competition with his former employer, Assaggio's. That may be a little too close for comfort for To, but Mililani residents are trying to convince him otherwise. "They tell me Mililani and Mililani Mauka are 15 minutes apart."
In the restaurant biz, I guess, cloning can be a good thing for customers.
JP Spaghetti: Wahiawa Town Center, 935 California Ave. #11
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except Sundays, when closing time is 8 p.m.
Prices: Lunch or dinner for two about $6 per person
Call: 621-7238Cheap is relative. You can pay $35 for an entree at David Paul's Diamond Head Grill. Or you could pay $17.50, and you don't even have to bribe anyone or be som'-BOD-y. Cheap eats!
Every Monday is Kamaaina Night at the restaurant. To get the half-price entree, just flash your Hawaii I.D. Call 922-3734.
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
-- excellent;
To recommend a restaurant, write: The Weekly Eater, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com
